When it comes to launching a new business, many entrepreneurs unknowingly take the wrong approach.
Most feel they have the greatest business idea, work tirelessly on bringing their product/service to market, and believe revenue will simply flow in once the business has finally launched. We’ve all done this at one point or another, myself included.
Most times though, this approach will fail.
WHY?
It fails because it lacks one of the most important elements that a startup needs:
Customer Feedback
Everyday, new businesses spend endless amounts of time creating new products and services without ever asking the all important question:
Are people interested in my product/service?
Data from CB Insights shows that 42% of all startups fail because there is no market need.
Once you have an initial product or service, it’s imperative to get it out in the hands of people who will be your potential customers. By doing so, you will understand their experiences, pain points, and find out exactly what’s most important to them.
This phase to your business is crucial.
If you skip it, you’ll run into problems.
You won’t
• Get customer feedback (know what customers like and dislike)
• Learn ways to improve (upon what you already have)
Your goal through this research phase is to gain a general sense of the type of customer your product/service will serve, opposed to throwing money blindly towards marketing a product or service with no initial feedback.
Ever heard of Instagram?
Chances are you have…..
Instagram is widely known today as the world’s #1 photo sharing app, but they actually didn’t start out as one.
The company originally launched as a Geo-Location App (a competitor to Foursquare). The company also wasn’t called Instagram at the start, it was called Burbn.
Burbn had an original feature that let people upload photos and use filters on them. The company soon realized that this feature alone was more popular than the app itself. They changed the name and solely focused their efforts on this.
Instagram sold nearly a year later to Facebook for 1 billion dollars. The company gained an enormous following in such a short period of time.
The reason Instagram was able to become so successful in the first place was all centered around the idea of gaining customer feedback. If Instagram’s founders never put Burbn out in the marketplace to get user feedback from Day One, Instagram never would have existed.
The same goes for you……..and your business.
Whether you’re selling a hard product (clothing), a digital good (eBook), or even starting a business, it’s important you gain customer feedback early on and use that to your full advantage.
If you are selling clothes online, pick up on trends that people are talking about. Listen to what excites them, annoys them, and then base your product around meeting their criteria.
If you want to sell an eBook, stop recycling old material and labeling it as your own idea. Instead, decide who your ideal target market is. Once you’ve done this, ask them specific questions that will help you solve their problems. With this valuable information, you will be able to create a beneficial product around it.
Spend less time creating the perfect product/service & spend more time getting feedback from the market first.
The rest will take care of itself….
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Ryan Malinowski is an internet entrepreneur, professional athlete, and sought after online business consultant. He build his first successful business remotely while living and playing professional hockey overseas in Eastern Europe. You can learn more about Ryan by visiting www.RyanMalinowski.com
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