Imagine that you are planning to start a new Startup. You have a fantastic startup idea to build. And you need to ensure your approach is unique and doesn’t exist. You start working on the concept. You are enthusiastic, and you are on to something.
One day your friend finds that your idea is the same concept of another Startup. At the same time, your product is preparing to launch. You realized that you had wasted weeks and months in developing a startup idea already exists. Now you are confused and devastated!
Sometimes it happens because of our lack of proper research. Here the unexpected has happened. Now the question is, What will you do in such situations? And How will you proceed?
Suppose you found someone else working on your same idea. Let me tell you it doesn’t matter! What matters is whether your potential customers know the other provider! This article will help you figure out answers for what to do when the unexpected happens.
Before going any further, you should ask them what alternatives they know and why they are using it? Identify the alternatives and understand what they are doing? Don’t worry! There are a lot more possibilities to win if you figure out the missing pieces of your competitor. So don’t lose your confidence. You can still build a successful startup based on the same concept from a new perspective. Competition is always a good sign!
Consider the story of Google as an example; In the nineties, the search engine idea was not new. There were companies like Archie Query Form for providing a way to index and search. Archives, Altavista, and even Yahoo! have search engine features.
Google launched in 1998, And today it is one of the most popular search engines of all time. What Google did was tuning their product from lots of lessons they learned. From the previous lessons to deliver the best customer experience as possible.
It doesn’t matter whether your startup idea exists or not. What matters is whether your possible customers still believe in your product or not.
Let’s go through some of the factors to consider about What should you do if your Startup Idea already exists?
- Segmentation
Separation through paying attention is the most effective way to maintain a competitive market. It is about improving an existing product for its demand. In contrast, adding more benefits, making it suitable for the chosen group. Within the customer group, there are various ways to change an existing solution or business model to a particular group of buyers. Not every market sector needs a trimmed solution. Make sure to confirm the market before creating the product. - Business Model
Instead of making money by selling software, you can sell supplementary products and services at the best price. For example, ProfitWell is reliable analytical software for subscription businesses. While other competing software pays, ProfitWell is free. If your product is not different from the competition in the market, you can make your offers more attractive. It’s by aligning your return with customer’s performance and by changing pricing to only pay for what a customer uses. - Customer Experience
Technological innovation can be a blessing, as well as a curse. Technology has helped to enhance productivity, reduce costs, and made life more straightforward. But it also has many disputes. No matter how smart or intelligent software can be, there will always be scope for a human touch. For some organizations, this could be an urgent need, which makes it a good business deal when combined with separation. The great way to make your position in the market is by excellent customer experience. - Timing
Timing is the wild card for startup success that nobody talks about. There many startups and products failed even with great teams and great execution. The same concept took off later with somebody else. For a startup to succeed, it needs to be in a timeframe where it makes sense to the market as well. Some of the startups working on the cutting edge fail due to the timing issue. That also helps the followers to succeed.
What If Your Startup Idea Already Exists?
To find out the existence of your startup idea, talk to as many possible customers you can. Describe them about your plan and ask whether they are familiar with such a product or service. If the answer is yes, then ask whether they have used it or not and if they did find out why they have stopped. If you can find out the reason for your customer not using the product anymore. Then it is a plus point for you as you can improvise your business idea then.
Suppose someone gets excited and passionate about your opinion only after one conversation. Then you should wait for some days as your idea might get stolen. If someone gets excited and passionate about your design, then you can have them as your investors, one of your loyal customers, or even co-founder. You also have to learn about How do you know if your startup idea is worth pursuing?
How to Confirm Your Startup Idea?
No matter how excellent your business idea. If it does not suit the market or fulfill customer’s demand, then you can’t make any profit.
- The most effective way to try out your idea is to pitch for it “offline”. The real meaning of pitching is to tell all the attributes of your business idea within 2-5 minutes. The advantages of this method are –
- You can get advice from experts
- The audience gets involved in the discussion and gets a glimpse of your project.
- You can also find suitable investors for your business
- You can get community support and find people who like your idea.
- Another way to check the validity of your idea is crowdfunding. In this method, you need to go to people with your concept much before than usual. Now, you will be getting feedback, and according to that, you can correct yourself. It is beneficial at the initial stage of startups. Because it can save the entrepreneur’s money and time that could be spent developing projects. The feedback helps you to understand if the campaign for your project will be successful or not.
- Another option to confirm the validity of your product or service is through the “internet community”. It allows users to share facts among all market participants. Online reviews and evaluations can be proper feedback tools for risk management for companies. The speed of decision making, the way of contact via electronic channels, help simplify communication.
Ideas are a thought you have; they are not products. Until you reveal your thoughts to the world with your inputs and your way, it is nothing. Only after that, it becomes part of something.
There are many delivery platforms and many service platforms that realize its the world of everything. So, the only thing you have to worry about is, make it better than everyone else’s. Make it unique, and you might be successful. If you want to know more about equity check on How Much Equity Should You Offer Your Startup’s Advisors?
In short, if your startup idea already exists, don’t shatter. Try to focus on bringing originality in your approach. And think about the concept from different perspectives and distinct market divisions. First to market is not a condition for success. It is not necessary to make your product superior. Instead, you can be unique by addressing the non-served market. Or you provide a customized customer experience.