If I were you, the first thing I'd do is get absolutely obsessed with my current best sellers and the customers who buy them. Before brainstorming a single new product, I would lock in on understanding what makes your brand essential to them right now. This isn't just about sales data, it's about the 'why' behind the purchase. Real, sustainable growth starts here.
In week one, I'd be a detective. I would read every product review, I'd send surveys, and I'd try to get on the phone with at least five of my most loyal customers. I’m trying to find out what problem they hired my product to solve. What do they love? What do they wish it did differently? This is about embracing true customer-centricity, something Kunle Campbell talks about a lot. He has this great framework about the six core principles of eCommerce growth, and so much of it comes back to knowing your audience on a deep level. It’s a crucial first step for scaling online businesses.
By month one, with those customer insights in hand, I’d start mapping out the adjacent possibilities. Where do my customers go before and after they use my product? What's the next logical problem I could solve for them? I’d think about the challenge Braxton Manley faced when he decided to diversify his product range beyond just Apple Watch bands. He had a loyal customer base and had to figure out what else they needed while staying true to his brand's core values. This is when you can start developing a real product roadmap that extends your brand's relevance instead of just diluting it.
What would I ignore? The noise. I'd ignore what my competitors just launched unless it directly addresses a pain point my own customers have mentioned. I’d also ignore the temptation to be on every platform or in every retail channel at once. Listening to a conversation on eCommerce MasterPlan with Diego Mandelbaum of Wunderbrow was a great reminder that focus is a strategy. Sometimes the most powerful move is to double down on what’s working, not to get distracted by endless diversification.
The biggest trap I'd actively avoid is innovating in a vacuum. You can't just create a product because your team thinks it's cool or the technology is interesting. As Aman Advani of Ministry of Supply showed when launching a totally new category, the innovation has to be rooted in product differentiation that solves a real-world problem for a specific person. Without that deep customer connection, you're just making guesses, and that's a risky and expensive way to grow.