⬅ Three Key Points to Know before Product Development

My name is Quinston and today, I am going to share with you the 3 things you need to know before you go out and build that amazing product. These are the core ideas that I have learned, not from someone else, but from my own failures.

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The first point is to...

1. Pinpoint your target audience.

We hear this all the time and you might think that this is absolutely basic. I mean what kind of entrepreneur would go about spending millions of dollars and not know who their audience is? But in reality, this happens more often than you think. When you have no idea who your customer is, you basically don't know who you are building for. There is no feedback loop and all of your efforts are misdirected. You ask the wrong questions and - naturally - get wrong answers.

YOU NEED TO KNOW WHO YOUR IDEAL CUSTOMER IS.

Never take this for granted. I cannot stress this enough. So, how would you go about solving this problem?

• Create a persona (or multiple) and ask questions - a lot of questions - to all the people that fit that persona.
• Use online research tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ubersuggest (shoutout Neil Patel), Stastica along with the Google Searchbar (maybe Bing?) among other things. These tools will give you a good understanding of the size of the market and the demand for your product.
• Bonus Tip: We were in a meeting with a mentor once, and we pulled up a word editor. Our mentor freaked out and told us something that I value to this day… use spreadsheets. I did not understand the importance of Excel or Sheets then but now? I don't know how I would go about my day without one.

The second point is to...

2. Avoid doing everything yourself.

Are you a one-man army? It might stroke your ego to be a force to be reckoned with. I hate to burst your bubble though but the market does not care. It is known.

Doing too many things simultaneously, makes you spectacular at none.

I am not saying that being the Jack of all Trades is not a good idea. What I am saying is your should find the right people for the job. Your job - as the creator - is to create the best product for the market.

No one cares about how you got there. Results matter.

Of course, if you don't have the budget or maybe you have the time to learn all the skills you need, go right ahead. You have my blessings. I do that all the time on my personal projects.

The third points is to...

3. Solve a real problem.

Yes, I am serious. I know this might be hard to understand. It was incredibly hard for me to understand. I remember sitting around with my co-founders and talking about a product idea that is "great to have". Creating products that are "great to have" is nice, but you know what's really crazy?

Creating products people need to have.

The keyword here is "need". The idea here is that - through your intense research - you have figured out that you have a product that people need. A product that solves a genuine problem. Something that people cannot live without or even if they can, your product makes it easier to live.

Solving real problems creates real value.

Remember when I was talking about spreadsheets earlier? Yeah, that's a product that I can't live without. Or maybe - lets say - even if I could, the quality of my work will suffer. Isn't that insane? That is what real problem solving is. That is what real value is. This is why Microsoft is so successful.

Okay, I have a bonus point for you…

4. BONUS: Be relentlessly customer-focused.

How do I know this? No, it's not because of a business book I read. I have seen this happen in-front of my eyes. My company sold a product last year that made over 90% of the revenues and still does. I wouldn't say it's a massively world changing product and honestly, we could have done a better job. But considering the market at that point of time, it was the perfect offering.

This product was built on the sheer needs of our customers.

All we did was build what our customers told us.

We re-engineered that into a replicable system with minimal modifications and sold it to other customers in similar niches. That is literally it. Since then, I have become a firm believe in the idea that you need to be severely, undeniably, unshakable and relentlessly customer-focused. Build what your customers need and you will never have a sales problem.

You see this being repeated by Jeff Bezos who is the CEO of - arguably - the most customer-focused company on the planet. Even today, if you go to relentless.com, it redirects to Amazon. I mean, that is the absolule end that you have to do to create a truly world changing offering.

That's all the knowlege I have for you at the moment. Do like the video if you liked it. Dislike the video, if you didn't. Share the video with your friends, co-founders and teammates and don't forget to subscribe!

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Thanks for watching and I will see you in the next one. Peace.