Lesson 5: Screen the Proposed Solution/s Based on Viability, Profitability, and
Consider Product Fragility
Customer Requirements
Target Market
● Target Market can be defined as the potential buyer of the product.
● According to Philip Kotler, target market is well defined set of customers
whose needs the organizations plans satisfy.
● Business sectors identify and describe them as the ultimate and final users
of the product.
Categories of Consumers
1. Price Shoppers
● Interested in the best deal for a product
● Commonly called as praktikal and price conscious.
2. Brand Loyal Customers
● Believes that their present brands are superior to others and are willing to
pay fair prices for products just to acquire it.
3. Status Seekers
● People who are interested in prestigious or called (signature) brands or
known product categories and willing to pay at any price.
4. Service or Feature Shoppers
● This group seeks a high value on customer service and product features and
will pay for them.
5. Convenience Shoppers
● People who value nearby locations, long store hours and are willing to pay
for easier shopping.
● Is the product idea practical?
● What obstacles or challenges lie ahead?
● Will it need support services of sime kind to ensure customer satisfaction?
Tactical Aspects of Your Product
1. Consider Product Size and Weight
● The size and weight of your product will have an impact on how much you
sell.
● If the product you’re considering is large, awkwardly shaped or heavy, you
may have high shipping costs.
● If you can provide your customers with free, fast shipping, you significantly
increase your chances of winning their loyalty.
● Free shipping is tightening profit margins across all industries, making it
harder to stay competitive and offer a leading customer experience.
● By having a smaller product, you can minimize shipping costs and satisfy
your customers’ desire for quick and easy delivery.
2.
● Fragile products need extra attention when shipping to ensure fragility
shouldn’t completely dissuade you from offering a certain product, but keep
in mind that opting to sell fragile goods will increase costs for shipping,
inventory and customer service. Make sure they arrive in perfect condition.
3. Consider SKUs
● Stock Keeping Unit, typically refers to color, size, gender and other
variations of a single product. The more SKUs you have, the more attention,
time and money you will need to spend in tracking and maintaining
inventory.
4. Consider Product Lifespan
● Having a consumable or disposable product is often perceived as a great
choice from a business perspective because you can improve the way you
earn customers’ loyalty and ultimately, build your business off of repeat
sales.
● There are many successful businesses out there that sell perishable products.
However, their road to success didn’t come without challenge — like
storage, shipping and production.
5. Consider Seasonability
● Seasonality means that there are different levels of demand for a product
throughout the year.
● There are different aspects to consider, including where your target
customers are located (if you’re selling internationally — keep in mind your
winter could be their summer).
● To make sure you can manage a seasonal product or capitalize on holiday
buzz, you’ll need to determine your own business downtime, and work to
offset expectations and costs during those periods.
6. Consider Price Point
● You’ll want to make sure your prices are still attainable for your target
customer.
● When you determine the market viability, keep in mind how you can
maintain functionality and quality.
7. Consider Competition
● That’s not to say that you can’t be successful selling a commonly found
item, but the more niche your products, the less competition you’ll have —
and the more leverage you have to win a large share of the market. Don’t let
this deter you after all, competition can be a good thing.
8. Consider Yourself
● On top of choosing a product that’s viable in the market, you should select
one that you actually enjoy yourself or one that solves a problem you have
personally experienced. Building a successful business often requires long
hours, and those can either fly by or drag on endlessly depending on how
passionate you are about what you’re selling. Be passionate, find yourself a
niche and start selling to other passionate people just like you.