Mousetrap Fever
If a man can make a better mousetrap than his neighbor, though he builds his house in thewoods the world will make a beaten path to his door.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson--
No one has done more disservice to the entrepreneur than Mr. Emerson. Even the movies have perpetuated this myth. It's just not possible to "build it and they will come." In the real world, you are headed fordisappointment if you succumb to this thinking. Mousetrap fever is incurable and fatal.
How did we come to regard this fallacy as truth? Often, writers profiling the movers and shakers of industry have oversimplified the steps it took these giants to reach success. We all know the stories of businesses started on a shoestring in the garage and are now the leaders in the industry. What these stories leave out is the strategies these entrepreneurs used to move their "mousetrap" out of the garage and into the marketplace.
The manufacturer who waits for the world to beat a path to his door is a great optimist. But the manufacturer who shows this "mousetrap" to the world keeps the smoke coming out of his chimney.
--O.B. Winters--
Creating a new product is a lot more fun than moving that product to the market. Inventor's, by their nature, are much better at the first task than the second.
Long before a product is developed, there has to be extensive market research. History is littered with new products that no one wanted. Remember Coca Cola's gaffe? They rolled out their "new" Coke to a market that didn't want the original product to change.
After developing a product, spending months in design and testing, inventor's become attached to the thing as if it were offspring. It is difficult to maintain an objective view of this "baby" and to send it out into the cold, hard world alone. This tunnel vision leads to the catastrophic losses that Coca Cola, and many other manufacturers have suffered when they create first and market second.
Beginning entrepreneurs need to wear many hats. Not only are you the creative member of your team, but you are also the marketing director. If you fall ill to mousetrap fever, the disappointment and financial loss could be devastating. Avoid this fatal disease by thoroughly researching your market before you ever start to create.
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