Stop Thinking About Products
The Business of Food
by Jennifer Barney
Stop Thinking About Products
1-min read
No one cares about your product. Better to hear this now than lose out on an investor pitch or buyer meeting and not know why.
I see it again and again; innovators and owners are too product-focused. All the benefits and features of your bars, how amazing it tastes, the nutritional statement, etc., only matter if you have an audience that cares. Within that target audience, you need consumers who are willing to part with their money - not for your product - but for a solution.
Products Should Solve Problems
Successful brands are those that zero in on a real need. They are consumer focused. If you’re just trying to move a commodity with a me-too product you’ll only compete on price and it’ll be a race to the bottom.
Let’s look at some brands at various stages of growth and what problems they are solving.
Bitchin’ Sauce
Problem: Special dieters and health conscious people lack tasty dip options
Solution: Plant-based, clean label, made with almonds, gluten free dips that actually taste amazing
Founded: 2010
Stage: Growth. Revenues estimated > $10M. No outside funding. Totally bootstrapped.
Wins: 3-time sofi (Specialty Foods Association) winner, 2020, 2019, 2018
Peekaboo Ice Cream
Problem: Moms can’t get kids to eat veggies
Solution: Hide veggies in ice cream
Founded: 2018
Stage: Startup. Angel funding $1M
Wins: 1st prize $200K at the 2020 California Milk Advisory Board's Real Milk Snackcelerator
Noops Pudding
Problem: People with food allergies can't enjoy pudding
Solution: Allergen-free, protein rich, plant-based pudding made from oats
Founded: 2020
Stage: Pre-revenue
Wins: $2M pre-seed round
Once you figure out what problem you are solving you then need to explain why you are best positioned to solve it. The founder of Noops for example, why did he get funded pre-revenue? That’s not supposed to happen. It happened because not only do investors believe in the market opportunity for vegan pudding, they believe in the founder, who in this case previously founded Hungryroot, a personalized grocery delivery company.
However, you don't have to have industry experience. In fact, most founders don't (I didn't). You just need to prove out your proposition by earning a significant sample of repeat buyers - loyalists - that see your brand as a better option for meeting their needs.
Happy Holidays,
Jennifer
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I'd love to hear from you - get in touch at jennifer@3rdandbroadway.com