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What is customer development?

What is customer development?
When we build products, we use a methodology. For software, we have many - you can enjoy a nice long list on Wikipedia. But too often when it's time to think about customers, marketing, positioning, or PR, we delegate it to "marketroids" or "suits." Many of us are not accustomed to thinking about markets or customers in a disciplined way. We know some products succeed and others fail, but the reasons are complex and the unpredictable. We're easily convinced by the argument that all we need to do is "build it and they will come." What's wrong with this picture? Steve Blank has devoted many years now to trying to answer that question, with a theory he calls Customer Development. You can learn about customer development, and quite a bit more, in Steve's book The Four Steps to the Epiphany. Some notable bloggers have made efforts to overcome these obstacles. Still, I feel the need to add my two cents. Get out of the building. My final suggestion is that you buy the book and skim it.

What should everyone know about the Business Model Canvas? - Quora An Introduction to Business Plans A business plan is a written description of your business's future. That's all there is to it--a document that desribes what you plan to do and how you plan to do it. If you jot down a paragraph on the back of an envelope describing your business strategy, you've written a plan, or at least the germ of a plan. Business plans can help perform a number of tasks for those who write and read them. So what's included in a business plan, and how do you put one together? Sound impressive? The first is the business concept, where you discuss the industry, your business structure, your particular product or service, and how you plan to make your business a success.The second is the marketplace section, in which you describe and analyze potential customers: who and where they are, what makes them buy and so on. Breaking these three major sections down even further, a business plan consists of seven key components: How Long Should Your Business Plan Be? Who Needs a Business Plan? Startups.

The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses: Eric Ries: 9780307887894: Amazon.com: Books Lean Startup and Design Thinking: Getting the Best Out of Both In the world of entrepreneurial incubation, design thinking, a user-centered way to conceive and create a successful product, is often compared and contrasted with the lean startup approach, which is more engineering-based and quantitative. The two methods are far from mutually exclusive, however, as both seek to effectively serve customers’ needs through a systematic, low-risk path to innovating in the face of uncertainty. To explore the places where design thinking and lean startup intersect, we organized a conversation between two faculty members who help run the Stanford Graduate School of Business Startup Garage, where students design and test new ventures. Stefanos Zenios, the Stanford GSB Investment Group of Santa Barbara Professor of Entrepreneurship, joined lecturer Matthew Glickman, founder of BabyCenter and Merced Systems to discuss the science of startups. Matt Glickman: I echo that. Zenios: Matt makes a couple great points. Stefanos Zenios

What is industry analysis? definition and meaning - BusinessDictionary.com When looking for land to build your company you must make sure you do and Industry Analysis, to be sure this is the kind of company you would like to enter into.. make sure this is the type of work you can build a company in.. are sales up.. are sales down... can you make profit, can you hire employees. You also will need to see how many other companies out there are like yours... this all goes into you industy ananlysis. 19 people found this helpful The industry analysis concluded in determining that the region was a good choice for locations to build our new factory. 16 people found this helpful Before purchasing the pig farm from Ezekiel, Biohazies R Us conducted an in depth industry analysis on profit margins for developing anthrax. 14 people found this helpful

Tips from SCORE: Business planning - News - capecodtimes.com - Hyannis, MA By Cape Cod SCORE Question: I am starting a business and want to create a business plan. What mistakes have others made in planning their business? Answer: The task of creating a business plan is awesome, because it requires the business owner to dig deep, research, and validate the proposed business concepts. Not writing one: The most common mistake is not to write a business plan at all. Not having a clear vision: The reason for creating a plan is to create a road map to make your vision of a business into a reality. Not having a clear business model: If the basic goal in a business is to generate a profit, then you have to have a model that is thought out well and can be executed to show positive results. Not doing the requisite research: Answering the question, “Will this work?” Ignoring realities: You have a great idea. Not creating financials: When you create your business plan, have you created a cash flow statement?

Competitive Analysis - Small Business Encyclopedia Definition: Identifying your competitors and evaluating their strategies to determine their strengths and weaknesses relative to those of your own product or service . A competitive analysis is a critical part of your company marketing plan. With this evaluation, you can establish what makes your product or service unique--and therefore what attributes you play up in order to attract your target market. Evaluate your competitors by placing them in strategic groups according to how directly they compete for a share of the customer's dollar. For each competitor or strategic group, list their product or service, its profitability, growth pattern, marketing objectives and assumptions, current and past strategies, organizational and cost structure, strengths and weaknesses, and size (in sales) of the competitor's business. Answer questions such as: Who are your competitors? A quick and easy way to compare your product or service with similar ones on the market is to make a competition grid.

Planning key to growth beyond first business years | BiS | Business in Savannah News Congratulations! You have made it past the first couple of years during which many small businesses fail. We know how hard you have worked to get to this point and how many hours you have physically put into your business to succeed. In fact, most small business owners do exactly that; work in the business rather than on the business. Growth requires planning. You need to do some research. Your role in the business may change. You have to operate by the numbers. Evaluate your current operations and be willing to make process improvements. Becky Brownlee and Rachel Alpaugh can be reached at the UGA SBDC if you would like to discuss growing your business.

