First Isn’t Always Better!

New research about marketing has revealed that being the first to market a new product isn’t always at the most competitive advantage.

Everyone says that being the first to market your idea first puts you at an advantage, but the reality is much more complicated. You also need to take into consideration that marketing opportunities are constantly opening and closing and that an idea that’s a major hit at one point, may be a nothing buy a year earlier, or have lost the shiny ingenuity of it a year later. It’s impossible to pinpoint exactly when to enter the market to your best advantage, but common sense can help you improve your odds of success.

New research suggests ways in which you can work out when you should enter the market or wait depending on how hostile the learning environment is –how much entrepreneurs can learn by observing other players before launching their product compared to what they learn from participating after they enter.

Learning From Others Mistakes!

The research took place at an American University and uses a mathematical model to weigh the risks and benefits of entering the market early. Their biggest finding was that in a hostile learning environment entrepreneurs gain little benefit by watching others. So, if the knowledge was protected intellectual property, studying the market before entering wouldn’t give you much of an advantage. Therefore in this kind of situation entering the market early is usually a good idea.

On the other hand, less hostile environments mean entrepreneurs can learn valuable information in order to increase their possible success if the watch and learn from other companies mistakes before releasing their own product.

However, deciding when to enter the market purely based on the advantages of learning isn’t enough. You must also make sure you launch your product before the opportunity is over.

There is some element of luck when it comes to the timing of your item’s release, but entrepreneurs that ignore timing or assume that being first is always better do so with a risk. It has been advised that you first ask yourself if you can understand what you can gain if you delay versus what you may lose if you delay release. After all, deciding when to enter the market is both extremely important and irreversible.

What Do You Think?

Care to share your thoughts and experiences in this area? We would love to know your opinions. Leave your comments here.

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