One reason why you shouldn't focus on re-inventing the wheel
Good evening everyone!
I have noticed an increasing number of discouraged entrepreneurs asking out loud - "how can one stand out/succeed these days, when every niche is oversaturated, every problem is being solved, every idea is being copied, etc."
My short take on this is - these days it's less about the product, but more about the users. Let me explain (I will be speaking from my experience of working on a B2C product/service):
Partially it is true - as time goes by, the world is becoming more and more interconnected, more open, and the so-called 'perfect competition' keeps driving the costs down, so it's becoming increasingly easy and cheap to actually build or copy the product. This obviously leads to an abundance of products and services in every single industry. All of this means one thing - the real battle now is to win each user's 'heart'. And in order to do so, you've got to really care for each and every user from the very start. And I am not talking about great customer service here.
Even though it is discouraging to work on something that is already out there (or very similar), try focus not on the product itself, but on the existing product's (i.e. competitor's) users:
- Are they happy with the product?
- How much are they involved in the development of the product?
- Do founders really listen to them and make relevant adjustments?
- Do users even care to provide feedback? etc.
I think we have come to the point where users, especially the very first ones, should be considered to be builders too, and should probably be even incentivized to be more involved in shaping the product as time goes by. Now is the time when founders switch from saying "WE will build a product to solve YOUR problem" to "Let's build a product TOGETHER to solve OUR problem".
User inclusiveness - is probably the right word to use here.
How do you go about it?
Start small (but always think big, of course!). Target your hometown's bus drivers' community, or your school's/university's lecturers, or your area's dog/cat owners, etc. LISTEN TO THEM, identify their problem, find the solution, CRAFT IT FOR/TOGETHER WITH THEM. Take huge care of these users first, and then scale up little by little by adding more users, but maintaining the same level of care:
- constant feedback loop
- amazing customer service
- direct communication (e.g. discord group)
- incentives for users to throw in new ideas
- fair prices, etc.
The greater connection you develop with your focus group / initial user base, the greater are the chances of building the product that people actually need.
Don't worry about reinventing the wheel, and don't worry about building YET another task management tool. Do worry about building the most user-inclusive product there is.
Please let me know if this was useful and whether you agree/disagree. Looking forward to a healthy discussion ;)
I agree with starting with a particular community (eg. bus drivers). Usually, startup frameworks focus on finding a big, recurring, money-making problem, which, of course, is needed to help your company exist and grow. Recently I've been thinking that perhaps, the first step should be finding a type of person (then users, and later clients), you would like to serve, and make happy. Find a problem this group has, and go build a solution for them.
100% agree on this:)
you are right but some times we need to focus on old and hard steps for making progress too.
I think the problem with "reinventing the wheel" as a phrase is that it's loosely defined. That's like saying you need to be a "great' founder. What does "great"?
I think the problem with phrases like these is that they'll predisposition you to think in terms of black-and-white. You're either reinventing the wheel or not. The reality is more..shades of gray. So it would be nice if someone creates an article with different levels of "reinventing the wheel" and when the dangerous level starts.
All of this has been said but the actual problem is never addressed. All good advice is in the author's head but wasn't tested in practice.
For most users, it is incredibly difficult to identify a problem and come up with a solution. Most people have to see "something" to be able to get into the right 'mindset'.
I agree. This is all good advice, but you have to start with users who have a real problem and who are willing to pay to solve that problem. You can build a great product for bus drivers and work very closely with them, but if the problem you're solving isn't a big deal or they don't really want to pay money, well, you haven't really gotten anywhere.
That's why I think it is crucial to work step by step with your focus group, being in a feedback loop all the time with them.
Thank you for the advise @NikUf!
no worries!:)
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Thanks for the reply! Yeah, 100% agree, the focus group (say the very first 20 people) should be interviewed one-on-one to know for sure that they are THE right users, not just users. At least that's how we tackled it a few years back, which was very helpful. I have noticed that once the very first RIGHT users get involved, and are listened to, they become more curious about the project and are willing to help more as the time goes :)
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it's a dream to find a problem that has almost no solutions yet, haha! thanks a lot, you too!:)
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are you working on it right now or already launched?:)
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sounds amazing! looking forward to your success posts ;)