On Tuesday I heard it again: The annoying routine where somebody quotes some huge billion-dollar market and then suggests getting a small piece of that big market is somehow valid. Quote: 
That’s a $3 billion market. If we can get just one tenth of one percent of that, we have a $3 million business.
That is so bogus. It convinces nobody. It never really happens like that. The only way you get to millions in sales is focus, making a new market, doing something nobody else is doing, putting a new spin on it, so you get to operate alone. Nobody starts up getting little pieces of huge markets.
The best validation of sales potential is sales. It’s a lot like a bird in the hand vs. one in the bush. An actual buyer, even just one, says a lot more than percentage tricks you can do in your head.
Tim Berry is the founder and chairman of Palo Alto Software and Bplans.com. Follow him on Twitter @Timberry.
