The 5 questions you need to ask before you launch your product-based business.
Can you sell your product at a competitive rate
It is vital you can sell your product at a competitive rate or people will not buy it.
You are selling value so the more value you add, the more you can charge.
It is vital that your product has a USP (unique selling point). This is so you can stand out from your competitors and offer your customers something new.
Without a USP your product won’t look any different from the rest.
Your USP could be:
There are many ways to make your product unique. You can find out what USP your product could have by asking your target market and researching your competitors.
Have you got a marketing and branding plan
Marketing and branding is vital when you launch a product.
There are many creative ways to market a product but, the most important thing is to have a positive ROI (return on investment).
This means your marketing should cost less than the profit you earn from selling goods that were marketed using the marketing.
Packaging and shipping can be the difference of a profit or loss and customer satisfaction.
You need to ensure the packaging and shipping cost doesn’t eat too much of your profit margin and ensure the packaging is good enough to look high quality which will improve the customer satisfaction.
Packaging and shipping the first impression of your customers experience with your product and business. Therefore, your product needs to be shipped fast and securely with packaging that looks like effort has gone in to ensure it is a quality product.
You can see from the picture below how I packed my product, I adding the business logo on the top of the box which I printed out on paper and glued on the lid. Everything else is plain and simple.
To improve I could have added tissue paper and other decretive packing inside the box to improve customer experience.
Have you asked the public if they would buy your product?
It is important you research if there is a market for your product because the worst thing for a new start-up is to create a product without market research and finding out nobody will buy it.
I created my product and did online market research. The problem with my approach was I had hadn’t had any opinions from my target market.
It is important to get opinions of your product from people who buy similar products or products from your industry because it helps you avoid these mistakes.
Ask people who have just bought items within the same industry of your product as they will be the most qualified to give you feedback because they know the market. Additionally, they are much more likely to tell you if there is something wrong with your product or if they wouldn’t buy it unlike your friends and family who will be biased.
When you ask people about your product it is important to ask why they gave their answer. This will allow you to understand what is good and bad about your product so you can understand how to market your product and how to make your product better.
Originally published at https://www.seanbarrett.uk on April 4, 2022.