I was recently at Gary Vaynerchuk’s VeeCon and was able to interview Kevin Plank, founder of Under Armour, I asked him for his one piece advice for business owners and he said – Find out if your product can sell. Get out of the basement and sell. There’s a lot packed into his advice, see our full interview here.
- Take action – stop waiting
- Don’t be afraid of rejection
- Don’t focus on those who are not buying but focus on those who ARE buying
- Don’t let perfection stop you from launching
Perfection is something many entrepreneurs strive for when creating their products or services. They want everything to be just right before members of the public can see what they have been working on.
This can be a stumbling block that ultimately holds their business back.
Kevin Plank, the founder of Under Armour, famously encouraged business owners to launch their products at a stage that is simply “good enough” rather than waiting for perfection. Let’s delve into the concept of creating something good enough and launching it.
Perfection
Entrepreneurs often have a strong vision for their products. They have a clear idea of what they want to offer the market, and they work hard to bring this vision to life. However, when they try to make everything perfect, they run into a common problem. They end up spending months, even years, trying to get everything just right, which ultimately causes them to miss their window of opportunity.
Just launch, when the product is “good enough”. By doing this, entrepreneurs can get their product out there, start getting feedback, and making the necessary changes based on the feedback.
Let People Test It
It can be helpful to remember that getting your product out there doesn’t always mean getting it to the masses right away. It can be as simple as getting a handful of people to try it out and give you feedback. This provides insights that could be beneficial in improving aspects of your product that you never even thought needed refining. Kevin Plank launched Under Armour by getting a US football team to test his compression shirts. From there, he realized that there was a real need for his products in the sports industry. This approach of starting small and building your way up is vital to the success of any product.
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Feedback
It is essential to note that getting feedback is only one of the benefits of launching a product that is good enough. Waiting for perfection can cause you to miss important opportunities, ultimately leading to missed profits as well. If you keep waiting to perfect your product, someone else might come up with something similar, and perhaps better, and launch it before you. As a result, you could lose your window of opportunity and spend years catch up with them.
Learn Your Market
Another advantage of launching a good enough product is that it allows you to learn about your market. How will people react to it? What parts of it will people love, and what needs improvement? All of this information is essential in determining if there is even a market for your business or if you need to adjust your marketing approach.
When you launch your product, you might initially think that nobody is interested. But remember that the essential thing is to have something out there and to keep testing. Even if it doesn’t take off right away, you can use the feedback you receive from early adopters to make small changes until it finally connects with the market. By doing so, you will learn more about your market and be better prepared to launch a successful product in the future.
Launching something that is good enough is vital for small business owners and entrepreneurs that are trying to bring their products to the market.
Because perfectionism often stifles creativity, it can lead to missed opportunities and leave a business lagging behind its competitors who dared to launch first. Starting small and testing your product or service in a safe and controlled environment can provide valuable insights and guide you when making changes. Remember, nothing ever starts perfect. Improve upon something that already exists, watch the feedback flow, and make your product a success. Being good enough is what starts you off, and then working towards perfection helps you to take your product or service to new heights!
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