⚡ Get All Content for 20% Off ⚡

This Entrepreneur Learned That When You Try Making 'Something For Everyone,' You Attract Nobody You want customers to love your product, of course. But what happens when they don't? The simple answer: You have to make a change -- and it won't be easy.

By Jason Feifer

entrepreneur daily
Grayl

Introducing our new podcast, Problem Solvers with Jason Feifer, which features business owners and CEOs who went through a crippling business problem and came out the other side happy, wealthy, and growing. Feifer, Entrepreneur's editor in chief, spotlights these stories so other business can avoid the same hardships. Listen below or click here to read more shownotes.

You want customers to love your product, of course. But what happens when they don't?

Related: After Realizing Customers Didn't Share Her Vision, an Entrepreneur Makes a Big Change -- And Sales Grew More Than $3 Million

The simple answer: You have to make a change. And it won't be easy.

Travis Merrigan knows how difficult the process is. He's the co-founder of Grayl, a company that makes a bottle that also filters water -- but when it hit the marketplace, sales weren't what they'd hoped for, and many customers and retailers said the product line was confusing.

"It's a very, very challenging thing to put your heart and soul into your very first product," Merrigan says. "You know it's awesome. You know it's groundbreaking. But then to listen to the things that aren't right and to listen to feedback that's not positive, and take that not as an insult to your idea but as prompt to make some change."

In fact, it took three years for Grayl to completely understand its target customer and how to reach them. It required completely rethinking its product, its marketing and the retailers it built relationships with. But the payoff was worth it: Grayl has gone from a product people didn't understand to one that's now sold in more than 350 stores, including REI, and raised $222,450 on Kickstarter. The company saw triple-digit sales growth in 2016 and expects to replicate that in 2017.

Related: Podcast: From a $50 Consulting Gig to Millions of Website Visitors, How 'The Points Guy' Turned His Idea Into a Booming Business

In this new episode of Problem Solvers, we examine what happened in those three years between product dud and product success, and what every entrepreneur can learn from Grayl's turnaround. Listen to the show below, or subscribe on iTunes, Google Play,or wherever you get your podcasts.

About our sponsors:
Anyone who's ever had to sign and mail a paper document has wondered: There's got to be a better way to do this. And there is! SignEasy is a easy-to-use, simple and legal way to digitally sign documents. You can sign them yourself, from anywhere and on any device, or send documents to customers, partners, or colleagues for signing, and even track the progress of documents and get notified when a document is signed. And if someone's late in signing, you can send them a reminder. With SignEasy, there's no reason to deal with documents you have to print and sign and put in a mailbox. SignEasy is faster, easier, and safer. To get started for free go to getsigneasy.com/podcast.

ProsperWorks knows what everyone in sales knows: CRMs are really tedious. "Somewhere along the way," its website says, "CRM got really hard to use." And that's why ProsperWorks has built a CRM that's the opposite. By integrating with tools you're already using and eliminating repetitive tasks with automation, ProsperWorks is beautiful, easy to use and drives productivity to help you and your team sell more, faster. Try ProsperWorks for free by using our link.


Jason Feifer

Entrepreneur Staff

Editor in Chief

Jason Feifer is the editor in chief of Entrepreneur magazine and host of the podcast Problem Solvers. Outside of Entrepreneur, he is the author of the book Build For Tomorrow, which helps readers find new opportunities in times of change, and co-hosts the podcast Help Wanted, where he helps solve listeners' work problems. He also writes a newsletter called One Thing Better, which each week gives you one better way to build a career or company you love.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Side Hustle

The Remote Side Hustle a 43-Year-Old Musician Works on for 1 Hour a Day Earns Nearly $3,000 a Month: 'All From the Comfort of Home'

Sam Ziegler wanted to supplement his income as a professional drummer — then his tech skills and desire to help people came together.

Leadership

Former Interrogator Shares 5 Behaviors Liars Exhibit and How to Handle Them

Five deceptive behaviors to look for and how to respond to those behaviors when you encounter them.

Marketing

Ever Wonder Why Certain Websites Rank Higher Than Yours? This SEO Expert Reveals The Secret to Dominating Search Results

It's often the smart use of SEO, now supercharged with AI, particularly in keyword optimization.

Business News

AI Is Impacting Jobs. Here Are the Gigs Affected the Most, According to an Analysis of 5 Million Upwork Postings

The researcher said in the report that freelance jobs were analyzed first because that market will likely see AI's immediate impact.

Business Ideas

55 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2024

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2024.