B Hari

July 24, 2025

Concrete steps to take if your product is not taking off

1. Talk to (more) users—actually do it

  • Aim for at least 30 user conversations (50+ for B2B). Go beyond friends and network.

  • Ask about their pain (what frustrates them) and pull (what excites them about your idea).

  • Don’t settle for “lukewarm” interest—look for strong emotion, actual purchases, or repeated usage.

2. Change your target audience / ICP (Ideal Customer Profile)

  • Try pitching the product to a completely different, narrower audience.

  • Identify a super-specific “who”—the most passionate, underserved potential customers.

  • Focus all your energy on solving their biggest problem, then expand outward.

3. Change your positioning, messaging, or pitch

  • Craft and test clear, differentiated messaging.

  • Make the value instantly understandable: “So what?” and “Why now?” should be obvious.

  • Sometimes simply reframing the product’s positioning can unlock traction, even if you don’t change the product itself.

4. Try a “kickstarter” or launch tactic to get the word out

  • Run an experiment (e.g. waitlist, landing page, “viral” press, or public campaign) to test real demand.

  • Make it easy for early adopters to try, share, and buy.

5. Find what is working (even if small) and pivot fully to it

  • Analyze what users are actually doing—not what you wish they’d do.

  • Double down on features or use cases getting unexpected traction—even if they weren’t your original vision.

  • Study analytics, talk to power users, and look for “pull” (inbound, excitement, repeated use).

6. Give it a (defined) bit more time—BUT set clear milestones

  • Decide up front what “progress” looks like (new users, paying customers, growth).

  • Set deadlines for measurable improvement.

  • If there’s true momentum, keep going; if not, consider pivoting.

7. Be prepared to move on

  • If the above steps don’t produce traction, and you’re not seeing strong pull, it might be time to give up or significantly pivot.

  • Don’t let sunk cost, vanity metrics, or external pressure keep you on a dead end.

  • Remember: Many iconic startups only succeeded after a major shift in product, audience, or positioning.

General Founder Principles from the Best Performers

  • Build a cheap prototype quickly and get it in front of actual users.

  • Passion and obsession matter: You should be unable to stop thinking about the problem you’re trying to solve.

  • Ideas that seem trivial or weird at first often become huge—don’t dismiss hunches.

  • Persistence is key, but so is knowing when to move on.

  • Most successful companies took several years and multiple pivots to find true product-market fit.

  • “Build something people want” is not just a slogan—it’s the root of all product-market fit.


Use this checklist as a structured ritual every few months if your startup isn’t clicking—most companies that break through do so only after systematic, uncomfortable changes. You’re not alone. Keep iterating boldly!

This is a simple way for reviewing your journey for course correction.

Courtesy

  1. https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/what-to-do-if-your-product-isnt-taking


B Hari

Simplicity with substance
www.bhari.com