In the world of engineering, every innovation is a piece of the puzzle that shapes the future. Imagine you are faced with a ground-breaking idea – an innovation that is not only technically challenging, but also has the potential to revolutionise the market. However, this is where the challenge comes into play: the “time to market”. The moment between brainstorming and market launch that not only determines the success of your developments, but also whether your competitors are one step ahead of you. This blog post will not only talk about the importance of “time to market”, but will provide you with concrete tools and strategies to shorten this crucial time frame. Let’s dive into the world of technology, where races are won through precision, efficiency and most importantly – speed to market.
What is time to market and why is it so important?
The “time to market” describes the period from the start of product development to market launch. At a time when markets are constantly changing, a short time to market is crucial. It enables companies to enter the market before the competition, which leads to higher sales, profits and market share.
Why should you reduce your time to market?
The advantages of a fast time to market are manifold. The latest research shows that companies that are first to market enjoy clear advantages in terms of market share, turnover, sales growth and overall competitiveness. A fast time to market makes it possible to fulfil customer needs quickly and shorten the innovation cycle.
The advantages of an optimised time to market
The fundamental advantage of a shortened time to market lies in the creation of a competitive advantage. By optimising your development processes and improving your marketing KPIs, you gain a first mover advantage. When your company gets to market quickly, the time to market has a greater impact, resulting in higher sales and profit margins compared to slower competitors.
How can time to market be used strategically?
Time to market is an important aspect of the product development strategy. Speed is weighed against other factors such as functions, innovation or product quality. The interactions between these factors determine success or failure, depending on the nature of the product and the market. A fast time to market does not always automatically mean success if other factors require a longer development time.
What KPIs are there to measure time-to-market?
Time-to-market measures the amount of time on the calendar (in months or years) it takes to bring a concept to market. Typically, a time-to-market KPI is simply the period (in weeks or months) from team launch to first shipment to the customer. However, larger companies may start with budget approval and end with the first shipment to the customer. Some companies start the clock after the team and budget have gone through the approval process. But an informal team might do a lot of work before that time to create an initial product design (very high-level), for example. In other cases, the project is approved, but weeks may pass before team members are released to focus on the project in a dedicated way. Define the exact start and end of the project as precisely as possible. Recommended metrics for time-to-market:
- The ‘time is running’ when the team is available and an initial definition is available (and significant risks have been ruled out).
- The ‘time ends’ when either an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) or the first version of the product is sold (or adopted), often after the product launch.
However, comparing time-to-market between teams or organisations requires some care to ensure a ‘like with like’ comparison. The biggest factor that can influence time-to-market is the scope of the project and how much risk it contains. The second biggest factor is how much product innovation is needed to differentiate the product from the competition. Comparisons of time-to-market, along with marketing KPIs, are not accurate unless you clearly understand when the stopwatch starts and stops and the scope/risk profile between two development projects.
How do you accelerate time-to-market in the product development process?
Although there is no secret formula to improving time-to-market, the following practices have proven to be proven tactics to speed up the process.
1. intensifying the use of resources and improving the workflow:
A short-term solution to getting a product to market quickly is to increase staff commitment to a project in order to get the final percentage to market as quickly as possible. By committing additional resources, staff, testing capacity, etc. to a project, a company can win the race to the finish line on a one-off basis. Involving development partners who can carry some of the burden can also be helpful. However, you should follow your instincts. If adding people will slow down the project, don’t add them. Do what you can to divert non-critical tasks away from assigned resources. This is probably the most effective way to improve time-to-market.
2. trade-off against functions/quality (reduction in scope):
If being the first to market is critical and at risk, then trading off features or quality to shorten the cycle time is a last resort. Generally, last-minute changes are risky, but if time is the deciding factor in the success of the project, balancing features or quality might be the right decision. You can also analyse your competition to determine which features might be more important than others so you can focus on the essentials. Careful monitoring of market changes and product lifecycle management can help your team make time-saving trade-offs.
3. consequences of a small, agile development process:
Have a lean but consistent product development process and utilise it for speed. Measure teams based on their utilisation to eliminate inefficiencies from your system. Regularly review and improve customer feedback, design and prototyping processes. You can use many tools to automate development tracking and shorten time-to-market (for example, Jira or similar tools). This gives you real-time insight into your workflow so you can identify bottlenecks. Many successful users have an agile process based on strong customer input and frequent iterations by the development team responding to customer feedback. They have integrated agile and waterfall processes by applying agile principles to all functions that touch the team while maintaining some key milestones. They also bridge agile and waterfall by embedding sprints into the phases of the process. The involvement of an experienced product owner is critical to ensure effective project and process governance. Also remember to improve the roles of the project management/Scrum Master. A good process does not necessarily mean that there is good project/process management. Experienced project and product management teams are important. Strong processes with experienced project management and an effective product owner lead to faster conversion rates and results. Automation can be your friend – not just with Jira tracking, but also with tools like Asana and Trello that can be useful.
4. develop products with dedicated, cross-functional teams:
Working effectively in a dedicated team is a pillar of innovation and speed. Daily team meetings create accountability and momentum, while having the right set of functions and skills in the team – when and where they are needed – helps reduce non-value-added time. Cross-functional teamwork is a long-established best practice for faster time-to-market. You can research information on different functions in a team by searching LinkedIn. You can also use Upwork to help your organisation outsource critical capability gaps.
5. strategic approach to improving KPIs:
But beyond these tactics, there is a strategic approach. Strategy can drive time-to-market by using speed as a compass – a North Star. It could mean developing platforms that serve as springboards for product families. It could mean having fewer variations and focussing scarce resources on critical, essential products. Or it could mean focussing on specific market opportunities. Having a productive platform that produces generations of derivatives means that an organisation has the capacity to make excellent product selection decisions. Good product portfolio management decisions depend on the following things:
- A clear strategy for the development of new products,
- Involvement of senior management,
- a consistent development process for testing product concepts,
- A reliable system for the front-end development process that 1) is linked to the overall business strategy and 2) enables the day-to-day decisions required to bring early-stage ideas to full funding level is critical to the rapid and reliable launch of new products.
Reducing time-to-market as a business capability means supporting new product concepts with the right governance, the right funding, a consistent process for selecting competing product concepts and effective tracking of marketing KPIs.
Conclusion
Time to market is not just a period of time; it is the key to technological excellence. With a targeted strategy, agile methods and a smart product development strategy, you can not only remain competitive, but also gain a decisive competitive advantage. Take advantage of the opportunities offered by a shortened time to market and actively shape your future in the world of technology.