What is required for a product to succeed over a long period of time?

At the heart of any successful product lies a thorough analysis and some luck. Let’s look at the factors that define whether a product succeeds or fails:

• Market fit
  Unfortunately, a lot of promising ideas fail because they don’t meet the market need. The product/market fit concept is fundamental for the startup world. It defines the interplay between a product and a customer. When your customers begin to sell your product for you by sharing their positive experience with others, it is the evidence of a true market fit. You need to build a product that people not only love, but need and use daily. That defines the product’s value on the market.
• Scalability
  Your startup may be called scalable if it can grow fast without significant loses. Growth is one of the fundamental goals, which we’ll describe later, and is highly desired by investors and product managers. Rapid growth rates mean your idea is a rising star. If a startup does not scale, it will lead to the opposite outcome — shrinking. In this case, the idea turns into a shooting star, which, unfortunately, are not actually capable of fulfilling a wish.
• Money flow
  This success factor is closely linked to the previous one. If your startup scale rate is too slow, there is a risk of running out of cash and finding yourself in the graveyard of deceased ideas. Even if you already have a minimum viable/lovable product or prototype but experience a rapid drain of cash, this may indicate a poor growth rate or an inappropriate development strategy. In this case, you’re doomed to fail unless substantial changes are implemented.
• Focus on the right metrics
  Weird though it may sound, proper use of startup metrics is also one of the fundamental success factors. Products with a good focus on various types of analytical and statistical data have a better chance of staying afloat in the intensely competitive ocean that is the startup space.