Why Better Products Don’t Always Win

May 15, 2013 By Karl Stark and Bill Stewart

You may have superior technology or a great feature set, but if your product doesn’t create value for the customer, its chance of success is slim.

What’s the lesson for entrepreneurs here?

Entrepreneurs building a new business often falsely assume that their novel product will succeed based on its great new feature set or superior technology. While the next great technology may in fact sell regardless of the competition, few products are so lucky. In most cases we need to shed our rose-colored glasses and instead focus on building what the customer wants.

How can an entrepreneur build a great business around an average product?

1. Only build the features that customers want and are willing to buy.
2. Make your product’s value proposition a clear comparison to the market alternatives, and work to lower barriers to acceptance.
3. Build a complete business model, including sales channels and distribution partners that allow you to deliver on the value you aim to create.
4. Understand the underlying economics of your business model, and build them to scale up as your business grows.
5. Build an investment plan that will fund your business growth and allow you to drive customer awareness, trial and adoption.