Shortcuts to Launching a Consumer Product
This article was originally posted on trala.me
In her blog, Penelope Trunk suggested that if you want to launch a consumer product, don’t sell your product directly to the consumers. That’s the hard route because you have to build your own sales channel, which requires branding and marketing. And if your main skill is in product design, then you don’t want to spend all your time and energy marketing to consumers.
Instead, you should just focus on making a prototype and sell it to retail buyers. Those buyers have a lot more influence than a single consumer. So get the prototype done and if your product sucks, you can make another prototype and try again.
The reason I like this strategy is because it will make your failure cycles go fast, which is one of the key factors in finding huge success. It’s rare to have a big win on your first try.
One person who effectively implemented this strategy was Sara Blakely, the founder of Spanx, a company that makes shapewear products. When she first started out, Sara presented her idea to every hosiery mills in North Carolina and was turned down by every representative. They did not see the value of her idea.
Sara began making the product prototype herself and had her mother and friends personally tested the garments. With their feedbacks, she made adjustments to the prototype. Later that year, Sara presented the prototype to a representative from Neiman Marcus, where she changed into the product in the ladies restroom in front of the buyer to prove the benefits of her product.
That meeting was a success. Sara’s product was sold in seven Neiman Marcus stores a result of the meeting. Soon after, Bloomingdales, Saks, and Bergdor Goodman began to carry it in their stores as well. To top it off, Oprah Winfrey even endorsed Spanx on her talk show. Spanx is now valued at $1 billion.
The key message here are:
- Don’t sell your product directly to the consumers.
- Focus on making a prototype and sell it to retail buyers.
- If your product has no bite, make adjustments to the prototype and try again.
The way to get through failure and find success is to keep trying when other people would stop. Sara Blakely reached her success by doing so.
