The business world has seen some pretty epic fails- businesses that started with a bang and ended with a “Dang!” With the benefit of hindsight, we see that some of these ideas were so obviously catastrophic that we honestly wonder how their owners ever thought of them in the first place. The truth is, even useful products are sometimes choked out of the market, how much more a ridiculous idea.
8 in every 10 business that starts today will inevitably fail. But here’s the thing- when all of these businesses started, they were convinced they were bringing a brilliant product into the market; including the person who thought it was a splendid idea to turn your baby into a mobile house mop!
Do you have an idea you think is absolutely great and would take the world by storm? There’s nothing wrong with a storm; but how about you take some minutes to brainstorm with these five guidelines. Optimism is a beautiful thing. Tempered with a good dose of reality, it becomes a useful, beautiful thing.
Let’s get on with it.
1. Understand the Features-Benefits of your Product/Service: in most advertisement copies, entrepreneurs often make the mistake of thinking that merely putting out the excellent features of a product is enough to convince customers to purchase. In reality, that is rarely the case. A watch is precise and diamond-studded. That’s a physical feature; a factual statement about the product or service. If it makes a customer stand out, feel confident and boosts their self-esteem, that’s a benefit. Benefits show how features directly add value to a customer and make them feel. Inventing vibrating tattoo (yes, a phone manufacturer actually took out a patent for this) might seem like a great idea- until you have to sort out exactly how that adds any benefit to a customer.
2. Understand Your Market: Along with knowing all you can about your product and/service, another very important thing to consider is the market you hope to reach. What are the demographics (age, sex, income, education etc.) and psychographics (attitudes, needs, wants aspirations etc.) of your target audience? This is key.