How to Build Successful Business Products

Posted December 11, 2006 in Innovation, Sales & Marketing, 8 Comments »


Scenario: "Dude, we gotta do a bunch of market research to see what the market wants. Billions. Yay!"

It's how most entrepreneurs build faulty products: thinking intensive market research breeds successful products.

It won't.

That's how product-builders go bankrupt: speculating what people want, building it, then finding nobody wants to buy it.

Sure, a small percentage will succeed; but, most end up failing.

So, trash the overused, over-hyped, over-blah market research.

Instead, if you're looking to build a successful product:

  1. Understand just what one person/business needs and will buy now.
  2. Get the customer to sign a contract.
  3. Start building it.

You'll soon notice several others needing the same solution.

Why Market Research Sucks

The problem with doing market research? It goes a little something like this:

  1. You: "Have you ever wanted [yadda, yadda, yadda]?"
  2. Bob: "Yes, I'll want something like that."
  3. You take nine months to build it.
  4. Bob: "Oh, I won't buy it, though."

You could interview a thousand people, and a good portion will scream:

"Yes, I'll want that sucka!"

But, when it comes to handing over their hard-earned dollars to you, they won't do it.

It's called the: "I'm-just-trying-to-be-nice" syndrome.

Badass business product-builders instead do something beyond market research.

We affectionately call that secret sauce:

The "Do-You-Want-To-Buy-This-Sucka-Now?!" Approach

(Or for short: DYWTBTSN.)

People could be the most successful, the wealthiest, the most athletic, the gosh-dang sexiest; yet, they'll still want/need something to make their lives that much better.

That could be a:

  1. Computer designed specifically for Bakery CEOs
  2. Inspirational posters for hospitals
  3. Calorie Tracker for football players
  4. Philly Cheese Steak melted with pizza toppings
  5. etc., etc., etc.

The hard part to this whole process? It's quite easy:

Just ask.

  • Jimmy, what do you need?
  • Susie, what does your business need?
  • Hendy, how can we help your team?

You could ask it a million ways; but, it simply boils down to understanding:

  1. what they want
  2. what they'll buy now

And, yes: if you can provide the solution and they're not (1) handing over their money now, (2) entering into serious negotiations, or (3) signing a contract to buy your future product, they're not a customer -- and likely, they'll never buy from you.

They're just trying to be nice.

"Wait! But, I'll just sell my product to one person. Ahh!"

Not quite. Here's why:

Why DYWTBTSN Rocks

Think of your most "unique" habit.

Now, if you haven't talked with people about your "unique" habit, you'd figure:

"I'm the only badass who has this habit."

Yet, when you announce that "unique" habit to the world, you'll notice several others have the same, exact, "unique" habit.

(Don't believe us? Go to some crowded message board like YouTube or Craigslist, and ask around. We'll give you money if we're wrong.)

Or, try this:

List your interests.

Based on that, do you think at least 10,000 people share each interest?

Likely. Probably, even a million. Or, ten million.

The Point

In a world filled with 6,000,000,000 people, we share similar mindsets to several (several) others.

So if you're selling something to somebody, you know that a bunch more people want that same thing.

"Yo! Show me an example of the whole process!"

Consider Farm Dude Billy Bob Bobby. The scenario:

  1. You: "Yo Billy! What does your farm need?"
  2. Billy: "I need a software that keeps track of my farm's cows. Fo shizzle!"
  3. You: "I can build it! Let's sign a contract, Billy Boy."
  4. Billy: "Done!"

So what happens next?

  1. You and your amazingly awesome team build the product that helps Bobby track his cows.
  2. When you're done, you hand it over to Bobby; and, Bobby makes good on the contract by sending you the cash.
  3. You call other farm owners to pitch your product. 3214729815721508219 reside in rural America; some of them are bound to need the same product. You know they're out there; you just need to find them.
  4. What happens next? Ring! Ring! Ring! (Yes, that's the cash register ringing for your badass.)

Sell to one; sell to several.

So when you're out trying to build the next great product, start with this sucka:

"Billy Bob Bobby, what can I build for your badass?"

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More Business Tips You Might Enjoy

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  2. Why 90% Of Entrepreneurs Fail & Why You Won't
  3. Who Must Be Your Biggest Competitor?
  4. Why You Shouldn't Hire Superstars
  5. How To Completely Fail At Your Business (tip #1)

8 Comments on How to Build Successful Business Products

Stephanie

Posted @ 03:10 PM on December 11, 2006

First!


Billy Bob

Posted @ 03:27 PM on December 11, 2006

Second! Thanks for adding comments. I always thought your journal could use them. Keep kicking ass.


Hates_

Posted @ 09:00 AM on December 12, 2006

How much harder is it though to make someone commit to paying for something that doesn't exist, then something that you've already and can demonstrate.


Nik

Posted @ 09:49 AM on December 12, 2006

Yeh! Comments! Great work! :)


Andrew

Posted @ 02:43 PM on December 12, 2006

Hi Steph, Billy, Hates, and Nik! Thanks for your amazingly awesome comments.

Hates, great question. Yeah, an initial demo of your product wouldn't hurt -- but you definitely won't need it when you're approaching customers.

Why? Potential customers want just one thing: fulfilling a need. They want you to be the solution-provider.

Yeah, you could spend time building a product as a demo; but the problem with that:

*you don't know if that's what they really want
*you waste a chunk of time, money, and resources
*they probably want a more customized solution anyway

Customers are all about "Me." You could build the next revolutionary product with all the perks, but they'd still be happier with a more customized solution that benefits "Me."

If you can fulfill that need, they're more than willing to sign that contract.

Of course, there's that big risk involved for the customer:

"How can I be sure you'll provide me that solution?"

Tips:
*have a money-back guarantee
*have a minimal/no down-payment policy
*demonstrate your credibility from your portfolio
*provide them juicy value: tips, advice, suggestions to make their lives/businesses better

The more you can eliminate perceived risks, the likelier you'll get that contract.

Hope that answers your question. Please let me know if it doesn't, and I'll try to explain it a different way :)


julie

Posted @ 07:30 PM on December 16, 2006

I love this article and I found it just by chance. Keep up the good work.

I have spent most of my adult life coming up with great ideas for businesses and I am tired of seeing these ideas big and small parading in front of me on magazines and TV because somebody else took them to the marketplace first. I have decided to approach businesses and tell them about my ideas I have for them to do the work and take them to the marketplace themselves. They'll pay me a certain amount of money then the idea is completely theirs, no strings attached, no royalties, no nada. HOw does this sound to you, any advice?


Andrew

Posted @ 05:29 AM on December 17, 2006

Hi Julie!

I think it all comes down to how you negotiate your deal.

I believe for most businesses you deal with, they should offer something similar to the following:

1. big one-time fee / no royalties
2. small one-time fee / royalties agreement

If they don't offer the latter -- or if they do, but the one-time fee's too small, you can always (always!) negotiate the agreement.

Rule of thumb: anything and everything can be negotiated. You're dealing with humans after all, and you can get them to comply with your requests (royalties, etc.) more than you might think.

The hard/easy part then: Just ask :)

Of course, that's easier said than done. We wrote a primer on negotiation here: http://www.trizle.com/how-to-make-easy-money/

Hope that helps you, Julie! (Let me know if it doesn't!)


Power of three: Goal-setting: Business (3 of 3) : All Things Bright by Kathleen Bright

Posted @ 05:18 PM on December 17, 2006

[...] Accepting and embracing failure is a brilliant idea because if you don’t fear failure you’re getting out of your way. The first step to creating a brilliant product is creating a product. So, Kathleen, stop procrastinating! [...]


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