I've learned one important lesson from all my customer development and ideating-- have accessible customers.
You got a brilliant idea that can revolutionize farming but live in the bay area and all your friends are techies? You should probably not do it, unless you're willing to drive out and physically meet dozens of farmers.
You want to make enterprise software, but never worked at a big co and have no strong leads? You probably should not do it.
This is not to say that it can't be done. However, having access to customers is the lifeblood of your company. Every new feature, every feedback, every push, every marketing campaign, every email, every meeting, every phone call revolves around them. If there is too much resistance between you and your customer -- they live in a different geography, they don't use tech very much and are industry laggards, getting in touch with them is extremely difficult -- you should probably try something else.
Yes, this is a wuss' attitude. Yes, with enough time and aggressive networking, you can meet anyone. But I think that strategy should be reserved to filling in holes in your network-- finding that one adviser, business partner, investor, etc. If it is a pain to reach every customer, will you still have the same resolve 6 months from now? Will you subconsciously look at what you can easily control and build product in the dark instead of reaching out to customers? Not having access to customers introduces a very very large risk.
There are many ways around this -- cold calls/emails x 1000. Or build a product tailored to a stranger's needs and have them tell his buddies in the same industry to use it if its solid. These, among other strategies, can work. But if you're not willing to reach out to these distant customers early in your startup, then you're giving up on the foundation of your business.
So either hustle like mad in unfamiliar waters, or do something within your grasps. There is no in-between.
Time to write this: 7 min. Success! (See previous blog posts on why).
You got a brilliant idea that can revolutionize farming but live in the bay area and all your friends are techies? You should probably not do it, unless you're willing to drive out and physically meet dozens of farmers.
You want to make enterprise software, but never worked at a big co and have no strong leads? You probably should not do it.
This is not to say that it can't be done. However, having access to customers is the lifeblood of your company. Every new feature, every feedback, every push, every marketing campaign, every email, every meeting, every phone call revolves around them. If there is too much resistance between you and your customer -- they live in a different geography, they don't use tech very much and are industry laggards, getting in touch with them is extremely difficult -- you should probably try something else.
Yes, this is a wuss' attitude. Yes, with enough time and aggressive networking, you can meet anyone. But I think that strategy should be reserved to filling in holes in your network-- finding that one adviser, business partner, investor, etc. If it is a pain to reach every customer, will you still have the same resolve 6 months from now? Will you subconsciously look at what you can easily control and build product in the dark instead of reaching out to customers? Not having access to customers introduces a very very large risk.
There are many ways around this -- cold calls/emails x 1000. Or build a product tailored to a stranger's needs and have them tell his buddies in the same industry to use it if its solid. These, among other strategies, can work. But if you're not willing to reach out to these distant customers early in your startup, then you're giving up on the foundation of your business.
So either hustle like mad in unfamiliar waters, or do something within your grasps. There is no in-between.
Time to write this: 7 min. Success! (See previous blog posts on why).
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