Understanding Market Need

Org stroked his hairy chin. “This core competency business sounds tough. What say we order some feta pizzas, tribe?”

“I’ll take one!” Zoot shouted.

Today’s FIRE! Point:
Start the planning process with a market needs analysis. Identify the underserved markets in your industry. Your new product/repositioning efforts should be based on a combination of positioning/relative niche sizes for current products, new category creation possibilities and your company’s internal core competencies.

FIRE! in Action:
Untapped Market Niches are EVERYWHERE

Mark Reitman runs “Hot Dog University,” a $300, two-day course in the mobile food business. Though the question, “Who would pay to learn how to sell hot dogs?” immediately springs to mind, Reitman reports the course is profitable and he plans to expand it.

Next week: Product talk continues with a discussion on the importance of developing products in line with your core competencies.