The Difference Between a Product and a Business

When I worked on the product teams at Microsoft, we had the luxury of largely ignoring Sales and Marketing. In fact, we weren’t just ignoring them, we were pompous enough to look down on them. After all, we created the money-making stuff, all they did was add the fluff, right? Wrong. Here are some stages I’ve seen/experienced since moving away from a product team. **Stage 1: **Gee! I have a great idea! See this cool technology? If we could just apply it to that problem over there, it would be SO much easier. Tons of people would want this, since it saves so much time and money. **Stage 2:** Everyone I’ve talked to seems to like my idea. This is great, it’s such a simple, novel concept, and best of all it’s easy to implement! I could start right now. In fact, I’ll do that. … much hard work and many months pass … **Stage 3:** Hmm. This is a great little business. I’m not making any money yet, but when tons of people use it, I’ll make loads. So far, my friends seem to like it. I even got a few people I don’t know tell me they saw it and liked it! There are a few things they suggested that I should add, that would really make it top of the class. I’ll do that now. … many tweaks and months later… **Stage 4:** I don’t seem to be gathering too many customers. This is a great idea. If only I could make some money with it. Oh! I have another great idea! (repeat from Stage 1). What’s the problem? Nothing, if your idea is just a hobby. But if you are looking for a business, there’s a big problem. There was never a sales/marketing plan. You don’t need a massive budget, just a plan. Otherwise, you have a product, not a business. And the two are not the same. Looking for business ideas is significantly different than looking for product ideas. I’ve made this mistake a couple times now, and I’m starting to come around. -->