Season 1 Episode 4 –
30 years and still learning - Having spent most of my career post leaving the Royal Navy working in consumer goods, primarily in the perishable food sector. I find it fascinating that I still learn every day, sometimes it’s a reminder of what I have forgot but for the most part, I learn something new every day… Today’s episode is about Passion & Product.
Why Passion?
As some smarter person than me once said, “If you are not passionate about what you do, go find something you are passionate about and do it well!”
Passion is important to be successful, why? Because when the shit hits the fan and the going gets tough, you need the passion to keep pushing on and to make you tougher than you knew.
Success is driven by passion, whether it be passion for the product itself, what it offers as an improvement on what is already out there or just the passion to do a great job with what you do.
Without it… go find something else to do.
I am not going to bang on about, develop products that do good in the world, give back to the community or tell you that the most successful products and brands were built on doing good for others, because that is not strictly true, some of the biggest brands are where they are because they want to make lots of money and that is OK. It’s still a passion!
Where does your passion come from and take you to?
Very often people develop their products out of their own need or thinking of a better option for themselves and then move to producing and selling it. Many ideas are dreamed up and never get past the single user. That’s not you, if you are reading this, you have either got an idea, developed a product, already producing and selling a product or want to expand your current sales into other markets. Whichever stage you are at you have had the passion to get you to that stage and your product is supported by that passion.
Which is the most important Passion or Product?
Neither they are both as important as each other, without Passion there would be no product or sales and without the product you would have nothing to be passionate about.
Does every product make it, even with Passion?
No, many products are thought of, some even get to the development stage, some find that no one understands it or wants it, some run out of money, some are ahead of their time, some are too late to market and don’t differentiate enough to gain traction, some cannot be made to suit the value others see in it.
Product Development – When is enough, enough?
There is no simple answer, if you are the richest person on earth you can keep going forever developing a product without sales or gaining traction, however, most of us and our organizations have a finite amount to invest. Don’t be too proud to admit the product is not good enough or wanted, don’t go down the whole of investing on top of investing. Just because you are passionate about it.
Always stay flexible and focused on delivering something that is the best quality you can and has a place in the market, even if it is a new market and product. Test it with your friends and family, try to sell it to people, the best NPD proof of potential is when someone spends their money to buy and then come back for more.
Don’t let your passion override the need to adapt and develop, let your passion be the driving force to make it right and successful.
Now it’s all clear as mud, need more, please ask.
In our next episode, we will be talking about Brand versus Commodity, thanks for reading and continuing your journey from Creator to Consumer.
Interested in reading or finding out more about selling your passion or our Creator to Consumer series please visit our Chatter page at www.beachcitysales.com/blog and click on Creator to Consumer or our general site at www.beachcitysales.com, for more direct interaction please e mail us at info@beachcitysales.com
Remember, whatever you know “good luck keeping up”