Becoming a master

One of the biggest mistakes a company can make is not defining what it stands for. Companies that lack this, try to impress their user with their ability to do a lot of things really shittly rather than doing one thing super well.

I like to call companies that fail because of this lack of purpose: “(COPYCAT) + x”. “(COPYCAT)” because they essentially recreated something that was already existing with just a minor change, may it be in user interface, color scheme, or something small like that. The “+ x” is the cool differentiating factor. Sure your app might be faster than the existing solution, but does it provide enough value for me to ditch what I’m already using for your app? Often, founders think that they’re user interface (or whatever nuance your app has) can substitute for other factors that they lack. When asked what their product does differently, they say “well, it does [x] differently, but look how better my product is than [existing solution]. If you’re faced with this type of dilemma, the solution is an easy fix.

Rather than focusing on the aforementioned nuance, focus on the value that your app has that differentiates yourself from the rest. Zone in on that. Pull all your attention and energy into it. Make your product the go-to place for this new value that you’ve created. And then, delight your users with the clever UI, imaginative color palette, or whatever it may be. Promise users only one thing and then enlighten them with even more things. Users like to be delightfully surprised, not disappointed. If any part of your product isn’t better than the existing solution (in terms of end value), it should not be the focus of your company. Never mention it in your marketing. Focus entirely on the differentiating factor, and if users buy/download your product, they’ll come expecting the new thing (that everyone else lacks) and will be delighted that you can do other things even better.

This brings my to my final point: make your product binary. Binary means: 0 or 1. Your product should do one thing really, really well, and whatever this factor is, should be the main focus of your marketing. For example, lets say a chef decides to open a french fries store because he feels all the other american food restaurants in the area serve terrible fries. He creates the store, and his fries are amazing; but before launching, he feels the need to add hamburgers to the menu of fries because what’s fries without a burger? He doesn’t know much about making burgers, but still calls the store “Burgers and fries” rather than “French Fry Fantasia”. When he opens, he advertises the restaurant as the best place to eat american food. Unfortunately for him, as customers come in, they are disappointed with the tasteless burgers, and some of them didn’t even try the fries. The chef hoped that he could win the customers over with fries but only to find out they went unnoticed by some, even though the ones that did try them found them quite delightful. The owner soon had to close the restaurant because his restaurant that specialized in “american food” had very few options, and some products were not on par.

What could the chef had done better?

Focus entirely on the fries. Advertise the restaurant as the best place for fries. Sure, add burgers and whatever you wish, but let that be a supplement to whatever the user comes there for. If you know you make good fries, and promise new users good fries, they will come to your store searching for good fries and will be delighted! But if you make mediocre american food, and promise great american food, they will be disappointed.

Point:

Focus on doing one things really well, and delight users with even more.