In this article we’re looking at how makers often fall into the trap of making something brilliant and then not capitalising on the opportunity, we’ll also give you some tips on how to make the most of whatever you’re making and leave you with a thought-starter.
Build it and they will come?
There’s a recurring pattern in product business, it happens across companies of all sizes and experiences. Fantastic ideas turn into fantastic products, they launch and… not much happens.
So why does it ‘not happen’? It’s often because the marketing groundwork is missing, every product needs a strategy and to do that every maker needs to know:
- Who the market is?
- How to reach them?
- What interests them?
and ultimately,
- What their own success looks like.
As the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. The same goes for customers/clients/buyers, just because you’ve got your ‘thing’ listed, posted about it, even gone to a trade show it doesn’t mean that people will buy it with gusto.
The thing about this ‘make it and hope’ approach is that it might sell a few units, give the business the odd spike, keep things ticking along but it rarely converts into compound growth.
A proper commercial strategy helps to overcome all those pitfalls, it makes sure that you have a clear direction, milestones to know when to move onto the next stage and goals to show success.
The difference between success and failure can be simple
Who remembers VW’s Phaeton? This foray into the uber-luxury was an expensive pet-project for the German manufacturer. While the car was highly spec’d, coachbuilt, packed full of patents and engineered to the hilt, they failed to realise that it was far to asthetically similar to the standard Passat costing a fraction of the price. With a capacity to build around 20,000 a year they barely hit 6,000 and over the course of 15 years they only sold 85,00 in total.
If they’d conducted their commercial research they would have realised that their audience simply didn’t exist under the VW brand. Toyota knew to create Lexus. Honda created Acura. Nissan created Infiniti. VW put its own name on it and hoped positioning wouldn’t matter.
On the other hand, when a brand is brave enough to adjust it can go totally exponential. Take Stanley as an example, they’ve been making steel vacuum bottles for over 100 years for workmen and hikers.
They launched their ‘Quencher’ tumbler in 2016, it didn’t do well and by 2019 were about to pull it. Then a blog called The Buy Guide picked it up, they realised that the product really resonated with their audience of women aged 24-45, gym-goers, busy mums, so they ordered 5k units wholesale and they sold out in 4 days. Stanley went from $70m annual revenue in 2019 to $750m in 2023, same product with a different commercial direction.
The moral of the story? Commercial direction costs almost nothing, the absence of it can cost a lot!
What can you do now to review and improve your positioning?
Creating a proper commercial direction doesn’t require a business degree (or a consultant, though obviously we’re here if you want one or two…) to begin with all you really need is to answer the follow five questions clearly and succinctly:
- Who buys your product? Be specific to the person, the need and the context.
- Why do they but it? Does your ‘thing’ do a particular job for them? What would they miss out on if your ‘thing’ didn’t exist?
- Where do you sell it? Is this somewhere customers regularly shop or are comfortable shopping with?
- At what price and why? How did you calculate pricing, can you explain how you reached the price and what the rest of your market charges?
- What does success look like for you in 12 months? Are you looking for revenue, stockists, repeat purchases?
Take the time to answer these honestly, write them down and maybe even ask someone else in your business to do the same and compare answers. Just taking the time to think can be the most important step.
Need a helping hand?
If it all feels a bit much, we’re here to help. Since starting out we’ve come to realise that many businesses need help to build realistic plans and achieve growth.
As two ex-corporate professionals with the experience of building both local and global plans, often with limited resources, we have the knowledge to share.
