Growth & Strategy Conversations
Every new product competes for cash, shelf space and your attention.
Adding a product feels like progress. It also means more stock, more suppliers, more explaining to customers and more things that can go wrong. This conversation helps owners ask whether customers want it, test it before stocking heavily, price it properly and set a date to review it honestly.
Explore this page6 sections
A new product is a bet. Most owners place it without writing down the odds.
Ideas for new products usually come from a supplier’s sample, a competitor’s shelf, a customer’s passing remark or the owner’s own taste. Any of these can be a good starting point. None of them is evidence that enough customers will pay enough to make the product worth carrying.
The cost of a failed product is not only the money. It is the cash locked in unsold stock, the time spent, and the confusion for existing customers. This conversation is about reducing that cost through small tests and a clear definition of success.
What the conversation covers
34 topics across 7 areas. Seven steps from idea to review.
Who Is It For, and What Problem Does It SolveStart with the customer.5
- Which existing customers would buy it, by name
- What they do today instead
- Why they would switch or add it
- What they would stop buying if they buy this
- Whether it needs a new kind of customer
If you cannot name five people who would buy it, it is not yet a product idea.
Adjacent or DistantHow far from what you already do.5
- A variation of what you already sell
- A product for the same customer with a new need
- A new product for a new customer
- The skills, suppliers and rules each one needs
- Why distance from your core raises the risk
Testing Before StockingEvidence before inventory.5
The point is to find out what people do, not what they say. Saying “it looks nice” is free. Paying in advance is not.
- Asking ten customers directly, and listening to what they hesitate about
- Pre-orders or advance bookings
- Samples, small batches or a limited trial
- A small test run at one outlet or in one channel
- A result you decide on before the test begins
Costing and PricingAll costs, not just the obvious one.5
A hypothetical example with made-up round numbers: a product bought at Rs 80 and sold at Rs 100 looks like a Rs 20 margin. After Rs 5 of packaging, Rs 5 of breakage and returns, and a Rs 5 discount to move it, the margin is Rs 5. The session uses participants’ own products and numbers.
- Purchase or making cost, packaging and wastage
- Transport, storage and breakage
- Discounts, returns and credit given
- Your own time and any extra staff time
- A price customers will pay that still leaves a margin
Cash, Stock and Supplier TermsHow much money goes in, and for how long.5
- Minimum order quantities from the supplier
- How long the first batch takes to sell
- What happens to unsold stock, and whether it can be returned
- Whether the new product eats into sales of an existing one
- What you will stop selling to make space
Cash tied up in slow stock is cash the business cannot use elsewhere.
Rules and Quality to CheckDepends on what you sell.5
- Whether your kind of product needs licences, approvals or standard marks, for example for food, cosmetics, electrical items or children’s products
- Labelling and packaging requirements
- Checking that the name or brand does not clash with someone else’s
- Warranty, returns and customer-complaint handling
- Whom to ask before launching
This is awareness, not advice. Check the current rules for your own product with a professional.
Launching and ReviewingDecide how you will know.4
- What you will tell existing customers
- A 30, 60 and 90 day review, each with one number
- A rule for when to stop and clear the stock
- What you learned, written down for next time
What participants leave with
- A one-page product test plan for one idea of their own
- A full-cost price check for that product
- A cash-tied-up estimate
- A short list of rules and approvals to check
- A 30-60-90 day review template
What this session is not
- A product design or sourcing service
- A market research report
- Legal or regulatory advice
- A promise that any product will sell
How the session runs
A small group, two to three hours. Each participant brings one product idea they are considering. The facilitator takes the group through the seven questions with a worked hypothetical case, and each participant then applies them to their own idea. The group asks questions in turn, particularly about the test and the stop rule. Participants should leave with something they can try within a week, or a good reason to drop the idea.
What your students leave with
- A clear statement of who the product is for and what problem it solves
- A cheap test that tells them something real before they stock heavily
- A costing and price that cover all costs, not just the making
- A view of cash tied up and how long it stays tied up
- A list of rules and approvals to check for their kind of product
- A 30-60-90 day review plan with a number to look at
Scheduled sessions
Nothing scheduled yet
Sessions are arranged with a college once a date is agreed. Ask us and we will find the right person for it.
A student rather than a college? See what is coming up, or ask your placement team to host this.
Test the idea on a few customers before you stock it for all of them.
Tell us who your students are and what stage they are at. Sessions are free for participants.