The product Versus the Customer

Summary

So, you have a great idea for a business start-up, you have a fantastic product and you’re itching to get it out there. But if you don’t understand the importance of customers you might not have anyone to sell it to.

The Product Versus The Customer

As the world changes fast, you need to keep up if you want your business to succeed. Many start-ups fall by the wayside because they haven’t looked ahead enough and crucially, because they haven’t predicted what the customer will want and how they will want it delivering. Product development has long been the centre of starting and running a business, but as the world changes this doesn’t work for most start-ups.

Product development

Product development focusses on the product. A start-up has an idea for a great new product, they develop that product, they test it and trial it, and they launch it. But what’s missing from this model? Where are the customers for this product? The fact is, this way of doing things still works well when launching a new product into an existing market, but it doesn’t work for most modern start ups because there is no existing market.

Product development in detail

Let’s break this down so we can see why it doesn’t work. You have a great idea for a business, you have a product. You write a business plan. You look at distribution Now you develop your product. You look at pricing and markets and you research who your customers will be. You might even build some loyalty here and boost your brand name. You plan the marketing of the product then you test it to make sure it works as it should. You launch your product.

Why doesn’t this work?

Who are the most important people in your business? It’s not your engineers or your marketing people. It’s not your investors. It’s not even you. It’s your customers. So, who are they, where are they, how will you reach them and why will they buy your product? These are the questions you need to be asking right at the beginning. Without this, you don’t have a business. Yes, you might have trialled your product with a few eager tester customers, you might have researched who you think your customers will be, but have you discovered a mainstream market of customers who will buy your product? Will it actually sell?

Flip it upside down

The emphasis is traditionally on developing your product and getting it out there quickly. But this won’t ensure success. Take some time at the beginning to make sure this is something people will really want. Customers have to believe they need your product in their lives and you have to know how to reach those customers. This is all about learning and discovery and you can’t underestimate the importance of taking the time to do this. This is the ground work for your business. Without this, you may not be able to find your customers, you may not even have customers in the quantities you need. This customer focus needs to be at the very beginning of your journey and it needs to be at the heart of your entire business.