When I started my product development business there was no Internet. Hard to believe since the Internet has been growing and becoming part of everyone’s lives for so long now. Today many entrepreneurs starting out think the Internet is the only tool available to them in their businesses and rush to get a Web site on line.
Truth is, the Internet is only one tool in your arsenal. Don’t be afraid to pick up the phone and make direct contact with people you want to meet with. In this age of e-mail and voice mail, many people still prefer human contact. You will still need to travel to meet with key people in your industry and decision-makers so you must remain flexible.
In order to grow my business I had to use all the resources I had available at the time and I’ve been around long enough to see the telephone, the telegraph, fax machines, beepers and hand-held data recorders become valuable tools in business. And while they are all tools we have come to depend upon, they will not be enough to get new business and sustain your company’s growth. You will still need a plan to determine what your objectives are as far as your product and/or service is concerned.
For instance, what is the product or service you will be offering? Do you want to be a local company or an international company? Do you want help generating sales? Finding customers? Finding new employees? Investors? How will the Internet as a tool help you achieve these goals?
The answers to these questions will help determine ways you might eventually use the Internet in your business, but as I’ve said you will also need other business tools. This exercise will become the basis for a marketing or product plan. I believe this plan, and I know it sounds oppressive to a creative person, will be important to help you learn the direction in which you want to proceed.
The plan should very thoroughly cover all aspects of how you intend to bring your product (or service) to market. While it should be serious in nature, unless you are looking for outside investors, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a formal marketing or product plan – certainly not the first run-through. It can be in outline form. There, I’ve let you off the hook.
This plan also can be valuable, even if you are a one person company, in determining whether you are actually ready to launch your product (or service – or whether there is more work to be done.
Product developers often get mired down in what they think is the most important issue; and that is that they have invented a terrific product (or service) and the market is just waiting for them to make it available.
Actually, you should be focusing on the broader issues like your competition, pricing, projected sales and potential markets so when you are ready for your product launch you will already have the details you need on hand to determine a marketing strategy!
Article – Copyright 2000 Stanley I. Mason. Syndicated by ParadigmTSA
