How do you reduce the chance of Product Failure?

How to Reduce the Chance of Product Failure

Most products fail. As many as 90% of them according to some reports - this eye watering statistic clearly indicates that new products can be a risky venture!

So why do products fail and how can you ensure that your product has the best chance of success?

Why Do Products Fail?

The Oxford College of Marketing outlined five key reasons for new product failure.

·????????A lack of independent & unbiased research into the market and target audience

·????????The product falls short of claims made and suffers bad reviews

·????????A lack of substantial consumer education and understanding

·????????Simple margin rules make bad pricing policy

·????????A weak or a poorly executed launch

So now we know the key reasons for new product failure, how can we prevent it?

Strategies to Reduce the Chance of New Product Failure

Now that we understand the most common reasons for failure, we can explore some simple strategies that should put your product in the best place for success.

Competitor Analysis

You need to understand the competitive landscape so that you truly understand where you fit in, and you can differentiate yourself from other businesses offering a similar prospects. By knowing who your competitors are and what they offer, it makes it easier to find your own niche and space within the market, and then craft a product strategy around those opportunities.

Customer Analysis

As well as understanding the competitive landscape, you really need to understand the pain points, problems, and needs of your customers. Which of their problems are you going to be solving and what is the most convenient way to do this? If your product won’t have a major impact on your target customer, and make their day-to-day easier, they are unlikely to find it valuable enough to keep using, and paying, for it.

You should build a robust customer persona through research and also speaking directly to your target consumer. This allows you to establish great relationships and win customers early on.

Market Analysis

As well as analysing competitors and customers, you should analyse the market as a whole environment too. This includes things like regulatory environments that may impact your product strategy, potential affiliate marketing and partnership opportunities with non-competitive or complimentary products, potential future competitors, and the wider economic environment and how this impacts buyer behaviour and disposable income levels.

There are many market factors to consider when designing new products, and as your business grows these will become increasingly important and will require investment into resources.

Clearly Defined Product Vision

Your product vision should be a clear statement of the purpose of your product and why it matters. It should be bold, ambitious, and elicit feelings of want and desire in your target audience. It should explore how it will impact your customers lives and/or business and set you apart from all of your competitors.

Clear Product Positioning

You need to develop a clear, concise positioning statement which describes who your solution is for, how it helps, and how your solution is different from your competitors. This needs to be as specific and precise as possible. If you’re having trouble defining any of these stages, it’s usually a good idea to stop and go back to the start and work on each section thoroughly. This is a great method for identifying and resolving any gaps in your positioning.

Creating a Minimum Viable Product

An MVP aims to deliver a product in the shortest possible time, with reduced effort to access market learning sooner and gather as much validated learning as possible. Using these learnings helps you to avoid the setbacks others have faced previously and focus on different, successful approaches.

The method means that in your quest to launch a successful product or business, you can get there successfully quicker than your competition, giving you a competitive edge.

Summary

Creating new products is hard, but the steps outlined above can help reduce the chances of new product failure by putting you in the best possible position to really understand the wider environment, market and customer base, and enabling you to position and strategise your product in the most effective and efficient way.

But a product is only as good as the teams behind it. If you’re looking for exceptional Product talent to drive the successful design and launch of your next product or service, get in touch today.

Maxwell Bond are the leading tech, digital, and product recruitment consultancy for the North West and London, providing perm and contract staffing solutions across all areas of Product Management. For access to exclusive, available talent who are looking to join businesses just like yours, reach out today for a free, confidential chat.

Alternatively, you can browse our latest list of Product opportunities on our website.