2 Key questions to answer in Product Development

The balance of knowing the name and knowing more…

Arriving at the right niche and right customer is challenging for a new business. Many wrong roads and wrong products have been wasted on not understanding the customer.

Here are the first two questions to answer on this journey:

1.      Where are you in developing your product?

2.      Where are you in developing your marketing?

The answers are the same for both questions. If both have been developed in entirety and you have not made a customer discovery yet, then start the full process over!

Seriously. I bet you missed something.

If you are in the beginning phase, then you are in the perfect spot to be. Customer discovery is a vital part of the product/niche design. As an example, if you make a spoon and the customer wants a fork, sales will suck so bad that you will fail.

Having just finished an awesome book on Audible, The Pleasure of Finding Things Out w/ Richard Feynman. I had to stop many times to decipher the stories and the lessons involved. There were many. The idea during the book is “knowing science,” check out the little clip I found from the book. It explains the concept of customer discovery with simplicity.

Name of the Bird – The Pleasure of Finding Things Out w/ Richard Feynman

Know your customer besides just their names.

Not to focus on the discovery too much more because we have a few more questions to answer, there may be a product that you feel is perfect for the market. All designed in your head, or a prototype has been built. AND it is beautiful. Taking one more step to verify the market will accept the product should be quick then. Plus, to develop your product you may need outside funding.

There lie the next few questions.

3.      What is your value proposition?

4.      Is your product complex with many components?

5.      Can your product be manufactured with ready-made components on the market?

6.      Modes of distribution – online, drop shipping, mail order, store, distributor, etc.

The part I love about all this discovery, besides the pleasure of finding things out, is the resources available for the entrepreneur. These questions are from a handy form called the Business Model Canvas, found in the Business Model Generation book by Alexander Osterwalder & Yves Pigneur (see the link below for more information). Using the model the plan becomes easier to visualize the creation of your business. Plus, when funding discussion comes up you will have the answers ready.

The completion of the Canvas Model will guide you through the critical thinking of whether you need to boot-strap, crowdfund, angel-investor, traditional business loan, or partner. This will also help you decide the type of business you want to, need to start; LLC, Sole proprietor, S-Corp, and others.

Take the time to reach out to professionals through networking and find these answers. It may seem like the advice is trying to slow your progress down and step all over your ambition. The intent is more to clarify the path, so you do not find yourself in the weeds at critical times. As an entrepreneur myself, those critical times will come up.

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