Being original is chancy

It is hard to bring a new product to a market which has never heard of it before. It is safer to offer a product which is the same as others which are already well-known.

Twenty years ago I was the sales agent in North America for a British company which supplies adhesives and composite materials. I tried to build a business offering these products to companies which used inferior materials, but which were much cheaper. It was hard work because the prospects thought that what they were currently using was 'good enough'. They didn't believe they had a problem and definitely didn't want to pay more.

Now contrast my approach with that of Richard Branson - his empire is built on the principle of offering what people know and want but cheaper.

The discount supermarkets Lidl and Aldi are both growing their market shares in the middle of a recession. The major players are being forced to copy this approach.

If you are trying to introduce a new idea, you have to educate your market and that will either take a lot of time / effort or a big spend on advertising. But if you are selling something that is already known and wanted but at a lower price, most of the work is done for you. The success of EasyJet and Ryanair demonstrate this dramatically. By offering a bargain, you also generate word-of-mouth publicity, which is not only free but more effective than regular advertising.

Of course it's not easy to offer the same for less but if you can find a way the results can be exciting.