You have a really good idea to launch your startup. You’ve set up the website, you’ve built the MVP, and next you’re looking to scale… However, you’ve missed out on the most important aspect, the reason most startups fail, you missed out on identifying product-market fit. This is where you determine whether your product will work in the market or not. Today we’ll walk through five strategies to help you avoid this common pitfall and make sure your startup thrives.
This is actually a life lesson that can be taken into consideration regardless of what you’re doing. However, in the startup space, this is one of the biggest mistakes. Founders don’t listen to their potential customers. Instead of just giving the deaf ear, they should get out there and engage with your target audience. Understanding their pain points, challenges, and needs will help you to gain valuable insight and mold your service, offer, or product to fit these issues. Product development becomes a whole lot easier when you have the blueprint in front of you.
Once you get the feedback you need from potential customers, use it to refine and tweak your product, offer, or service. Iteration, nonstop, is the key to honing in on your special offer until it finally crosses every check with your audience. Be prepared to go through a ton of adjustments, it isn’t a one-time thing. It’s continuous and filled with improvement which will help you align your product, offer, or service more closely with market needs.
Your actual best friend might be Steve or Susan, however in your business, data is going to become your best friend. This is especially true when you’re looking to figure out your product-market fit. Measure and analyze user behavior like a hawk using tools such as HotJar or Microsoft Clarity. You can also submit your product, offer, or service into specific LinkedIn, Reddit, or Slack groups in which they will “roast” it. You can find what features people love, what ones they ignore, and you can gain an understanding of these patterns to help you make more data-driven decisions. Enhancing, discarding, and focus allocation becomes easier when data is making the suggestions.
Not only should your product, offer, or service be a collection of features such as dark mode, mobile optimization, etc.; it should be a solution to a specific problem. Identify the core issues your target market faces and ensure your product will effectively address them. When you position your product as a solution rather than just another tool, you can create better value propositions and resonate with consumers.
As you’re navigating product-market fit, you’ll soon realize it isn’t an overnight achievement. It takes a ton of patience, persistence, and a willingness to make changes to something already deemed “solidified.” Stay committed to this discovery process, even when there’s no progress made or it’s slow. Refining your product and taking the time to understand the market will ultimately pay off in the long run.
While your initial goal might be to launch your product, service, or offer, that shouldn’t be the ultimate goal; it should be to launch something indispensable. By listening to customers, iterating nonstop, measuring everything, focusing on solving real problems, and remaining patient, you’ll find product-market fit and set your startup on the right path. Have you found your product-market fit yet? If not, start implementing these strategies today and move closer to creating a product that truly matters.