Creating and Dominating New Markets

About the Author

Peter Meyer is a principal of The Meyer Group, a strategic consulting firm. He is the creator of the Meyer Index and writes for numerous business publications, including The Wall Street Journal. Meyer is also the author of "Warp-Speed Growth" and has extensive experience in guiding businesses through the creation and domination of new markets.

Main Idea

"Creating and Dominating New Markets: How to Go Where No Company Has Gone Before" by Peter Meyer provides a comprehensive guide for business owners and managers aiming to create and dominate new markets. The book emphasizes the importance of customer-driven markets, the critical resources needed, and the strategies to reduce risk and ensure success in new markets. Meyer's insights are drawn from real-world examples and offer practical advice for building a dominant market presence.

Table of Contents

1. The Mystique and Challenges of New Markets
2. Balancing Resources and Opportunities
3. It's the Problem That Matters
4. What New Markets Are Available to You?
5. The Role of the Customer
6. Funding the New Market Effort
7. Building and Dominating Markets Through Involvement
8. The Role of Information Technology
9. Using Credibility
10. What's Next?

The Mystique and Challenges of New Markets

New markets are exciting and profitable, offering the thrill of creating something unprecedented. They lack the competitive pressure that reduces prices in mature markets and can significantly increase stock value. Dominance in new markets allows companies to make and survive mistakes without losing market share. Successful new markets start with identifying a customer's problem and creating a product to solve it. Companies like Amazon and Apple exemplify the benefits of creating and dominating new markets.

"New markets are new to everyone, not just to you. Markets start with a need. Combining that need with a product is how you create a new market." – Peter Meyer

Common Denominators of New Market Success

Successful new markets share several key elements:

• Customer-driven markets: Customers buy what they want, not what you think they want.
• Low-risk paths: Develop a new product for a known market or take a known product into a new market.
• Focused efforts: Avoid chasing every opportunity to prevent resource dilution.
• Cross-functional teams: Creating new markets requires collaboration across different business functions.

Balancing Resources and Opportunities

Creating a new market requires three key resources: money, people, and time. The cost depends on the problem being solved and the audience. People are crucial, as those who excel at initiating markets possess different skills than those improving existing markets. Time is the most important resource, as swift market acceptance leads to dominance and creates barriers for competitors.

"Time is the most important resource and greatest expense for creating new markets, and it should be measured by time to market acceptance." – Peter Meyer

Know When to Say No

Experience helps recognize failures and avoid wasting resources on unviable markets. Balancing opportunity costs with resources ensures focused efforts on the right problems. Successful companies learn to pick the right problems on which to expend their resources.

It's the Problem That Matters

New markets are created by finding solutions to problems people want resolved. A new market exists at the convergence of a high level of perceived need and a solution that did not previously exist. The key is identifying high-priority problems that keep customers awake at night and creating products to solve them.