What kind of people don't drink coffee.?

I don't watch a lot of television. Mostly I find it depressing or annoying and lacking in real entertainment. But I do like a good laugh and there are quite a few good comedians out there that really give me a good belly laugh.

Last night I was up quite late beavering away on a new website. I was tired but determined. I had pretty much spent most of the day looking at my computer and needed a break. So I turned on the television. And there was James Corden. One of my absolute favourites!

One his show he had Shaquille O'Neal as one of his guests. Shaquille really needs no introduction. Apart from the fact that he is famous the world over as a basketball player he is a big unit. And a genuinely likeable guy.

There were two things that I got out of him being on James show.

The first was that he was, when he was younger, a terrible basketball player. He wasn't very good at all. So what happened? The lure of big money to play. Believing that he could then go on to be a great player and earn money from this motivated him to try harder and become the best.

The second point in his interview with James was around being an entrepreneur. He is a successful entrepreneur having invested in a number of business opportunities and doing quite well from them. But there was one opportunity that he didn't take up - and later realised that he had been wrong in his 'assumption' about the market.

In his words:

"Growing up I didn't see anyone drink coffee so I thought 'black people don't drink coffee'. So one day I meet the owner of Starbucks and he says 'Shaq I love you and I want to open up some coffee in inner city neighbourhoods'. And I looked at him I said 'Sir, I don't think your idea is gonna work - black people don't drink coffee'. And that was my worst decision ever."

to sum it up he said:

"So now every time I ride by Starbucks I say "Black people do drink coffee'."

The message from this is fairly simple. Know your market,. Research your market. Do your due diligence. Just you because think something is a good idea or even not a good idea doesn't mean that the numbers will support that. Understand what your market wants and deliver what they want.

Good luck with your online journey......