Category Design: How To Establish Your Business Goals

Some companies may be able to sell us things by continuously improving on their existing products. Sales growth is the primary focus of such companies. However, a business that is successful over the long term doesn’t just make products or services, it always strives to be different. Successful businesses tend to put their energies towards innovation and coming up with products and services that will beat their competitors.

 

But this world is massive, and innovations tend to be taking place everywhere and all the time. Your product, no matter how big a breakthrough it may be, will get lost in the noise of all these creations and creators. You cannot win big without using the data at hand, researching, and coming up with some solution to making your product a definite hit. And that’s precisely where the business strategy of category design comes into play.

 

What is Category Design?

 

Category design has existed through centuries in some form or the other. Some of its elements are used by the greatest creators. They don’t just make products or services and assume that people will understand why these were created. Instead, they make sure that people realize why they need the product in the first place. And that’s how we define category design. Category design is a way to pick out a unique and new problem, and then show the audience of consumers that you’ve got a solution for the problem ready with you.

 

It may be that some category design players get lucky, but most of them tend to achieve the success step by step. It requires a series of skillful decisions about finances and marketing that make such products a definite success. Entrepreneurs tend to face several issues when they’re setting up a new business, which is why planning is crucial when it comes to making a product that doesn’t even have a market.

 

Category Designers tend to lead their audiences by making them think in a specific direction and do certain things to achieve that. They tend to design a product that hasn’t been made before, they create a company and a business model about that product, and they develop a new market category or redefine an old one.

 

Great Product

 

You need to start by focusing on your product design. You need to make a product that works. It’ll require an intense amount of effort and patience to make sure that you can achieve that. Your product needs to solve the problem that you’ve identified in a way that it leaves no box unchecked. The goal is traditionally called an impeccable product/market fit and, given that we don’t have a market for the product, it must be a flawless product/category fit.

 

Great Company

 

Having a product in hand that can revolutionize the world of innovation is often the most important thing when it comes to category design and goal setting for a business that intends to use this strategy. The next focus needs to be on creating a company.

 

Since the product is new, it’s very likely, that the company will also need to be one of its kind. Your business model shouldn’t be like other people in the business circle, and you may have to start from scratch. Creating a company is crucial because once you launch your product, and it’s being manufactured in the market, you must have a solid structure in place to support that. Your company needs to reflect your vision and mission for the innovative product that you’ve so painstakingly created.

 

Another important thing that you need to go over is the company culture that you want to create at the given moment and in the future. For instance, Apple’s organizational culture pushes for creativity and innovation, whereas Ford Motor Company’s corporate culture is one that builds integrity and positive behavior among workers. Given that both companies cater to different markets, their corporate cultures are different. Similarly, you must create an organizational culture that’s conducive to innovation and disruption.

 

Category Design

This business goal helps to create the arena for your company to draw attention to itself after creating the profile for your product. You need to:

 

• Dig deep and discover the category you’re creating and define it by a problem you’re solving in the newest and the most unexpected way.

 

Example: Steve Jobs launching the iPad labeled it as something that catered to the needs of a laptop and phone through one device. Before him, people didn’t know that they needed a product like that. However, after he presented them with a solution to an identified problem, they got it and went for it! There was no looking back after that.

 

• Develop a high Point of View (POV) and make a story that makes people want to choose your product. You need to come and conquer, which is why this POV creation is of supreme importance at this point. The POV will help you to attract competitors in this new category you’re creating. So, you must secure your position

 

• Make your employees BELIEVE in your POV and make them willingly act in unison.

 

• Launch like you’re supposed to and generate lightning strikes with an uproar. You can host an event with stars and celebrities or hold a conference with a product launch.

 

• Make sure that your category can de-position any previous types of products even remotely touching the market category you’re looking to create. And the way to know that you’ve done so is that there will be disruption. Also, though it’s not a primary goal, a new product category may be created.

 

Key Takeaway!

 

A great category is what makes a great company and product and not the other way round. If you’re unable to create and secure a high category, the company and product won’t get ample attention among the target audiences. So, to ensure that your business runs in the long run, invest in category design. Follow the tips mentioned above to ensure that your category designing efforts are successful.