Amazon made record profits during the pandemic, while local mom and pop stores closed at historic rates. Why is that — is it because of some conspiratorial reason or inherit advantage that Jeff Bezos had over the others?
No. The answer is actually very simple, practical and applicable for whatever business we find ourselves in. The number one deciding factor in sales is problem solving. The more problems you can solve; the more you can sell.
Mom and pop stores are forced to close at the mercy of a storm. Whereas, Amazon’s website is always open for business. That is because your local store cannot solve problems with the weather and Amazon markets themselves on their ability to *work around* that problem.
Simply put, a problem during the pandemic was how insular the world of the consumer’s had become. Going outside posed a risk — which is a natural problem that our local stores could not solve or overcome. Amazon solved this problem of being confined to our homes — they brought the outside world to us.
Whatever your business is — the key to making more money is how many problems you can solve.