How to uncover white space opportunities with massive potential

One powerful way to innovate in times of rapid change is to look for elusive white space opportunities??

White space exists in the gaps between current customer, product or market needs. White space opportunities are found in non-obvious places: unmet and unarticulated customer needs, emerging markets and gaps created by new technology advances, to name a few.

They're not easy to discern, which is why so few entrepreneurs and companies seek them.?

To capitalize on a white space opportunity, a company may need to develop a new business model. Example: When Apple developed its iPod, it was strictly a computer company. To fully leverage an opportunity in the music industry, it had to develop relationships with major industry labels and build an entire infrastructure (iTunes) to deliver it.

Try these white space exploration strategies

Here are some thought exercises you can use to help identify white space opportunities:

Ask existing customers for feedback. What parts of their needs are not being met or are currently under-served?

Visually outline your major customer groups or markets using a mind map. Then explore the gaps between them.

Create a matrix with all of your products and services on one axis and each of your customer or market segments on the other one. Color each square in which you're providing value to each segment.?

At the end of this visualization exercise, you'll be able to see new opportunities to cross-sell and upsell your products and services.

Ask your company's salespeople what inquiries they get from prospects that can’t be filled by your current products and services. What needs do they imply? Could you tweak an existing product or service to fill them?

Observe your customers using your product. Where do they get stuck? What do they appear to be trying to do - but can't quite accomplish with it? What about the outliers who are using your product in unique ways? What can you infer from their behavior?

Do a competitive analysis. What customer segments and needs are each of your competitors targeting? What gaps do they have in their market coverage? Could you take advantage of them?

Conduct market research. What emerging needs, pain points and possibilities do your ideal customers face? Look for weak signals that may be harbingers of bigger changes in the years ahead. How can you start helping them NOW to prepare for that future?

Try future-casting. Imagine a richly detailed scenario that describes how your ideal customer will solve a specific problem 5-10 years from now. How will the solution they use be different than today?

Don't worry about whether or not specific details of your imaginary scenario are accurate. What's more important is to anticipate the direction your industry and its customers may be headed. You can always conduct experiments to build out the details.

Look for analogous situations and approaches in other industries, and brainstorm ways in which you can adapt them to yours.

It's time to sharpen your white space "radar"

What steps will you take to discern, develop and capitalize on white space opportunities to grow your career or company?

Because so few of your peers and competitors are exploring white space opportunities, they represent a potentially massive opportunity for you to add value and become indispensable to the people you serve.