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Activity 1

Directions: Choose one product that you can see in your house. Describe the
chosen product by answering the guide questions below:

1.) What is the product? What is the brand?

2.) How does the product or service distinguish itself from other products or
services already existing on the market?

3. What three unique selling points are offered by your product or service?

4. What other features do you look for in that kind of product?

Discove
r
The key to creating products or services that fit into the sweet spot between
what you love to create and what your potential customers really need is to validate
the marketability of your product or service.

This may sound boring, but it is actually a part of the process that is very
useful in building trust with your customers and checking that your product or
service will be patronized.

There are so many ways to validate your product or service. This module
shows some ways to make sure that what you are creating is both what you will
really love, and is also something that your customers will love, pay for, and refer
to again and again.

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WHAT IS PRODUCT/SERVICE DESCRIPTION?

A product/service description is the marketing copy that explains what a

product/service is and why it's worth purchasing. The purpose of a product/service
description is to supply customers with important information about the features
and benefits of the product/service so they're compelled to buy. (Henneke, 2019)

Here is an example of a product description.

Image from Shopify.com

WHAT “MARKET” IS AS REFERRED TO IN THIS MODULE

It refers to a set of individuals sharing similar needs or characteristics that

a business hopes to serve. These individuals are the end users most likely to
purchase your product. (Hubbard, 2019)

WHAT IS MARKET VALIDATION?

Market validation is the process

of presenting a concept for a product
to its target market and learns from
those prospective buyers whether or
not the idea is worth pursuing.

Image from iStock.com

This process typically takes place early-on in the conception stage, before
any significant investment has been made in developing the product.

The two most common approaches to market validation are:

1. Interview people in the target market, such as the buyers.

2. Send out surveys to these personas.

The key is that market validation research must include direct contact and
feedback from people in the product’s intended market.

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HOW TO VALIDATE A PRODUCT’S OR A SERVICE’S MARKETABILITY?

1. Ring the cash register

The first and arguably best way to validate your product is to prioritize
making a few initial sales. Nothing is more important than customers seeing the
value in your product and exchanging money for it.

2. Conduct competitive analysis

Research can be useful when you’re still in the ideation stage or searching
for a product to sell. Exploring the current market can also help you mitigate risk
and build confidence in your idea before investing too much time and money.

Evaluate the market for your product as it stands today to ensure there’s
enough demand to build a viable business. One way to make sure there is a healthy
market to sell to is to look closely at your direct competition. Find out what they
are doing and how it compares to what you are planning to do.

Remember not to get discouraged when you see competitors that have
already grown big businesses. The fact that they exist will give you a good sense of
whether what you are offering is unique or different than what’s currently in the
market, which can point you toward untapped opportunities or help you figure out
what to focus on going forward.

Competition is good, because it confirms that there’s existing demand for

what you plan to sell.

You can also check out your competition’s social media to see how engaged
their customers are with their posts and products. It’s a great way to check out
negative feedback about a product and see if you can find a way to improve.

3. Research the existing demand

A third strategy you can use to validate your product and its market
is to analyze demand and search volume. Now that you know more about your
competitors, let’s take a closer look at interest from potential customers.

The easiest starting place is to go to Google Trends. This is a free tool that
allows you to see how often people are searching for the product you’re selling.
Knowing where the market is going can help you make a more informed decision
and using Google Trends lets you see if you're dealing with a trending product that's
on the upswing, or it’s a stagnant product category. The last thing you want to do
is jump into a declining market.

Once you really start getting a sense of your customer base, it’s critical that
they have a way to communicate with and provide feedback to you. The quickest
and easiest way is to provide friends and family with your minimum viable product
(MVP) and then gather feedback using a free survey.

4. Start a crowd-funding campaign

What is Crowd-funding?
Crowd-funding is the use of small amounts of capital from a large number
of individuals to finance a new business venture. A crowd-funding campaign is a

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helpful, proven option to see if there’s demand for your product. One of the benefits
of a crowd-funding campaign is that you have a firm timeline and it requires all of
your focus and effort to reach your goal.

Market research can be useful, but real product validation requires paying
customers. Do some research to ensure you have the right platform with the right
community to launch your product, and definitely try to talk to people who have
run successful crowd-funding campaigns for tips.

5. Meet customers in person

Another method is to sign up for trade fairs in local market. It provided a
convenient way to gather quick, first-hand feedback from potential customers.

Selling in person has the added benefit of a strict deadline that you need to
take action by, which is why we personally love it. This deadline acts as a forcing
function that pushes you to get your products ready, and to get yourself ready to
sell them. Once you’re able to meet in person, you’ll benefit by getting to talk to
potential customers, seeing their initial reactions to your product, and finding out
if they are willing to spend money on it.

6. Beta Test
Other ways to validate your product include creating a test version of
something and running it past a small group or audience to get their feedback.

A test version of the product can either be paid, or free, and is a great way
to get testimonials and feedback while you create. You can also use the feedback
from your first round to improve and build on your ideas to make them even better!

