Tag: new business development

Failure In New Business Development

New business development
consists of trial and error.
Very few people
develop the best product or service
for their target market
the first time.

We develop a product.
We test it.
It fails.
We revise the product.
We test it.
It fails a little less.

We repeat the process
again and again
until we get it right.

Seth Godin
shares

“Failure is a way
of discovering
one more thing
that customers didn’t want,
and perhaps,
learning a bit about
what they might want.
By iterating
without tears or fears,
organizations are able
to discover things
about their future customers.”

Expect the first few tries
at new business development
to fail.

Don’t become emotionally attached
to those products/services
and
don’t become discouraged.
It is part of the process.
Failure is supposed to occur.

If They Don’t Use The Products…

A loved one was asked
to bring vodka to a party.
He doesn’t drink alcohol.
The asker knew that
yet still assigned him this important task.

There are hundreds of types of vodka.
They are all different,
will taste different in mixed drinks.
The loved one picked one bottle at random.

Is it a good brand/type?
He doesn’t know.

The asker won’t know that either
until the loved one
arrives at the party.

You might be shaking your head
right now,
thinking how the asker
should have clearly asked someone else
to buy the vodka.

Yet we do this ALL the time.

We talk about our business ideas
to people
who would never use those products/services
and then we VALUE
their completely random feedback.

Don’t ask someone who doesn’t drink alcohol
to bring alcohol to a party.

And don’t ask someone
who would never use your products/services
their opinions
on those products/services.

Leading Vs Managing

As business builders,
we are both leaders
and managers.

We lead,
innovating,
offering new products or services
to the world,
striving to inspire others,
to convince them to support
our visions.

But we also manage,
assigning tasks,
telling people what to do,
supervising processes.

Both roles are needed
but they are very different.

Seth Godin
shares

“Management uses power and authority
to get people to do tasks
you know can be done.
Management is needed,
but management is insufficient.

Leadership is voluntary.
It’s voluntary to lead
and it’s voluntary to follow.
If you’re insisting,
then you’re managing…”

We should know
when we are leading
and when we are managing.
They require different techniques,
different mindsets.

Breakthroughs Bundle

A couple of days ago,
it was announced
that a malaria vaccine
was being rolled out
en masse in Africa.

Yesterday,
it was announced
that a COVID-19 vaccine
would soon be rolled out
for children aged 5 to 11.

There is currently a race
to develop
HIV vaccines.

Multiple breakthroughs in niches
tend to happen
over the same short time period.

Sometimes, it is because
there’s media focus on the industry.
We merely find out
about the breakthroughs then.

Sometimes, it is because
there’s investor interest in it.
There’s increased funding
and that funding leads to
discoveries
and
important work being done.

Sometimes, it is because
a new development (like mRNA delivery)
makes other breakthroughs possible.

Sometimes, one breakthrough
inspires other breakthroughs.

And sometimes, it is merely a coincidence.

This is one of the many reasons why
we need to stay current
in our niches.
We need to be informed.
Because there will be multiple breakthroughs
over a short time period
and that will significantly change the niche.

Stay current.
Let others inspire you.
Push forward.