Do Businesses Limit Themselves Too Much?

Recently I had a thought about the way businesses operate now compared to how they operated in the past. Not long ago, companies were primarily manufacturers. They’d develop machines or parts or food, and they’d be limited to what they can manufacture based on things like cost, expertise, space, and so on.

It made sense that they would have a single focus with their product. A company that manufactures car parts can’t decide to start manufacturing aged cheddar cheese just because they want to. When you’re manufacturing something physical, it makes sense that you’re limited in what you can accomplish effectively.

But most companies don’t manufacture physical items anymore. Many companies have moved on to technology, offering things like software and software-related services. It stands to reason, then, that the limitations on what a company can sell no longer exist.

You see this trend already with things like iPhone Apps. Most iPhone app companies develop anything they can think of, as long as they think people will download it and use it on their phones. As long as they have the idea and the programmers to make it work, the company creates the application.

You see this in the way that some companies like Google and CBS buy up websites too. Google buys almost any website with a unique feature it can find, and CBS Interactive bought up websites like CNET so that they could control the future of online news. DailyKos – One of the most famous progressive blogs in the country – started SBNation, a team based blogging platform that is already one of the most visited sites in the country.

Market research is not just about how you can best market your current products to customers. It’s also about uncovering needs. Companies that create (or have the ability to create) software and technology to meet the needs they uncover should look into it, as they may find that there is a need in the market that they can develop a brand new product to reach.

There may even be ways that manufacturing companies can complement their own products with new technology, even if they are in an entirely different product area. For example, maybe the company that manufactures car parts finds that car companies could use software that indicates the best style of car part for their designs. The company can develop and sell the software (or give the software away for free) and use the software to promote car part purchases.

Now that there are products that require nothing more than a computer and a programmer to manufacture, companies shouldn’t feel limited to the products they currently offer. Any time market research uncovers a need that can be addressed by technology, the company should look into the idea of addressing that need with a new product.