Pricing different
Going into a product-market gap allows you to play a different game from the rest. One thing you can start playing with is Pricing. In a product-market fit “This is how everybody else prices” (eg. costplus) “These are the prices.” Makes you think:How can i make my price “fit” into this place and still make a profit (????) or make it attractive for me to keep at it? WTF [Where’s The Focus] → Yourself In a product-market gap “This is how everybody else prices” (ceg. cost+) “These are the prices”….
Minding The Gap
To find a Product-Market Fit means you must fit into what’s already there. What will fit into the market?Only what’s known to fit. Nothing too different. Safe. You need to mold (fit) your product or offering to what’s in the market. A continuum of What Is. The focus is on what you offer, meaning “How could I fit my product into the market so it (the product) competes?” In a market where everything feels the same, what’s the tie-breaker? Price. When your customer doesn’t know how to compare…
The gap
It’s like diving a new site. You won’t know exactly what you’ll see, but have a rough idea. You know you’ll be underwater —that’s a good start. ???? You know what’s the water temperature on surface, and can guesstimate what it’ll be as you go deeper. So you prepare accordingly. A wetsuit, a drysuit or just a rashguard. You know you might encounter currents and surges. You’re aware of what changes happen. You know how long you can stay below water, depending on your equipment and depth. What you…
Mind the gap
When hearing “Mind the gap”, you’re supposed to be careful and watch your step… so you don’t fall into the void, into the unknown. What if you thought of it in a different way? Mind the gap → Look for that void, for that untaken space in your market where needs are unmet and step in.
Snorkeling or diving?
You’re in the Caribbean and have two options: snorkeling or diving. Which one would you choose? You snorkel Don’t need quite a lot of equipment: usually just your snorkel and fins. You stay on the surface, need lots of sun protection (your back will be under the sun for a loooong time), it’s fun, can’t really explore for longer what you see below (a starfish, an angel fish, coral…) It’s somehow easier to have a sense of orientation: stick your face off the water and look for landmarks. You…
How to find a gap
First, know what you’re really good at, ego aside. How? Do your personal inventory. A collection of the work you’ve done for clients and in your work life. Good and bad —the worst ones too, actually. Having that will give you a better glimpse of the big picture. This is how you start seeing the hidden patterns in what you do and how you do it. How you actually helped. What your contributions and impact are. In the big picture, they’re evergreen. It unveils the deep you, your core and what…
Filling the gaps
Filling a gap is simpler than filling a fit. With a gap, you’re free to take the space in any way possible. A square takes a square space in an open gap. With a fit, you need to mold yourself INTO the fit. A square trying to fit into a circle gap? Kinda weird… Mind The Gap Choosing to fill a gap can have you take and fulfill an unmet need and fill it in an unfit/unconventional way. A game with your rules. Better context modeling. A smarter way to play. Not dictated by the rest. The extra…
The Flip. How to claim a gap.
How to claim a gap. Once you’ve seen the gaps in your market, how can you claim it? Here’s an approach. These factors lever and build on one another to help you show your value, feel seen as a consistent / expert brand and have better sales conversations. They help you be the obvious choice —for the right people. Purpose Narrative Alignment Focus Flip Clarity Impact Going in-depth from tomorrow.
Un-best practices
Best practices. What the mass does. Proofed ways to get somewhere in a safe way, the way everybody does it. By the time something is a “best practice” what you’re seeing is the search for efficiencies. Scaled or not scaled, they try to get something as fast as possible, with minimum risk and in the safest possible way. This is how it happens: Try something that works. Play it safe. Get (some) desired results. Loss aversion kicks in. Low motivation of change (to keep things working)….
Markets and fits
What’s a market? Friend of the list, Jonathan Stark, sent this email where he described what a market is: “Market—a place, virtual or otherwise, where buyers and sellers gather to facilitate the exchange of goods and services.” There are a few things to add that also make a market work: They don’t have defined nor definitive rules —yet, they can be regulated. Players can come and go as long as they have 2 things: will AND resources. Markets can expand, contract or cease to exist. There are no…