“You have to break eggs to make an omelet.” To achieve something, you must learn to accept risk.
Most of us probably hope to stand where Steve Jobs once stood and do what he did. Jobs remains a shining symbol of thinking differently. He dared to think and act differently to make his Apple empire successful in a mobile phone market crowded with competitors. Elon Musk is the same today.
Let us explore how Steve Jobs and Elon Musk changed and inspired so many people.
Go back a decade, to the early mobile phone market. Nokia, the mobile giant and an essential name in that market, had “crushed” its competitors to ashes with a 40.4% global mobile phone market share. Yet to everyone’s astonishment, Nokia lost its unique brand as it tried once again to become a giant.
Compared with brands unaware of their market and target customers or unfamiliar with the needs and motivations of their intended segment, Nokia was ahead of its time. It introduced a strategy of segmenting the market by user preferences, hoping to further grow its phone business.
“You cannot simply ask customers what they want and then try to give it to them. By the time you finish building it, they will want something newer and different”—Steve Jobs.
Initially, this strategy succeeded because it ensured users could always find a phone they liked. Over time, however, unclear market segmentation led Nokia to create many products with no significant differences between them. Nokia seemed to fall behind in technology as Apple began to rise strongly and dominate the market with billion-dollar ideas, distinctive product strategies, creative designs, enthusiastic employees, and more.
Nothing is more costly than a missed opportunity. Ideas remain hypotheses unless you discover their value. Understanding customers' needs and desires, and what competitors offer potential customers, helps you develop better ways to meet those needs. Remember, customers always “need a hole to hang a picture on the wall, not the drill you manufacture.”
“You Have to Break Eggs to Make an Omelet.”
To achieve something, you must learn to accept risk, make trade-offs and mistakes before obtaining what you want. Steve Jobs also said: “Sometimes you make mistakes while innovating. It is best to acknowledge them quickly and keep improving your other innovations.”
Therefore, do not let a little difficulty or a mistake keep you from thinking differently. Elon Musk was once considered a “wild dreamer” for setting a goal of reaching Mars, and he has shown the whole world that nothing is fanciful or illusory: he is moving step by step toward his goal simply because he “dares to think differently and dares to act differently.”
“I think customer feedback is truly essential and important, because it allows you to reflect regularly on what you have done and how you can do even better”—Elon Musk.
Steve Jobs and Elon Musk were both people who “dared to think and act,” and both emphasized market segmentation to bring their products to their target customer groups. They segmented markets and identified customers based on demographics, psychology, behavior, and customers' basic needs.
Demographics: Quantified by age, location, marital status, income and education. If your target customer is a business, segment by size and industry. SIC and NAICS are two well-known methods to help you identify and segment easily.
Psychology: In psychographic market segmentation, buyers are divided into different groups based on social class, lifestyle, personality, attitudes, or interests. People in the same demographic group may have very different psychological characteristics. If you understand customers' psychology, your product will be widely embraced.
Behavior: A method of dividing a market based on how customers respond to, use or know about a product. Behavioral segmentation attracts marketers' interest and research because customer behavior is complex and constantly changes over time.
Look back at enduring products such as electricity, light bulbs, radio and television… Their creators prompted us to change our behavior, first adapting our lives to their products and then reaching a point where almost none of us could reduce our use of them. Their ideas initially seemed impossible, but they made them real. So do not hesitate to think differently; you may create a product that leaves a lasting legacy.
Think different.
Basic Needs: This is the most powerful factor and responds most directly to customers. Segment appropriately according to their needs.
“An adventurer who enjoys capturing challenging, dangerous moments to share within their social circle.”
“A father who wants to capture memorable family moments.”
“A filmmaker who wants complex camera angles and distinctive imagery.”
The examples above show that customers can have many different needs arising from a single product. Understanding customers’ needs lets you adjust your proposals to offer better value and create benefits that are truly more valuable to them.
Although the methods above do not guarantee that you will master your ideas, they provide clear guidance to help you learn more about the ‘angels’ called users. The better you understand your customers and their needs, the more easily your ideas and products will be welcomed.
Collected.
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