Your biggest competition is being irrelevant

‘The biggest competition when you are innovating is being irrelevant.’

These are the words from Sean Ellis in an interview with Lenny Rachitsky.

But what does he mean by this?

Sean is saying that in the early days of building a truly innovative product, your biggest risk is that you don’t solve a need for your users. No matter how innovative or impressive your product is, it is bound to fail if there is no need for it.

This trumps everything else, hence it should be your starting point.

Therefore, before anything else, identify your target market and the problem you are trying to solve for them.

To define your target market, think about your potential customers’ behaviors and interests. For example, they could be beauty lovers who shop online or movie enthusiasts who go to the cinema at least once a week. You’ll also need their demographics (age, gender, location) and the size of the target market, both locally and globally.

Next, identify the problem you are trying to solve for them. This is the key step, and it will ensure that you don’t fall into the trap of being ‘irrelevant’.

If you already have a solution in mind, run some tests to ensure that the problem you think they have actually exists. This can be done very cost-effectively.

One method is to go online to see if people are talking about the problem you are trying to solve. There is so much conversation online nowadays that you are bound to find something. If not, then you should wonder if the problem really does exist (unless you are in a very specialist field).

Another way to check demand is to see if anyone searches for a solution to your problem online. You can do this by doing a Google search and seeing how many results you get back. Alternatively, you can use Google search tools, like the Keyword Planner. These will give you an indication of the demand, and it will surface potential competitors.

While these are valid approaches and a good place to start (particularly as you can do them quickly and cost-effectively), they are not as powerful as going to your target market and engaging with them directly. Talking directly with your users is critical. This will give you the deepest insight into their pain points and problems.

This is where the real value lies, solutions that solve genuine problems.

Good luck and be relevant.