

Why we stopped focusing on 66% of our customers - johlindenbaum
http://7shifts.com/why-we-stopped-focusing-on-66-percent-of-our-customers/

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stevenkovar
Side-thought: different tiered subscriptions. Restaurants as the base, best-
value option with tiny businesses (dog walkers, etc.) and agency (design,
architecture, etc. firms) as the higher tier.

You can adjust features, pricing, and marketing accordingly while not
violating each other subset.

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diminoten
It'd take a lot of convincing for me to turn a generalized app into something
more specialized.

For this scheduling app, wouldn't it be possible to modularize features such
that a "general purpose" platform might exist, with a "plugin" system, or
maybe just child projects which inherit from the parent, to satisfy the needs
of specific industries?

I guess initially one would focus on the restaurant app, but abandoning the
larger market would just rub me the wrong way.

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jboesch
It would be possible to do that, yes. But we didn't want it to turn into a set
of options/plugins for varying industries. It's also an issue of resources.
We're a 3 person team and we need to focus our efforts accordingly. Deciding
to do just restaurants has made it easier to prioritize and delegate tasks.

I understand it could rub you the wrong way to abandon other industries. Trust
me, all of us shared the same feelings.

In short, the approach we decided on was to first dominate one industry, the
restaurant industry. If we become successful at one, maybe then there is a
possibility to look at others. But focusing on several industries will always
leave us being the 3rd or 4th best at scheduling for that industry. It's hard
and nearly impossible (given our size) to be the best for every industry, and
we want to be the best.

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diminoten
I'd just be afraid of limiting growth. Maybe just keep that thought in the
back of your mind as you dive into your niche?

I dunno, you've probably got way more specific knowledge that informed your
decision, I don't mean to sound obstinate.

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jboesch
We understood we might be limiting ourselves in other industries, but it was
also a contributing factor that restaurants make up a larger market.

