Business plan. Article 3. Product Description. Who said they would buy this?

    Welcome all!
    We continue to write a business plan

    Article 1. The beginning
    Article 2. Description of the business

    The topic of this article is what you sell.

    What do we sell?


    As you recall, I often recommend that you ask yourself more questions. Today is no exception.
    So, what is the best question about your product? “What is our product or service?” No.
    You need to ask yourself the following question: "What do we sell?" . It would seem that there is no difference. But no, there is.
    We’ll take a closer look: for example, you think you are selling hammers, nails, paint, wallpaper, laminate. However, customers do not buy this from you. Customers buy an improved home interior, a solution to minor household problems, and more. Notice the difference? It is better to think about your product level up, tracing its complex goals. So it will be easier to position and sell.
    The above approach will allow you to set clearer goals. In the example above, the goal is to provide the ability to repair, improve housing conditions for customers. The guys from 37Signals do not sell Basecamp for project managers, but the opportunity for teams to jointly manage projects and meet deadlines.

    Why will they buy it?


    image
    * Translation “Your mother is not the right market for verification.”

    Who told you that your product will be bought? Do you have proof of at least 10 people, which they buy (did not buy would not want to ) what you are selling?
    Or do you think that you know better than customers what they want?
    Or are you just afraid to go out with your elevator pitch and interview a few dozen people? Are you afraid of failure? Have you polished your business plan, idea, business model, but can’t get out of fear for disappointment? So, you have no choice. The sooner customers see your product, the sooner you will encounter a reality that, as a rule, has little to do with what you have written and shown in beautiful PowerPoint diagrams.
    Several times it happened to me that an idea that seemed brilliant and with which I ran in search of a team provoked a reaction in the form of round eyes and bantering over the name. Not to say that I abandoned those ideas, but the reaction of people acted sobering.

    A bit of philosophy (you can skip this part)


    Your product will be bought only in one case: if it meets market needs, expectations and desires. Based on this, you have two ways - either to form desires and expectations in people yourself, or to follow trends.
    The first way is risky, but the winner takes everything. So it was with Facebook, with Twitter and so on. Also the first way is easier for large corporations with resources.
    The second way is following the trends. And here the principle “The entrepreneur is the one who benefits from the elimination of the imbalance in the economy” (Schumpeter) is valid. It is necessary to soberly assess the needs and expectations of the market.
    Example: “A Belgian furniture store that advertises and sells a“ furniture package for divorced men only. ” It is known that 50% of marriages end in divorce within 5 years. Recognizing the hatred of most men's stores, they created the so-called "package offer." For example: living room, bedroom, kitchen, TV and DVD player for $ 2700. Every week they sell 10 or more of these packages. ”

    This is real?


    Is your product real? Are you able to enter the market with him? And in a short time ? In the product description, you must clearly and clearly show that your product is real. It should enter the market as soon as possible. In this, I absolutely agree with the philosophy of Getting real (a good book, I recommend reading it), which says that the sooner you enter the market with what you have, the greater the chance of success. Such a strategy has several advantages:

    • You show your ability to implement
    • You immediately see the reaction of customers and no longer guess what will be successful and what will not.
    • You maintain a psychological lift from the team - the more often you come out with something new, the greater the feeling of action
    • You show your clients that you are alive and working
    • Avoid the painful process of “polishing” the product. It is impossible to please everyone and everything.
    • You increase your chances of obtaining financing from investors
    • You begin to receive feedback and recommendations from clients

    In fact, in this part of the business plan the most important thing is to show:
    • That your product is real
    • that your product will be in demand


    Everything. Nothing more is needed. The ideal part of a startup’s business plan for a product can simply include a couple of suggestions:

    “Our product X agreed to buy 20 people + we plan to get confirmation from a few dozen more. We plan to enter the market in a month, since we have Y and Z ”.
    All. No need for graphs, focus groups, discussions about the usefulness of the product, and more.

    Also popular now: