Avoiding a Product No One Wants

Many people dream of starting their own business, but there are many challenges surrounding entrepreneurship. Arguably, a lack of consumer interest in the product or service may be the primary reason why many businesses never reach their full potential.

Every new parent’s baby is the most adorable child they’ve ever seen, and entrepreneurs feel a similar way to their product or services. They think their company is the best idea to ever exist and that the market will respond accordingly.

Often, however, entrepreneurs overestimate the potential success of their product, and they are left feeling discouraged when the revenue is not what they anticipated. I would attribute this to wishful thinking: you, as a consumer, think you know what other consumers want and exactly how they want to get it.

Even worse, an entrepreneur might have their ego so invested in their “baby” that they become inflexible to growth and change, which makes success nearly impossible. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee your product or service will cause consumers to push the “buy” button. Although there are no simple answers, we would like to pass along a few suggestions to help you tackle this challenge.

Do Your Homework!

Do not assume that you know what consumers want or need. Talk to as many people as you can, before and after your product launch, and listen carefully. Success requires that you develop a product the consumer not only needs, but wants and desires.

Social media can be a key tool for you to solicit criticism and advice on how you can improve your product. Utilizing social media will allow you to get direct feedback from your consumers.

Master the Art of Pivoting

A second key strategy is being willing to pivot. In start-up lingo, pivoting means taking in the initial response to a product, and making changes in order to maximize its consumer appeal.

When launching a start-up, you will learn that everything takes longer than you expect, and a great deal of “stick-to-it-ivity” is required. With that said, there is no virtue in delaying product changes in the face of negative reactions from users.

A good approach to designing a product is to develop a soft launch with the intent of redesigning it and adding features after receiving initial user feedback. If you read about the history of successful start-ups, such as Dell Computers and Twitter, you will see that they solicited criticism from their customers and used that information to modify their approach and attain success.

Continue the conversation with Warren Law Group’s office at (866) 954-7687 or emailing Paul Share at [email protected].

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