There is no such thing as perfection when designing a product, offering a service or unveiling an idea. There are products in use today that lead the way in terms of innovation and market share that are peppered with bugs, riddled with errors and sometimes just fail.
One of the most important lessons that any entrepreneur needs to learn is that the challenge of releasing a product doesn’t lie in its perfection but in knowing when it is perfect enough.
The quality conundrum
You can spend hours, years, months polishing your solution to perfection before you place it gently into the hands of your customers but it is very likely that, by the time you are done, so is the market.
It has moved on with your competitor and they are probably about to be disrupted by someone else. Instead of focusing on how perfect your product is rather focus on its quality.
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If you always listen to your customers, then you will always ensure that your product is relevant and of a quality that maps back to customer needs.
The balance in the equation
So how can you find a balance between delivery and perfection? You need to understand your market, do plenty of research into your customers and their pain points, and you need to implement feedback loops that help you to ascertain precisely what people are looking for.
Build your solution with minimal fittings and extras, rather add those alongside customer feedback. They cost money, make sure the money is spent on the right features rather than the ones you think the customer wants.
Iterate and adapt
The constant iteration of a product is what ultimately drives a solid solution that remains relevant. When you get to the point when your product offers a tangible service, run a few pilot projects and use the data to inform the next steps of product development.
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Adapt to what the market wants, be agile in your approach, and focus on quality.
Build in the fat
The journey towards the perfect product will never end so you will need to keep the cycle of feedback and iteration going and this will require funds.
Ensure that you can consistently invest into your product by ring fencing funds that are dedicated to addressing issues and refining your solution.
Always put profit back into the business as this allows you to adapt on demand and use customer feedback to create solutions that the customers want, use and need. They may not be perfect, but they will be in demand.
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