The Elusive Product / Market Fit

Product / market fit is much more difficult than it sounds. On the surface, the idea seems straightforward: build and refine a product that meets the needs of a market. Only, when in the arena battling to find success, it becomes readily apparent that finding product / market fit is a challenging grind (see 5 ways to identify product / market fit).

Here are a few thoughts on the elusive product / market fit:

• Building a working product doesn’t equal finding product / market fit
• Look for signs that the product is a pain killer and not a vitamin
• Ensure the customers / users aren’t all friendlies as objective feedback is critical
• Ration resources as sales and marketing is often three times more expensive than product development

Finding product / market fit is a process that often takes 1-2 years. And, because it takes so long, there’s an extended period of time with little revenue, so it’s important to plan for a marathon and not a sprint.

What else? What are some other thoughts on the elusive product / market fit?