Identify Your Competitive Advantage: Some Examples - dummies By Erica Olsen You should be able to state your competitive advantage succinctly, both in your strategic plan and when talking to others about your business. Learning from others can be helpful in identifying your own competitive advantage. Check out the following two examples to see how these organizations define their uniqueness. Pershing General Hospital is a 125-bed, primary-care facility located in a rural area with no other hospitals within 50 miles. By offering services that are based on its competitive advantages, it can maximize the funding it does receive. Provides the one and only, high-quality emergency, primary care, and retail pharmacy within its service areaStaffs the hospital with personnel who have superior knowledge to support efficient operationsOffers the best care possible by maintaining its full staff of highly-experienced nurses Surfrider Foundation is a grassroots, nonprofit, environmental organization that works to protect the oceans, waves, and beaches.

BUSINESS PLAN METHODOLOGY | VP of Strategy The Business Plan Methodology refers to a step-by-step framework for creating a Business Plan that maximizes the use of an organization’s resources in pursuit of it’s objectives. This methodology is presented as a series of phases for addressing key Business Plan components, each of which are critical to complete before moving on to the next phase. In general, the methodology starts with a statement of the identity, objectives and basic company information. It then flows through phases of analysis components, then strategy components, and finishes with tactical plan components. As a general rule, each component of the Business Plan should be 1 – 2 pages in length. Company Profile The Company Profile is a brief statement of a company’s identity and objectives, and the starting point for putting together an effective Business Plan. Situation Analysis Market Analysis The Market Analysis is an investigation, study and assessment of a market that a firm plans to sell products or services in.

The 3 Essential Things Needed in a Founders' Agreement Q: How do you suggest structuring a founders' agreement? -- Shine Reuben A: When getting a new enterprise off the ground, there is nothing more important than having a clear agreement amongst the founders around a handful of key issues that are critical to your ability to safeguard the future viability of your new enterprise and to raise venture money. These key issues cover three really important areas: the roles and responsibilities of the founding team, equity ownership and vesting and IP ownership. Confused? Related: Dividing Equity Between Founders and Investors 1. I’m not saying you shouldn’t create an environment in which major decisions are discussed and driven be a consensus. 2. Remember that you typically will have 90 percent to play with, as you most likely want to set aside at least a 10 percent option pool for future rank and file hires. Related: How to Get the Drop on Legal Mishaps When Starting Up Remember that you’re not doing this just because investors expect it. 3.

Problems of declining industries Economies are constantly evolving. Industries which once employed many people and were very successful can later become uncompetitive and unprofitable. The UK has seen the rise and fall of many manufacturing industries. For example, the UK coal industry used to employ over a million men in 1920. Problem of declining industries Firms going out of business will lay off thousands of workers increasing unemployment. Deindustrialisation in UK Relative decline of UK manufacturing Declining industries and market failure Declining industries are an aspect of the free market. High rates of unemployment in a particular region can make it difficult for the unemployed to find work. Political pressures of declining industries A declining industry has a very visible impact on the local community. Benefits of declining industries Sometimes the declining industries have hard, dangerous jobs. Related posts

Types of business entity A business entity is an entity that is formed and administered as per commercial law in order to engage in business activities, charitable work, or other activities allowable. Most often, business entities are formed to sell a product or a service. There are many types of business entities defined in the legal systems of various countries. These include corporations, cooperatives, partnerships, sole traders, limited liability company and other specifically permitted and labelled types of entities. ≈ public limited company (UK, Ireland and the Commonwealth) ≈ Ltd. ≈ limited partnership, = Unlimited partnership = Chartered company = Statutory company = Holding company = Subsidiary company = One man company = NGOs However, the regulations governing particular types of entity, even those described as roughly equivalent, differ from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. When creating or restructuring a business, the legal responsibilities will depend on the type of business entity chosen.[1] Albania[edit] B.M.

“Competitive Intelligence” Shouldn’t Just Be About Your Competitors In April 2010, Mars, one of the world’s largest privately owned businesses, embarked on a breakthrough initiative. For the next year, Jessica Eliasi, then the director of Competitive Intelligence at Mars Chocolate, travelled the world running “competitive simulation” games with local market teams from Russia to Mexico to Turkey to England. These simulations were not some computer-based hypothetical games. They were intense, intelligence-based, role-playing immersion workshops that got leaders to see the market from a different and unfamiliar perspectives. Such games have become more popular among leading edge corporations. But Jessica’s approach was still unique. By connecting the dots across a series of markets, brands and competitors, Jessica identified the key global insights that provided both risks and opportunities for the global firm. This is just one example of how Mars is trying to create and sustaining agility through competitive intelligence (CI).

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