Have you ever wanted to introduce a new product, a new division, and create a new stream of income? Or maybe you’re looking to start a new company all together.
As someone who’s started a lot of companies and ideas, I’d like to share some things I’ve learned along the way. I believe if we can really understand the dynamics of the below, we’ll be much better off.
Heres 5 steps to consider before getting involved with a new project. This will save time, money, and energy. Trust me! I’ve messed up, learned, and pivoted a lot in my days.
1. Passion Alignment: Before beginning the quest to get a new product to market, the main person involved, like the CEO, must be very passionate about the project and product.
In my experience, when I’ve started things to try to make money, as opposed to really being passionate about it, I’ve failed miserably. And not because the idea was bad. It was just things take so much longer than expected that if I don’t like what I’m doing, time will eat me for breakfast.
I feel like people belabor this point in recent times, “be passionate about your business” but don’t overlook it. It takes so much energy to take something from 0 to 1 that there must be an alignment between passion/purpose and the new product.
2. Marketing Collateral & Story: The story has to be on point. Who is the person who would benefit from the product? What is the problem it will solve for them? What’s one simple line that illustrates what the product will do, without all the crap and fluff.
Nobody cares about you or the company, but they might pick up a product that solves a problem they have. This idea that the marketing collateral has to be on point comes from many failed past projects.
Statistics sell. What result does the product solve? What are the proven results that it solved for others? What well known brand have used it? What did it do for them? Testimonials, case studies, statistics, and awards sell – use them.
3. Shadow Testing: Some of the best companies do this everytime they introduce a new product. I keep seeing this product called the “Remarkable 2” pop up on my social media feeds. The product isn’t even made yet, it’s in preorder. So, they’re mitigating the manufacturing risks by testing the waters first.
Once your passionate about the product and a compelling marketing story is created, shadow test the hell out of it. What does that mean? Ask people to preorder in some way, maybe even by putting a credit card on file. Get creative with this.
How can someone sign up or buy your product before you create it. Why is shadow testing important? It’ll give a good indicator if the project will be a hit or not. Maybe you find out 1000 people are interested today, or maybe you find out people think it’s stupid, but use this as an indicator and proceed with caution. Don’t use shadow testing as the end all be all, it’s an indicator, not a proven fact that something will work.
4. Empathy Interviews: Are you talking at the customer or to them? Empathy interviews can be created with the target market. The goal is to meet with the Dream customers and ask questions. Listen to understand not to be heard. Do they think the product sucks? Would they pre-order it now? How can they benefit from the product? Listen and jot down all the valuable information.
5. Sales Process: Get clear on the sales process. How will your product get to market? How will you generate a lead, to then nurture it, to further convert it into a sale, and make more up sales following? Jotting down a sales process and knowing where you’re at with each customer can really help determine where the kinks on and how to iron them out.
That’s it for today folks. Did you find this helpful? What do you want more of? Less of?
Talk soon,
Brock’s Blog 