It’s the best time of the year to set your product or app goals. But setting goals and reaching them are two very different things. Ask yourself these ten questions every step of the way. Will it increase your odds of hitting those goals and seeing your app or product on the market?
1. Do I understand the competitive landscape?
Without understanding the competitive landscape, you won’t know if you are a legitimate contender. Can you compete in the marketplace? How are you different from the competitors? And can you capture a significant market share? In order to answer these questions, you need to know who your competitors are and what they are doing.
2. Do I understand my audience?
Once you understand your competitors, you will want to define who your customers are. Ask yourself if you have something that your target audience is going to want in the exclusion or detriment your competitors. The important thing is that this question, just like all the others on this list, should be on your mind throughout the whole development process. Even when you go live and not just at the beginning of the process. You need to know what your customers are saying about you at any time. Be aware of both complaints and positive comments.
“The fight is never over. “ — Fred Cary
3. What’s my exact positioning?
Come up with a name and brand that stand out. You want to make a big entrance to the entrepreneurial world and you can only do it if you offer something different. At IdeaPros, the naming-process is very intensive because our goal is to come up with a name that will set you apart from the competition from the first time customers hear it.
4. Am I starting to become known in the social media circles where my target audience is?
Find the groups you suspect your audience is going to be. On Facebook, you can use groups and on Instagram, you can follow influencers that talk about your topic. Get there sooner than later. Don’t talk about your product become somebody who is known and has a lot of friends. Make comments, give likes to others, and start building the community that you will convert into customers down the road.
5. Have I established a plan to develop my product or app in a way that protects my interests and has a reasonable price?
When we start thinking about our new product or app, we envision this wonderful thing, but we don’t ask ourselves what’s going to take to engineer and manufacture it. You want to be competitive in all aspects including the price, but that doesn’t mean you should be the cheapest. If you have the highest quality materials and you’re offering something that is above what everybody else offers your price can be higher, but it can’t be astronomically high. A good way to find out what your customers are ready to pay is to do surveys. Don’t forget to continually check what your competitors are doing, what pricing are they using, do they have sales and when.
“Remember you’re a general and generals don’t win battles without understanding the enemy.” – Fred Cary
6. Have I been saving the necessary capital required to launch and to sustain growth?
Start thinking about the financial side of things early on. The worst thing you can do is launch, start getting traction, and then fail to fill orders. Work with the retailers or wholesalers because you are not ready for them. Get a separate savings account, so when you are ready to launch you have the budget to continue your business. You can read more about how much it costs to get a product to market on our blog.
“Nothing worse than being successful and not being able to fund that success.” – Fred Cary
7. Am I prepared to handle success?
What if you get many more orders or downloads than you expected? Not fulfilling orders can damage your reputation and it can be very hard to recover from. Success is something you need to prepare for.
8. Am I prepared to cultivate my customers into passionate advocates of my brand?
There’s a big difference between having a customer and having a passionate advocate of your brand. When you connect with people, they become your loyal customers not only will they buy more products, but they will also tell all their friends. Be available to your audience, hear what they have to say, and nurture the relationships.
“It costs a lot more money to cultivate a new customer than to keep the ones you already have.” – Fred Cary
9. Am I prepared for delays or even failure?
If what others define as a failure you see as an opportunity for an upgrade, you are a true entrepreneur. You should also be a bit crazy to overcome doubts that will come from every direction. The first time something doesn’t happen the way it’s supposed to these doubts will increase. This is when you should ask yourself what you did wrong, what can be done differently, and how you can approach it from a new angle. When you are sure about your place in the competitive landscape and you have something your customers need, it is not a failure. It’s an opportunity to improve.
10. Am I thankful every single day that I have a New Year’s resolution that is meaningful?
As an entrepreneur, you’ve made a decision to change your life and no matter how much time it takes – stick with it. Don’t let anything keep you down and discourage you. If you have something that’s a really good idea, sooner or later people are going to want it. Then you will be able to do what makes you happy for the rest of your life.
The “Idea Pros” at IdeaPros have the resources, experience, and tools to help you at this step or any step in the entrepreneurial journey.
We partner with entrepreneurs at any stage and who are ready to invest their ideas. Apply for an interview and let’s explore partnering together.