Entrepreneurs tend to start their business for one of two reasons: some see a gap in the market for which they then want to develop a product or service → so called market driven innovation. Mpesa – Kenya’s mobile money platform – was originally developed to bank the unbanked… now it’s a suites of products that have literally conquered the world.

Others have a great idea for a product or service for which they then create a market → so called product/service driven innovation. Think Apple for example: who ever thought they would need an IPad before they were even made? Ok, you can argue that Apple was also very good at identifying unmet needs in the market, but they needed the unexpected adoption by sales agents to grow it from niche adoption into the global market it has today.

SPARK OF THE DAY

Whichever of the two is your starting point, your business strategy should always have elements of both: going to market with an inferior or undifferentiated product will be as shortlived as trying to convince an unwanting market of your innovative product. 

If you have a great idea for a product, make sure to do your market research and if you’ve started from a gap in the market, make sure to create that superior product.

It’s never the one or the other: innovations need both excellence in production and in marketing!