There’s a lot that goes into growing a business, including proposition development. This refers to the process of creating and refining a service, product or offering with the needs of a target market in mind. After all, it’s no good offering something to customers, unless you are sure there’s a demand for it. In this blog, we have taken a look at the common pitfalls to proposition development, and how you can overcome them.
What is Proposition Development?
The focus of proposition development is to provide a proposition – a service, product or offering – that attracts customers, encourages sales and builds brand loyalty. For proposition development to be successful, customer needs have to be identified and market trends need to be analysed. The offering then needs to be highlighted as being different to that of competitors, and the value of the product or service needs to be communicated to the target audience.
This tends to involve market research, customer feedback and competitor analysis, all of which are aimed at ensuring the proposition works for the target audience. It needs to address their pain points, and provide value by fulfilling a need. Though important, there are a number of pitfalls to proposition development that business regularly need to overcome.
The Challenges of Proposition Development
When you are growing a business, you are likely to encounter a proposition development challenge or two, which you will need to overcome.
- Managing Funding – One of the biggest challenges of proposition development is money, as a lot of businesses are faced with funding and finance It’s hard to grow as a business without the funds to do so, as management and business operations can be costly. A lot of businesses, even those with a loyal customer base, struggle to grow without the money needed to develop new offerings. Even for businesses with the financial means to grow, there’s then the challenge of allocating funds effectively. There’s also a risk that money will be directed to the wrong resources, or the complexities of growing a business will mean that money is wasted. Regardless of business size, keeping on top of cash flow can be daunting.
- Targeting the Wrong Market – Targeting the wrong market can be a huge hindrance to proposition development, and it’s certainly going to slow business growth by failing to capture enough sales. If you want to grow as a business, you need to ensure that your proposition development is being done with your customers’ needs and pain points in mind. Regardless of your target market, the needs of customers can change, and your proposition development needs to change to align with this. As a business grows, it’s a good idea to try and branch out into new markets, as this will help you to scale your offerings.
- Planning, Not Acting – A lot of businesses focus on a five or ten year plan, and forget to actively work towards business growth and the smaller steps that result in success. Though it’s important to plan for long term proposition development, it’s equally important to think about what can be done in the present moment. When you have short term goals in place, it’s a lot easier to move forward as a business, taking small steps towards larger goals. Having future proposition development goals is important, but it’s what you do in the present that will get you there.
- Pricing Products – To grow as a business, you need to price products correctly, ensuring that you are making a profit every time. This can be a complex task, but it’s a key part of proposition development. You need to think about margins and overheads, and you need to factor marketing and advertising into the cost. Everything from design and development, to production and distribution, needs to be factored into product pricing to ensure that you are being as profitable as possible. If you price your products too low, your proposition development is likely to be held back.
Common Barriers to Business Growth
It doesn’t matter what industry you work in, you are likely to come across some common barriers to business growth. In fact, few businesses manage to avoid all challenges as they go through development. When you are managing proposition development, you will be faced with external and internal barriers. For example, you could be faced with a lack of resources and materials, or you might not have the right staff to ensure a successful development. You might find yourself focusing on business growth, and forgetting to keep up with what your competitors are doing. Though you are sure to have business processes and infrastructure in place, business growth could mean that this needs to be changed. With proposition development, some business processes might become inefficient and unable to keep up with growing demands.
There are also external challenges to think about. Though these are likely to be out of your control, understanding the details of each challenge and how to overcome it can be hugely helpful. For example, if your business is likely to be affected by supply chain issues due to Brexit, familiarise yourself with ways to change your supply chain if you need to. If your business was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, especially those in retail or hospitality, think of how you could be better prepared if a similar scenario were to happen in the future.
There are always going to be pitfalls to proposition development, but Profici is here to help. With our business growth and proposition development expertise, we help brands of all shapes and sizes to evolve. Contact us to find out more.
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