The Average Is Irrelevant

The average Kenyan reads 0 books a month. It is what they say. Does this mean that bookshops in Kenya should close down?

No.

The truth is, the average is irrelevant. There are lots of people who buy 0 books a year. But then there are some who buy on or two books a month. Still, others buy hundreds of books a year. What do you think keeps mega bookshops like Text Book Centre in business?

When starting or running a business, it makes little sense to try and treat all your customers the same. As Mr Godin says, “When you can’t figure out the best way to treat all your customers, the best way to price things, the best thing to offer, realize that the problem is almost always this: you’re trying to treat everyone the same. Don’t. Break them into groups with similar attributes, and suddenly the path becomes a lot more clear.”

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Comments

  1. Paul Kevin says:

    I read the old books such as Lord of the rings…my favorite. Motivational books are over-rated….I think Kenya will skip to the e-book reading…..Bookstores should re-structure FAST

  2. A gem of a tip right there: ‘you’re trying to treat everyone the same. Don’t’.

  3. Totally agree with you [and Seth Godin too].

    Customer needs are different, that is why the diverse needs of even radio & TV audiences have resulted in segmentation and niche stations [all talk, all rock, all rumba, vernacular etc]

    These markets are not average. They are the niche one should address.

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