Even the ‘best’ business ideas may fail miserably

Mayur Ramgir

Special to the Village News

We’ve all heard the expression “innovate or die.” But there are endless examples of companies that made cutting-edge ideas a priority, yet their can’t-miss products and sometimes the businesses themselves died untimely deaths anyway.

People often don’t realize that a product can be smart and work well and still fail when it hits the marketplace. Don’t get me wrong. Businesses that encourage employees to innovate have the right idea, but they can’t assume their breakthroughs will succeed on merit alone. The development process must take even the tiniest possible customer pushback into consideration.

Companies make mistakes, sometimes big ones.

It’s a mistake when they choose not to care about price. Many innovative companies neglect to do a cost-benefit analysis from the customer’s point of view. Even if a product has more benefits than what is currently on the market, people won’t buy it if the price is too high.

For example, a thermostat with built-in Wi-Fi that can be programmed remotely and saves energy is fantastic. But if it costs $300, and you can get a programmable thermostat with fewer bells and whistles for less than $50, the customer base could be limited.

When a company ignores the optics, it can be a costly mistake. An idea may be wonderful and beneficial, but still look bad to consumers. Remember the Segway, the two-wheeled electric vehicle for scooting down city sidewalks? As nifty as it was, the Segway never took off. There were several reasons, but one of those is that in a time of obesity worries, health-conscious people didn’t want to be viewed as lazy by riding a device that eliminates the need for walking.

Also, when companies disregard social norms, a product will fail because it makes people feel uncomfortable. A good example is Google Glass, the head-mounted computer system that arrived with a huge splash in 2012 – and then belly flopped. Turns out, the possibility that someone could discreetly take photos or videos of you during a private moment – even in a public restroom – was too creepy. And the product was banned from venues that don’t allow recording devices, including movie theaters, private clubs and casinos.

Innovators should think of their ideas like a piece of a puzzle that has to be just the right shape – on all sides – to fit into people’s lives. If your idea is too expensive, makes the user feel uncomfortable or makes others uncomfortable, it may never succeed.

Mayur Ramgir is an award-winning author, speaker, innovator and entrepreneur. He currently serves as president and CEO of Boston-based software development firm, Zonopact.