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THE MOUSETRAP FALLACY
| Guest post by: David Flannery |
Article Overview: There are 3 big areas in which the Mousetrap logic does not stand up to scrutiny. It is easy for start up business people to get blinded by their new product and business, as they have worked hard to get it to where it is today and they believe in it, so by default they believe that everyone else should feel the same way, unfortunately they seldom do.
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Free Download - Advertising: the nuts and bolts of making it work: Step Five: Make sure your ad does not look like your competitors. By David Flannery |
THE MOUSETRAP FALLACY
I have just arrived back from the UK, having met with a couple of my clients that are situated just outside London. During a social event with them I got talking to a gentleman who has just started his own company, when I enquired what he was doing as regards marketing and PR, his reply was " I don't need to use either marketing or PR because I have a superior product". The minute I heard this I knew I had run up against an old flawed argument that I have heard many times before.
This flawed logic is based on the following quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson;
"If you build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a pathway to your door"
In other words, "I have a better product than my competitors, so everyone will buy from me"
This logic falls apart for the following reasons
· If the marketplace does not know you exist and have created a better product, they won't know there is a pathway worth beating to your business.
· What if the marketplace does not need your product, no matter how good it is? The simple and cheap mousetrap invented over a 100 years ago, still catches mice.
· What if your better product is not valued over the existing product, how would you know?
As you can see there are 3 big areas in which the Mousetrap logic does not stand up to scrutiny. It is easy for start up business people to get blinded by their new product and business, as they have worked hard to get it to where it is today and they believe in it, so by default they believe that everyone else should feel the same way, unfortunately they seldom do.
Whether you are a start up entrepreneur or a seasoned business person, please do not fall into the logic of the Mousetrap fallacy, keep in touch with your customers, find out what they really want and need and then give it to them. Setting up a business and bringing a product to the market is the easy part, now you have to find someone to buy your product.
You already know that without a customer there is no sale, without a sale there is no money and without money you have no business.
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Article Tags: profit growth, small business, start up business
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About the Author: David Flannery RSS for David's articles - Visit David's website David Flannery is the founder of Profit Growth Dynamics International helping companies methodically and systematically increase their sales and profits, reduce their customer losses to their competitors and separate themselves from their competition. He is the author of The Profit Crisis Exposed report and the soon to be published book The SETE Five Step Action Plan For Doubling Your Profits. For more information on growing your business profits visit http://www.massiveprofitgrowth.com now Click here to visit David's website   Its As Easy As Good Better Best Its All About Value CADD The Reason Your Advertising Isnt Working As Well As You Need It To 12 Steps to Implementing Anything in Your Business Step Eight Follow UpFollow UpFollow Up The Five Most Dangerous Trends In Australian Small Business Today |
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