How do you know you’re building something customers will actually buy?

Featuring: Ron Erd, Advisor and Growth Executive

One of the things I enjoy most about my “Walks on West Cliff” is the opportunity to exchange ideas with experienced industry leaders who have spent decades helping companies grow.

This week, Ron and I discussed a question that every hardware startup should ask before investing heavily in product development:

“How do you know you’re building something customers will actually buy?”

Developing a new product is a significant investment, and the biggest risks are often determined long before production begins.

Many entrepreneurs are familiar with the quote from Field of Dreams:

“If you build it, they will come.”

That philosophy worked for visionaries like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk. But for most companies, success comes from deeply understanding the customer.

Ron shared a simple but powerful framework that helps evaluate product opportunities before major investments are made:

What problem does the product solve?

Ron likes to distinguish between VITAMINS and ASPIRIN.

A vitamin is nice to have. You might miss it, but you’ll survive without it. An aspirin is a must have that solves an immediate, painful problem. If you’ve ever had a splitting headache while traveling, you’ll gladly pay several dollars for two aspirin at the airport.

The most successful products solve aspirin-level problems vs. vitamin-level inconveniences.

What alternatives do customers have?

Every customer always has an alternative. Even if it’s inefficient, manual, expensive, or simply “good enough.” Understanding the current solution is essential before claiming yours is better.

What is the relative value of solving this problem?

If a customer switches to your product, what is the net gain? Will they see more revenue, lower costs, or saved time? Even if a solution is an aspirin level problem for someone in the customer organization, it may not be big enough in relation to the whole to be adopted. If the value created is tiny compared to the size of their overall business, most customers won’t risk changing their behavior. The reward must outweigh the friction of switching.

The Bottom Line:

You don’t need to wait until a product is fully built to predict its success. Most of the insights regarding Problem, Customer, and Value can be uncovered early on, which gives your product the best possible shot at sales, adoption, and long-term profitability.