A third of products are failing at launch because product development skills are lacking, according to a new report.
ExeTech Consulting, a UK business consultancy which advises on exploiting the commercial potential of technology companies, points out the journey facing entrepreneurs and business leaders to build and grow a technology business is hugely challenging.
Clive Mayne, Managing Partner, ExeTech Consulting said that one area which makes matters worse is that product development has a reputation for high failure rates.
“Research indicates that of every four products that enter development only one makes it to market and then a third fail at launch,” he said. “Gaining investment against that background and in the current economic environment means that the hurdles are as high as ever”.
Failure rates are high in themselves, however many products go on to fail and do not actually match the commercial expectation of success.
Mayne puts it down to a lack of the crucial skills to make a market entry a success and a failure from management to give the launch of a product the attention needed.
Product development is a key skill gap and often one that isn’t really recognised until things go wrong.
The company has decided to release white papers documenting its experiences in this area which can be downloaded here.
