The numbers are shocking.
According to the History Channel, over 30,000 new products hit the shelves each year in America and 90% of them fail.
So why do most products fail?
Simple.
Somebody started with the focus on what they want to sell, without bothering to find out if anyone even wants it.
This is the #1 most expensive mistake a business can make.
The marketplace it littered with Great Ideas for stuff people don’t give a crap about.
(BTW, the History Channel has a fascinating short documentary called A Home For Failed Products.)
So how do you avoid this expensive mistake?
Glad you asked!
Steven Covey said it best in his bestselling book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People:
“Begin with the end in mind”
The end here is a successful sale that puts dinero in your bank.
Or as marketing maven Gary Halbert wrote in the Boron Letters:
“You must always find a market FIRST…
And then concentrate on a product!”
So starting out with the product first is, well, bassackwards.
Now if you are a giant corporation, you can afford to make these mistakes. Sometimes you get lucky. Most times you don’t.
(When I was at IBM, I worked on dozens of projects, yet only ONE was a commercial success. Some cost millions per week. Yikes!)
A small business doesn’t have the deep pockets for this kind of failure.
What you want to do instead is…
- Find a Hot Hungry market
- Find out exactly what they WANT
- Then sell them what they Want!
I call this being a Marketing Detective.
And if you want to see some amazing no-cost training in how to do this kind of marketing research… you are in luck.
My friend Ed Dale puts on a big online event every year called the Thirty Day Challenge.
It’s in it’s 9th year now and is hands-down some of the best marketing training you can get at any price.
Did I mention it’s totally free? (It is!)
Right now they are teaching how to do market research.
Fact is, whatever your business, you can benefit from the Challenge training.
Click here for the 30 Day Challenge Training
Then put on your marketing detective hat and discover what your market wants.
You may be surprised at what you learn.
And if you don’t want to do the Challenge, at least watch Ed’s video called The Magnificent Symphony of Four Parts
It covers the importance of starting with The Market.
