OEI Day 2: When Perfect Planning Isn't Enough

I walked into day 2 at the Okoboji Entrepreneurial Institute expecting to be on a panel. Plot twist: more speed coaching sessions. And honestly? I was totally okay with this!

Because what I discovered in session after session yesterday was a pattern so consistent it could have been scripted: brilliant students with impeccable market research, stunning marketing materials, and detailed business plans - who had never actually sat down with the people they wanted to serve.

They had all the data.

What they were missing was the human connection.

When Marketing Materials Can't Replace Real Conversations

I met a student working on safety equipment designed specifically for Black hair in welding environments. Her product addresses a real safety gap in an industry that desperately needs it. She's thinking big - OSHA compliance, partnerships with companies that employ people with thicker, longer hair, expanding into firefighting verticals.

Her marketing was flawless. Business cards, matching collateral, a professional flyer with space for all the technical specs and product images I needed to see. She understood the safety aspects, the need in the market, and had talked extensively with people who have the hair types her product protects.

But here's what she hadn't done yet: sat down with the business owners who would actually implement this safety solution.

She had all this research but kept planning instead of asking the real questions to the people who could say yes.

The Co-op Breakthrough

Another student had developed refillable home goods products - sustainable solutions for laundry detergent and household items. She'd talked to plenty of consumers and friends who loved the concept and fit the profile for buying these products. She was building the environmental data, the market size, the sustainability trends.

Her business model centered on B2B partnerships - vending machines or bulk bins in grocery stores where customers could refill their containers. Smart approach. Solid research. One problem: she'd never talked to a single grocery store owner.

She admitted that big box stores felt too intimidating and worried about immediate rejection. But when we talked through it, she identified something perfect: locally owned boutique grocers near her. Stores where she could actually sit down with the owner, explain her solution, and get real feedback about distribution logistics, customer interest, and implementation challenges - with someone who has the authority to make real changes and decisions inside his store.

Suddenly she had a concrete plan that felt manageable instead of overwhelming.

Beyond Focus Groups: The Power of One Real Conversation

Here's what most of the students realized in our conversations: You can survey a hundred people, analyze industry reports, and build perfect marketing materials, but none of that replaces sitting across from one person who can actually say yes to your solution.

Focus groups tell you what people think they want. Industry reports tell you what's happening in general. Even amazing entreprenuerial think-tanks like this have their own business and personal motivations.

But the grocery store owner will tell you exactly why your vending machine idea won't work in their space - or how to modify it so it will.

It's real data, from a real consumer.

The business owner will explain the real barriers to implementing new safety equipment and help you understand the actual decision-making process that no algorithm could predict.

That's not market research. That's market reality. And in a world where we can automate data gathering and analysis, the irreplaceable skill becomes the ability to sit across from someone, ask the right questions, and actually listen to what they're not saying.

That's irreplaceably human.

The Validation They Already Knew

These students weren't missing confidence in their ideas, they were missing validation of their instincts. They already knew their solutions made sense.

They just needed someone to tell them it was okay to take their perfectly researched plans and test them with real humans.

We talked about starting small and safe.

Attainable goals - remember that in high school?

It's not about cold-calling Fortune 500 companies, but identifying one or two accessible contacts who could give honest feedback. The local co-op owner. The small manufacturing business down the road who employs welders. The fire department chief they could reach through a mutual connection.

Sometimes the most important research happens when you stop researching and start asking.

What I'm Learning About Connection

One student and I connected on such a personal level that we both teared up during our conversation. Our stories had remarkable similarities, and by the end, we were hugging and exchanging business cards. I already have people I want to connect her with.

It reminded me that even when we don't align with everyone, there are parts of our stories that create instant understanding. And sometimes, rarely, you meet someone whose entire journey mirrors yours in ways that feel destined.

Those connections - the ones built on authentic vulnerability and shared experience - those are the ones that change everything.

When Students Become Mirrors

As one student got up from our table that day, she paused and said something that stopped me cold: "This was really great. This was a lot of soft skills that a lot of people don't talk about in these types of coaching sessions."

Soft skills.

Sometimes you need someone else to name what you've been doing all along.

In that moment, I realized that while I'd been focused on helping them trust their gut, work backwards from their vision, and hold themselves accountable, I hadn't fully acknowledged what was actually happening in these conversations. The real work wasn't about frameworks or tactics - it was about helping people trust their instincts, communicate authentically, and build genuine connections.

It's funny how the most important business insights often come from the most unexpected sources. Not from a formal mentor or paid consultant, but from a college student who simply reflected back what she experienced.

That's the power of authentic interaction - sometimes the people you're trying to help end up helping you see yourself more clearly.

I've been thinking about this concept of "mentoring in the wild" - those breakthrough moments that happen when someone else articulates something you couldn't quite name yourself. The best business evolution often happens not in boardrooms or strategic planning sessions, but in casual conversations where someone holds up a mirror you didn't know you needed.

Today: Final Polish

Today is Day 3—the final coaching day. These students will get one last chance to perfect their pitches with us before they present to the panel of judges later.

I've reminded them that while those judges will want to see data, timelines, and solid planning, every judge in that room is human first, businessman or investor second.

The data will get you in the door, but your story - your authentic, vulnerable story about why this solution matters to you—that's what will make them remember you.

Because at the end of the day, people invest in people, not just products.

And sometimes the most powerful market research you can do is simply showing up as yourself and asking someone else to do the same.

Part 3 coming tomorrow: What happens when authentic storytelling meets final pitch perfection. Because the best business plans are the ones that remember there are humans on both sides of every transaction.

Disclosure: Iowa Lakes Corridor is a client of Vertical Marketing and Design.