How can you creatively identify new markets for your products or services?

In my journey as an entrepreneur, defining a clear value proposition was a pivotal moment. Early on, I was passionate about my product and believed it offered something unique. However, I soon realized that my perception didn't always align with my customers' needs. I embarked on a thorough market research journey, conducting surveys and interviews to understand what my target audience truly valued. This process uncovered insights that reshaped my value proposition, making it more customer-centric.

Defining the problem sets you can solve or have solved across the collective experience of your resource pool is a great start. This exercise will undercover experiences that can be converted into problem-set case studies that expand the appeal of your brand to the market. Problem set similarities at the persona level are also a great way to identify new markets, i.e. a CIO of a Software company and a CIO of a Marketing company may face the same problems with managing the information flow and data siloes within their companies. Understanding the personas of multiple industries and what problems they face will uncover new ways to position yourself as an expert and define a new value proposition for a new customer type.

When looking to expand to new markets, you indeed have to think about what is the value you can offer and who would be able to benefit from it the most. It often helps if we put ourselves in other people's shoes and think about who might need what we offer.

In my entrepreneurial journey, exploring adjacent markets proved to be a game-changer. I initially focused on a niche market, providing specialized software solutions for a particular industry. While we had success within that niche, I knew there was room for expansion. To explore adjacent markets, I conducted in-depth research, analyzing customer data and market trends. This process uncovered opportunities in related industries that faced similar challenges but weren't yet served by our solutions.

Start at the end customer of your customer, what do you know about how they service their customers? A hidden gem in an adjacent market may appear to you when thinking deeply about your customer's customer. An example of this could be if you provide services and solutions to Human Resources departments, you have an adjacent market in the Staffing Industry if your solution or service impacts the hiring process which both the HR department and Staffing Industry share ownership of. This is also true with sales and marketing, executive leadership and operations, technology and operations, development and quality assurance. Look at the big picture of the economics of your current industry focusing on the partners, suppliers, and competitors.

As facilitator of 100+ innovation projects all over the world, I love to share a CHECKLIST: 15 TIPS for THE PERFECT BRAINSTORM: 1. Define a relevant challenge 2. Create with the sponsor an assignment 3. Create momentum 4. Invite people for whom it is relevant. 5. Invite people for content as well as decision-making 6. Include outsiders 7. Invite the senior problem-owner 8. A special venue 9. An psychological safe environment 10. Never at the office 11. Spend twice as much time on the convergence - as on the divergence process. 12. Apply various idea-generating techniques 13. Keep up the pace 14. Appoint an expert facilitator 15. Make the output concrete Extra Tip: Check the FORTH innovation method for a structured approach.

In my entrepreneurial journey, the process of generating new ideas for markets beyond our current focus was both challenging and rewarding. We were entrenched in our niche, providing top-notch software solutions for a specific industry. To explore entirely new markets, we organized brainstorming sessions with our team and engaged in creative thinking exercises. This led us to discover potential applications for our technology in markets we hadn't considered before.

In my entrepreneurial journey, evaluating and prioritizing our ideas for new markets was a crucial step. We had generated several innovative concepts that seemed promising, but we needed a structured approach to determine which ones to pursue. We conducted in-depth market research, gathering data on market size, competition, customer needs, and potential barriers. We also sought feedback from industry experts and potential customers to validate our assumptions.

One significant lesson we learned is the importance of adaptability. Not all assumptions were accurate, and we had to pivot our approach several times. However, this iterative process allowed us to refine our offering, better understand customer needs, and ultimately achieve a product-market fit. The key takeaway is that experimentation and validation are not linear processes but ongoing cycles. Embrace the feedback, be prepared to make changes, and persist in refining your solution. This iterative approach can lead to successful expansion into new markets and sustained growth.

I think being prepared to take risks with your product ideas is key. Not everything will neatly fall into a wall scripted path, even when you do lots of research, ideation and product / market for tests. There a no substitute for having a courage of conviction.

In my journey as an entrepreneur, the process of experimenting and validating new market ideas was both enlightening and challenging. We had identified a potential adjacent market for our software products and were eager to explore it. To validate our assumptions, we created a minimal viable product (MVP) tailored to the needs of this new market segment. We engaged with a select group of early adopters, closely monitored their usage and feedback, and iterated on our product based on their insights.