Ask HN: Idea already implemented by others. How to differentiate?

14 points by varlock 6 years ago | 7 comments

I've got an idea which I've been thinking to develop as a side project... until I discovered (here on HN, by the way) it's already been implemented.

What would you do to differentiate the product? What steps would you follow? Or would you drop the ball altogether (hopefully not!)?

For instance, from what I can see:

- though the target audience is the same, it's live in a continent different than mine - so maybe I can play that card instead?

- the pricing plans are all subscription-based, so I was thinking maybe I can introduce a "Pay as you go" tier, instead?

I guess, my bottom-line question is: what dimensions would you (or did you) consider to differentiate your product?

rs23296008n1 6 years ago |

Execution, delivery and all the subtleties therein. Sounds deceptively simple and it is but the details are what matters. People can have the same idea but execute and follow through with very different results.

For example: plumbers all basically do the same job. Except they don't. They vary in how well they do it, how well they turn up on time, so in general their technical skill and quality of execution has a big impact.

Another example: Movie makers have the same or similar idea as others. Except the idea is executed differently. Technical skill still matters but the idea itself needs to be fleshed out differently to avoid "being too similar". Synthesise not replicate.

In business, you provide value. Figure out to what degree you can simply replicate (plumber example), to what degree you need to synthesise (movie maker) and for how far you can innovate towards differentiation (be better than the other plumber). Sometimes you just replicate with a few twists just enough to not make it too identical (Better movie maker example).

Get others in your market to provide opinions of the other company's offerings. Is it price? Is it the breadth/depth of the offering? Can you leverage something about your environment differently? Some aspect of your teams skillset? Speed of delivery?

Another way of looking at it: if you were to set up as a franchisee of that other company how would you do it? What would you need? What costs? Where would you operate from? Make lots of assumptions and sanity check them. If franchising is unfamiliar, if you were to set up a business from scratch how do you plan on proceeding?

varlock 6 years ago | |

> People can have the same idea but execute and follow through with very different results. Or not execute at all as is my case ;)

But I see what you're saying. Most of these, I suspect will become clear after people start using the product (e.g. breadth of offer, delivery, differences in the environment).

Others should probably be clarified from the start (e.g. price, quality/expectation).

Thanks!

rs23296008n1 6 years ago | | |

Sometimes not executing is the best plan. Taking the wrong action is best avoided altogether. But also, just doing it small can help. Don't buy all the trappings of success unless they matter.

I wrote all that having done wooden furniture as a sideline for a few years. There are many competitors doing this. Skills are a factor but there are plenty of people better than me, especially when I started. But I realised I wasn't actually competing with them. I was only competing against the inefficient / less experienced version of me.

Its kind of like reading other people's experience of running a coffee shop and they all had nightmare situations but you start small anyway and subsequently discover it wasn't that hard and you succeed anyway. Your execution of the idea is different. You bring different angles on everything so your results are different.

See how you go. Business is one of the strange things in life. It succeeds or fails in all sorts of ways. People are always wondering how or why but the full story isn’t usually linear or clear.

matijash 6 years ago |

I can't give specific advice without knowing more about the idea, so I'll keep it general.

I think pretty much whatever you do, if you do it long enough, at some point you are going to discover there is a competition. It is a validation that your idea makes sense.

In your case you discovered it early, even before you started. But does that really matter? What would your decision be if you have been working on the project for 1, 3 or 6 months and then discovered it? I would ask myself that question in your situation.

If somebody had the same product idea, it is not like they "own" it now and you are not an original anymore. If your intrinsic motivation for doing it is strong enough and you want to do it long-term, it shouldn't really matter. Of course, I am assuming here your competitor is also in the early stage and has not overtaken 90% of the market.

You don't even have to differentiate in the beginning - why would you? You can both offer the same service - there are Pepsi and Coke, Intercom and Drift and they basically offer the same service.

As the time progresses, it is likely both of you will differentiate more and more, and orient toward a specific niche of the customers.

You even have an advantage coming in the second - you can learn from the existing solution and make it better.

So alltogether, I would say that the main question is whether this is something you personally want to do long-term or not, whether you have the internal motivation for it. If it was just a "quick" idea you had and the main motivation was to make a quick buck, then probably not. But if this is something you are interested in and want to keep doing it, then why not.

varlock 6 years ago | |

You're right, had I discovered this earlier or in a few months' time, it wouldn't probably have made much difference.

I admit I've never thought about _not_ being different from the start. Thanks for the encouragement!

r_singh 6 years ago |

Hey there varlock! It's a good thing you're asking this question here.

Now the answer to your question[s] will really depend on what it is you're trying to build (and more importantly, sell).

Take for instance a website like Stackoverflow, it will be quite hard for anyone to develop and get people to use an alternative for the same because the entire value the website delivers is derived from its user base.

However, if your idea is something like Mailchimp, it will be a lot easier for you to build and sell the same because the value delivered by the product depends mostly on whether it works for prospective users and your ability to convince them about the same.

> What would you do to differentiate the product? What steps would you follow?

I would pick a niche (subset) from the market the incumbent player is catering to and build something superior catered only towards them and then grow horizontal from there.

> Or would you drop the ball altogether (hopefully not!)?

Hello no!

Depends of whether networks effects are an important aspect of the incumbent's success and the resources that are at my disposal. So if I don't already have a bunch of money or risk appetite (even in terms of time), I wouldn't really invest myself in doing a marketplace sort of thing (where network effects matter i.e. product value is derived from user base).[1]

If network effects don't matter and I can build and sell this thing on my own or if I at least have access to the sort of people that can help me, I would go ahead. This might be a good read: https://invertedpassion.com/copying-ideas-is-highly-underrat...

> What dimensions would you (or did you) consider to differentiate your product?

Pick a niche from your competitor's market. Get into the skin of your user / customer from this niche. You'll start finding aspects which you can improve and build upon to make a prospective user possibly switch. Don't dismiss things like being a small bootstrapped company with an accessible team can be a differentiator too.

[1] - However, this will differ a lot from person to person because everyone's risk assessment in life is quite different based on their goals and current situation.

varlock 6 years ago | |

Regarding the example of Stackoverflow vs Mailchimp, it'll be definitely more on the Mailchimp side.

As for the niche to pick, it's not yet clear to me what I can focus on - it looks like we're targeting the same people - but maybe it'll be clear after a while. Maybe, as @matijash was saying, I can start without differentiating and then do it down the line.

In terms of resources, it shouldn't cost much in terms of money, but it'll probably be in terms of time, as it'll be hard to fit the day job, family and this side hustle together.

Also, thanks for the link - definitely an enlightening read!