Counterfeits can hurt your business even if you don’t know they’re out there. A shocking two in five name brand products sold online turns out to be counterfeit, and many counterfeits are so convincing consumers don’t know they aren’t real until they have been injured or the product malfunctions. Small businesses especially can be hurt […]
Product Development
Start a Product-Innovation Revolution in 6 Steps—Whether You’re David or Goliath
In his book David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, Malcolm Gladwell upends the idea that it was surprising for David, the underdog, to vanquish Goliath, the almighty giant. Underdogs, Gladwell suggests, have certain inherent advantages. In business, companies might find themselves in either the David or Goliath position, and it’s important to […]
Can a Revolutionary Concept Be Too Late to Market?
Too many startup businesses, especially in the technology world, are built upon brand new concepts that have not yet been proven in the field against products from other companies that already have revenues flowing. As a rule, creating a product that does not fit into an existing space, cannot be defined against one or more competitors, […]
4 Strategies for Lowering Product Development Cost in a Startup
For a big company, lowering product development cost makes little sense. A big company has scale, and that means even small improvements in the product more than offset their cost. However, for a startup, product development cost is paramount. Startups have only so much cash and no revenue. Worse, most startups do not raise anything […]
Are You Still Using the RFP?
Since the beginning of modern business operations the Request for Proposals was king. As one of the only ways of reaching new vendors and partners, corporations relied on this traditional tried-and-true method as an industry necessity. Today, 95% of companies still use RFPs, but it seems more out of a lack of other and more […]
Should a Startup Outsource Product Development?
Outsourcing product development would seem to offer many benefits to a startup: lower cost, faster time to market and no fixed cost eating up runway every week. Product development companies that specialize in startups have reference designs and procedures that can significantly lower the number of hours needed to complete a project. They also have […]
Without a Foundation of Research, Product Development Falls Apart
Think about some of your favorite products of all time. Maybe it’s your new pair of noise-canceling headphones. Maybe it’s a favorite skin care product, or a pair of really well-designed insoles for your running shoes. Or maybe it’s a particularly amazing project management app a colleague told you about. Now, think about WHY those […]
A Valuable Product Strategy You Might Not Have Considered
As business owners, we are always thinking about more: How can we find more clients? How can we give our clients more than our competitors do? And of course, how can we bring in more money? One way to offer more is to bundle your offerings. But what if bundling doesn’t always make sense for everyone […]
How to Be a Great Product Manager
There are good product managers, and then there are great product managers. What’s the difference? Both good and great product managers (PMs) are more than competent when it comes to the basics, but our research has shown that the top 1% of product manager goes beyond the basics and also do the following: Market Validation: […]
Our Products Are Becoming Commoditized!
It seems every product, regardless of how complex, is destined for some level of commoditization. In virtually every industry, we look at products and solutions that were very complex. These require great product knowledge and extensive work with the customer to help them understand the product and its application. Over time, as products get greater […]
