Recently, I looked into replacing a coffeemaker that bit the dust. I pulled into the Walmart parking lot, entered the store not sure where to find coffeemakers. My first inquiry sent me in the general direction. I checked out several options and put one in my cart. Then, I walked to the checkout line, made my purchase, and trekked back to my car. The whole experience took about 30 minutes.

Now I am wondering why I didn't just go to Amazon.com, search coffee makers, check out a few online reviews, and make a purchase. I would've saved nearly an hour of my time. In essence I wasted an hour by going to the brick-and-mortar establishment, time I didn't really have to waste. I wasn't valuing my time correctly.

In our businesses we need to understand why a customer clicks to buy on their computer or picks up a product and buys it in a store. I understand why I make purchases, but I'm not everyone. I need to understand what motivates my customers to buy. This is not easy.

I am involved in a damage restoration business.  The motivation of the customer is pretty obvious.  A sewer backup pushed water into the bathroom, into the molding, wall and into the bedroom carpet. The customer’s motivation is to get the problem cleaned up as quickly as possible. Closing the sale is not difficult if you are the first one to connect to the customer with a good solution.

When I meet with entrepreneurs looking to start a business I ask them to identify their main entry barriers.

A person who wants to start a new airline will experience formidable barriers to entry. The cost of aircraft is only the first step. One must acquire gate space at major airports which is costly and difficult because most gates are leased long term.  In addition, there is the cost of hiring pilots, cabin attendants and setting up a reservation and ticketing system. While it isn’t impossible to start a new airline, the entry barriers are significant.