Innovation, automation, and disruption have reliably remained as the three key ingredients that many business startups utilize in order to establish themselves in many prevailing markets with strong barriers to entry. And, despite the oversaturation of big-name companies, many startups have managed to bid well and gain a solid audience regardless of the sheer difference in market share and size. As a result, more and more aspiring entrepreneurs are looking to take the opportunity to make it out on their own, evidenced by the surge of aspirants trying to catch the wave of recovery when the pandemic finally blows over.
However, one alarming trend that has been rearing its ugly head is the concept of painkillers vs. vitamins, and, sadly, a large number of the business startups popping up across industries fall under the category of vitamins. So, today we’ll be defining the difference between the two, finding out where your startup belongs and seeing what methods we can employ to improve your chances of success as a business startup.
What Are “Painkillers”?
As the name suggests, painkiller-type products and services are those that directly alleviate a specific “pain” for the consumers and target audience. And, in the case of a business standpoint, your product/service directly solves an existing problem that consumers are struggling to resolve by themselves. As a result, there’s an inherent demand built-in to your product because consumers will associate it as the solution to their problems.
- Address A Specific Need: Firstly, painkillers are more needs-based and offer quick remedies compared to their vitamin counterparts. They don’t beat around the bush or require consistent and religious use of a certain product. You get your money’s worth, and they guarantee to meet a specific need. And, once a customer starts, they never go off to use any other product because they trust the effectiveness of your “painkiller.”
- Necessity = Customer Retention: Secondly, when a product is founded on providing a necessity, it equates to better customer retention rates in the long-term. For example, if your locale is famous for a lot of dancing and performing arts, renting out quality rehearsal rooms becomes a necessity. And, whoever answers this call to action and provides the need first will continue to experience customer loyalty to their business startup.
- Something You Build-Off: Lastly, painkiller-type products and services act as the core. You can consistently build-off them and make the quality of life upgrades to make them more competitive in the long run. They aren’t held back by trends or shifts in consumer behavior but instead adapt to them and align their features better to address novel needs among the target audience.
What Are “Vitamins”?
In contrast, vitamin-type products and services are those that don’t directly alleviate a certain pain but rather are more holistic by nature and take an indirect approach to solve certain problems. Sure, there’s still merit to using them, and a lot of big-name companies offer their “vitamins,” too, but business startups aren’t able to compete at their level because they lack the capital. As a result, the demand for these type of products and services are at the mercy of swings in demand because they don’t come off as necessities but as extras.
- Improve A Solution: Firstly, instead of being a direct solution, vitamin-type products are those that improve upon an existing solution but not necessarily making it any better. Yes, there are cases wherein vitamin-type products do shine better, but that’s because they are built upon a solid foundation that solves a problem directly. Therefore, anything extra added on top is a means of becoming more competitive.
- Elective By Nature: Secondly, products that are strictly vitamin-type alone are elective by nature, meaning that you don’t necessarily need to get them and have other options on your plate. As a result, there’s an extreme lack of urgency and puts them at the risk of lower customer-retention rates. In fact, there are moments when these products and services only come off as gimmicks.
- Extra Features: Lastly, vitamin-type products and services are mainly just extra features. Sure, they are nice to have, but they by no means can ever replace a core product that can solve your problems. An effective small business startup should always answer the call to action first, and failing to solve anything will leave their product feeling dull and unwanted.
A Strong Foundation
Overall, you want to build a strong foundation and if your product or service falls under the category of vitamins then we urge you to rethink your approach and redefine your business. As much as possible, you want to begin with a painkiller-type product and slowly build your way up, adding vitamin features along the way. As a result, you get the best of both worlds.