New Product Development: There’s No Such Thing as Perfection

There’s a famous quote, often attributed to Voltaire, that goes something like: “Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.”

Entrepreneurs, founders and CEOs are often highly driven professionals who seek perfection in their work. This striving for perfection can be a valuable asset at times, but it can also be a tragic flaw in other moments. The reason is captured in the quote above — if we’re always looking for perfection, we might just miss out on good things that can move our business forward.

I recently experienced this with one of my new endeavors, Ovalsquare. Ovalsquare is an agency that provides technology development, embedded marketing and other creative services. As a new company, our first product launch felt weightier than I knew subsequent product launches would feel. I wanted to demonstrate that our team could do high-quality work, that we could meet a market need with the right solution — that we could be perfect.

But, not only can the quest for perfection be tormenting, it’s also misguided. Your new product development strategy should include a little bit of embarrassment. Embarrassment? Yes, embarrassment. If you’re not just a little bit self-conscious about your product, if you’re not a little insecure and highly aware of existing flaws, you may be missing out on 3 huge opportunities.

See below to learn more about these 3 opportunities.

Opportunity No. 1: Stay Ahead of the Market

In the pursuit of perfection, market opportunity will pass you by. In business, no matter the industry, windows of opportunity are constantly opening. But those windows close quickly if you don’t take decisive action.

If you drag your heels on product development, seeking to achieve perfection, you may find that:

●     Competitors have launched faster, claiming a dominant portion of market share.

●     Short-term conditions for profitability have changed, rendering your product obsolete.

●     Product development costs have spun out of control, growing to the point that they outweigh the business opportunity.

If you can move quickly and condition yourself to accept a product that’s good enough, the opposite occurs. You find that your company is positioned to gain market share, that you realize short-term opportunities for profitability, and that product development costs stay aligned for success.

Opportunity No. 2: Destroy Your Assumptions

In the pursuit of perfection, you’re held captive by your assumptions. You know that moment when you have a sensational idea, the one that’s going to drive your business to new heights. In that moment, whether you realize it or not, you generate a huge number of assumptions about your product and its target market.

But you never know when your assumptions could be completely wrong, which is why you should take advantage of the opportunity to destroy them. Just consider these new product development examples from the past:

●     Bubble Wrap was originally created to serve as textured wallpaper.

●     Nalgene water bottles were originally created for use in laboratories.

●     Listerine was originally created as a surgical antiseptic.

●     Kleenex was originally created to remove makeup and skincare products.

The inventors of the products listed above assumed many things about their ultimate target markets — about the day-to-day issues they face, about what they might see in the product, and about how the product might ultimately be used (and sold at profitable margins). Over time, though, those assumptions were slowly destroyed to the benefit of the companies that developed the products. Bubble wrap became a valuable tool for protecting fragile items in transit. Nalgene water bottles found popularity as highly durable containers for hiking and other outdoor activities. Listerine became a widely used oral rinse. And Kleenex became the go-to product for runny noses.

Start with assumptions about your product, about your target market, about how your product will ultimately be used. But don’t lean too heavily on those assumptions. Be open to shifts and changes in your product plan. When necessary, destroy your assumptions in light of helpful feedback. You never know when you could be sitting on a gold mine, if only you have the courage to process new information and make changes.

Opportunity No. 3: Get the Valuable Feedback You Need

In the pursuit of perfection, there’s no time to stop and gain feedback from your target market. But feedback is what you need most in those early new product development stages. If you spend time, money and energy on developing something that you consider “perfect,” you risk finding out that real customers see serious flaws in your product. If that’s the case, you’ve invested a lot of time, money and energy that’s gone to waste.

There’s a great case study on successful customer research: Febreeze. Procter & Gamble first introduced Febreeze in the 1990s as a spray that absorbed and neutralized odors. P&G marketed the product as such — and Febreeze sat on shelves without many purchases. The company even considered pulling the product altogether.

Enter market research.

Two P&G researchers visited a home to meet with a woman who lived with 9 cats. During the course of their visit, despite being overwhelmed by the scent of the cats, the researchers came to realize that the woman couldn’t smell the odor at all — she had become accustomed to it.

And so the researchers focused on solving a problem they didn’t realize they had: How do you sell an odor absorbing and neutralizing spray to buyers who don’t realize the odor exists?

The P&G team revisited Febreeze, adding refreshing scents that would serve as “positive reinforcement.” And P&G started marketing the product as a final flourish to be added at the end of a cleaning session, or as a quick-and-easy freshening method to be used in the home. Sales of Febreeze skyrocketed.

If you spend too much time perfecting your product as you envision it without getting feedback from customers, you may never realize the flaws in your product. Feedback can change the product itself, or it can influence how you market and sell it.

The 3-Step Process for Launching a Product

How should you proceed then when you have an idea for a new product? Here’s an oversimplified look at the 3 essential new product development stages:

1. Embrace the embarrassment: Develop your product into a bare bones version that’s good enough. Recognize your embarrassment, but also recognize that perfection isn’t helpful at this stage.
2. Tweak based on feedback: Test your product, run trials, get the feedback you need from your ideal customers. And then start tweaking. Without this feedback, you’ll find that your assumptions weigh you down and destroy your opportunity for success.
3. Repeat and move closer toward perfection: Think of this process as a cycle. Once you tweak a little bit based on feedback, go back to your target market to learn more. And then tweak again. Be nimble and push your teams to move quickly. The faster you can run through test-trial-feedback-tweak cycles, the better — and the closer to perfection — your finished product will be.

Forget about perfection. And, trust me, I know how hard that is for driven entrepreneurs, founders and CEOs. But suppressing your need for perfection is highly valuable in new product development — and it’s the key to realizing your product’s full potential and profitability. Set aside your fear of failure, and know that no one gets it right the first (or even the second, third or fourth) time. Successful products require iteration, so keep going, keep pivoting and keep releasing.

Your Lessons From New Product Development

What have you learned from the new product development process? I’m curious to learn more about other companies and what they’ve discovered through research and testing. Have you found yourself surprised by what your customers have shared as feedback? If so, get in touch to let me know.