WHAT HAPPENS IF NO ONE SEEMS INTERESTED?

What if your potential customers do not want your idea?

Take a look at the execution; it might be they love the concept, but the
delivery needs to be different. Or, that the idea is sound but the offer isn’t clear.

If you are passionate about your product or service and truly believe it has
a place in the market, test it with a few variants of concepts and play around with
some methods of delivery and adding value.

Do your research, build as you go, and make sure that the vibrancy and
energy behind your passion for your offering remain there, and your business and
clients will thank you for it!

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 Explore

To master and strengthen the basic concepts that you learned from this
module, please do the enrichment activity below.

Enrichment Activity 1

Directions: Pick one way to validate a product’s or a service’s marketability.

Explain how you would do it despite the physical interaction restrictions due to the
pandemic.

1. Pick one

Ring the cash Conduct Research the

register competitive existing
analysis demand

Crowd-funding Meet the Beta testing

potential
customers
2. Explain

Rubric

Criteria Excellent Very Satisfactory Satisfactory Needs

Improvement
5 4 3 2 & below
Content Ideas are Ideas written Ideas written Ideas written
written answered the somewhat did not
adequate and question answered the answer the
excellently question question
answered the
question

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 Deepen

Activity 1

Directions: Consider the needs and wants of the people in your community. Decide
whether the following products are marketable or not. Check/tick the box of your
answer.

Business/Product/Service Marketable Not marketable

1. Frozen food
2. gardening essentials (e.g. soil
mix, pebbles, plants)

3. Milk Tea

4. Whitening soap

5. Vitamin C

6. Imported chocolates

7. Native delicacies (e.g.

tupig/suman/turon)

8. pizza

9. massage shop

10. spa

11. hair salon/barber shop

12. street food (e.g. fishball,

kikiam, proven, isaw, bbq)

13. loading station

14. convenience store

15. internet provider

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 Gauge

Directions: Select the best answer to the following questions. Write the
LETTER of your answer on a separate sheet.

1. Which of the terms below refers to the marketing copy used to describe a
product’s value to potential customers?
A. product description
B. product design
C. product prototype
D. product value

2. Which of the terms below means someone who is capable of becoming a

purchaser of a product or a service?
A. business partner
B. investor
C. potential customer
D. target market

3. What is the first and arguably the best way to validate the marketability
of your product?
A. Making initial sales
B. Receiving orders
C. Receiving product recommendations
D. Receiving positive comments from the product testers

4. Mr. Villanueva uses small amounts of capital from his friends, who
believe that Mr. Villanueva’s new product is a breakthrough, to finance
his new business venture. What marketability validation is he using?
A. beta testing
B. competitive analysis
C. crowd-funding
D. ringing the cash register

5. Marie wants to know what particular features of the products sold

by 4TEA5, ZenTEA, and TEAresa are appealing to the public. What
validation method should Marie use?
A. beta testing
B. competitive analysis
C. crowd-funding
D. research existing demand

6. Nicole wants to find out whether her “pizza flavored daing na pusit” is
marketable in their area, so she decided to participate in a trade fair in

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 their barangay so that she may ask in person what her buyers like and
dislike about her pizza. What validation method is used by Nicole?

A. beta testing
B. competitive analysis
C. meeting the customers
D. research existing demand

7. As a newbie in business, Angelo wanted to make sure that there is a

demand for the product he would offer. Thus, he searched for the product
trends on the internet. What validation method did Angelo use?
A. beta testing
B. competitive analysis
C. research existing demand
D. ringing the cash register

8. Michelle has recently found out that banana stalks could be made into
flavored chips. She though this could be a big hit in the market
especially that Filipinos are now becoming heath conscious. She decided
make some and give as them token to the attendees of her 18th birthday.
What validation method was used by Michelle?
A. beta testing
B. competitive analysis
C. meeting the customers
D. research existing demand

9. Why does competitive analysis say that competition is good?

A. It makes a business strive hard to beat its competitors.
B. It confirms an existing demand for a product or a service.
C. It motivates businesses to make innovations to take lead from their
competitors.
D. It is both beneficial to the buyers and the businesses.

10. What should be done when your potential buyers are not interested in
your product?
A. Play around with some methods of delivery and adding value.
B. Test your product with a few variants of concepts.
C. Do your research and find out what feature should be changed or
added.
D. All the choices are correct.

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B. ESSAY

Directions: Complete the following sentences. Elaborate/explain your

answers in not less than 3 sentences.

1. What is product or service description?

2. Why is it important to validate a product’s or a service’s description?

3. There are two common ways to validate the market of a certain product or
service. Which of the two is more reliable? Why?

Rubrics

Criteria Excellent Very Satisfactory Satisfactory Needs

Improvement
5 4 3 2 & below
Content Ideas are Ideas written Ideas written Ideas written
written answered the somewhat did not
adequate and question answered the answer the
excellently question question
answered the
question
Organization Ideas are Ideas are Some ideas are The piece
excellently organized and not properly lacks proper
organized. transitions were organized organization
Appropriate used.
transitions
were used.

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