Of course not all products are great for
the market, some arrived too early while others arrived too late; today is
dedicated to those that failed to arrive all together. Just about 10 years ago,
before the release of the first IPad, I had a mobile phone I liked so much. For
all intent and purpose, it seemed to function like an IPad or any window based
notebook. T-Mobile called it the Ameo. In an era when the bulk of
production was farm produce, probably your biggest issue is preserving the
freshness of your harvest. Your range of product is already selected for you by
nature. However in today’s world of
endless possibilities, taking a product to town begins with making sure it’s a
product the consumer is keen about. There’s no point being great at what nobody
wants. In their book, “Hidden in
plain sight”, Jan Chipchase and Simon Steinhardt argued that there
are some activities centred around what they called our centre of gravity, this
coupled with the prevailing culture in
connection with a concept termed “consumer trust ecosystem” plays a great role
in our purchasing decisions. They further explained that trust ecosystem is made up of
six characteristics; Authenticity, fulfilment, Value, reliability, safety and
recourse. Richie and Natalie Norton In their 2013 book, “The Power of
Starting Something Stupid”, provided a list of some inventions that nearly died
before hitting the market. It included telephone, automobile, radio, satellite,
Walt Disney etc. The couple also admonished to use the acronym start to get
into scene. “Serve” – How much you serve
others is how much they will serve you. “Thank” – Show your gratitude
for good deeds done on your behalf. “Ask” – Don’t try to do
everything yourself. Ask for help from the people around you. “Receive” – Don’t hesitate to
accept assistance. Receive it graciously. “Trust” – To succeed in
business and in life, be trustworthy and trust others. |