In order to get users to not only use our products, but also champion them, we need to differentiate from the competition and find a competitive advantage. Simply copying the current offerings won’t usually do much for us. If I go out and build a google clone, i’m not likely to get much traction. Conversely, offering products that users don’t want or can’t figure out how to use won’t do much for us either. If I build a google clone, but show the results in random order to differentiate my product, then I won’t gain many users either. And if I design a product that I cannot deliver, then I’ll get nowhere fast as well. I can decide to offer every user who does a web search on my site $5, but I don’t have the capabilities to fund that. So we find the sweet spot in the area seen in the graphic below.
Where Differentiation Should Live
If I can find, design and deliver unique products, features and functionality that users want, then I’ll have a chance to thrive. If I simply aim for parity, the center section where the 3 circles intersect, then I’ll be another me-too and won’t have much chance at gaining traction or winning a large share of the market unless I differentiate on price or some other facet that can bring diminishing returns.
[...] are not fulfilled by Competitors and are desired by Users. Those are 2 of the 3 ingredients of Sweet Spots. The only thing missing is your capability to ease the pain. So take a look at what the pain [...]
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Nicholas P. Nicholas P said: The Sweet Spot – Where to Look to Gain a Competitive Advantage http://shar.es/mtCBb [...]
[...] Category – A great topic of interest for me. It can be difficult to properly execute on a sweet spot product because either users don’t know how to relate to the idea or because it gets related to the [...]