27/08/2017
Conducting market research and segment analysis is one of the most important parts of the starting process when looking to start up a new business or when launching a new product or service. At Reading Street Studios our market research process will focus your efforts towards the audience helping you attain the results you require.
Josh Kaufman explains 'the Iron Law of the Market' in his highly recommended read 'The Personal MBA'.
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"Even the most ingenious idea will fail if no one wants it - creating something no one wants is a waste. Find ways to serve existing markets vs. building something, then finding a market to sell it to. This âiron lawâ is cold, hard, and unforgiving - ignore it, and you will fail.
What if you throw a party and nobody shows up? In business, it happens all the time.
Dean Kamen, a renowned and prolific inventor whose creations include the Sterling engine, the worldâs first insulin pump, and water purification devices, poured over $100 million into the development of the Segway PT, a $5,000, two-wheeled, self-balancing scooter that he claimed would revolutionize personal transportation "in the same way that the car replaced the horse and buggy.â
When the Segway was made available to the public in 2002, the company announced that it expected to sell 50,000 units every year. Five years into the business, the company had sold a total of 23,000 units - less than 10 percent of the initial goal. (The companyâs financial records are private, but itâs safe to say they donât look good.)
The problem wasnât that the product was poorly designed - the technology that makes the Segway work is extremely sophisticated, and the benefits are significant: the Segway is a convenient, green urban car replacement. The problem was that very few people cared enough to spend $5,000 on a goofy-looking alternative to walking or riding a bike - the massive market that Kamen expected didnât exist."
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