Product Development

Product Development is a process that is never finished. It is a constant dance between users and the people tweaking the solution. The product/service offered can be a slight change or a completely new way of getting the desired result. It can even be a new result that hadn’t been thought of. Or simply rolling out best practice. Seeing how a problem is solved elsewhere and introducing it to a new community in a way they recognise. This requires a deep understanding of the community being served and an ability to observe and listen. It requires awareness of the alternative solutions being offered. What are the challenges a community is facing? Who are the decision makers in that community? How can you help them? What resources would you need to do that. Product Development also involves identifying the skills, knowledge, and resource gaps you might have. That isn’t the end. Once you know the gaps, you can fill them. Product Development isn’t about you, it is about the people being served.

Weaver - Van Gogh (1884)

Share of Wallet

The hardest part of making money is finding customers. It is the same thing as getting a job. It is preferable to get to come back tomorrow rather than looking for new employers every day. Ideally you are able to get a “share of wallet”. This is the amount of a customer’s regular spending they will direct to the problems you solve for them on a regular basis. Like a salary. That’s where relationship building and trust come in. We all specialise. We have to. So we are incompetent in an almost infinite number of ways. But we understand our problems. Especially our problems that are recurring. If we know someone can solve them, there is no reason to look for greener grass. Particularly if the problem is not the thing we are passionate about, but a distraction from our true purpose. If the relationship with the problem solver makes us better at the things we care about. A “Target Market” is a group of people (1) with money, (2) with the problem you have the skills and knowledge to solve, and (3) who you understand well enough to see the world from their perspective. It’s no coincidence that people with wallets get seen.