Key to Success: Meet the needs of your customers.

I enjoy shopping. This will not be a shock to anyone who knows me! Growing up in Toronto, I had a wide selection of stores to choose from. Now that I live in Pemberton, BC with two young children, a day trip to Vancouver to go shopping is a major event. So, I've become an online shopper. This is why I was so excited to receive an e-mail this week about a company that will forward items you order from companies who don't offer shipping to Canada.

MyUS.com allows you to order items from the United States using a US address. MyUS.com receives your packages and forward them along to you - for a fee. Their fees are based on the amount of merchandise, parcels, mail that you receive and provide a range to satisfy everyone from the one-time user to the frequent shopper.

This service fills a need that I identified for myself about 7 years ago. I even had the though that it would be a great business concept... Fortunately for me, someone else also had the same idea. I have no doubt that there is demand for this service - because it satisfies a consumer need! This is one of the fundamental requirements for business success. That's not to say that every business that meets a consumer need will succeed. Sound management practices are also critical. But, meeting a need definitely makes the road to success a lot smoother.

I haven't had an opportunity to use this service yet, but stay tuned, I will let you know how it goes!