Use the “Solve My Own Problem” method to create a really saleable product

One of the most effective yet affordable ways to design a product or service is to create something that you personally want to use. Then you will be both a product designer and a consumer simultaneously – you will benefit from applying your skills and knowledge to the product development and testing. You will make effort to create something that delivers the use value to you.

For example, you are a small IT company which has development staff working on some projects. It is your business startup and you do not have much money to invest in software solutions that could allow your developers to work collaboratively, share projects, manage working schedules, make assignments, and so on.

Although your staff requires project management software to lead and carry out IT projects, you may not spend money on purchasing such software but find a workaround, which is actually means to develop your own PM software that meets the needs of your developers.

By developing the PM software, you solve problems associated with management and organization of projects in your company as well as create a product that can be sold to other people.

When you solve your own problem you create a solution that really brings some use value. This is called Solving your own problem, or the “Solve My Own Problem” method. I believe that when somebody creates a product and likes using that product personally, the success in sales will be achieved.

The primary idea of the “Solve My Own Problem” method is to make a product meeting your own needs and fitting your requirements, then personally test and use that product. Your business startup will benefit from selling a solution of your problem.

And you will personally benefit from using the approach because it lets you do what you like to do. Hopefully, you can find opportunities to apply the approach to management of you business startups.