I shared earlier how my product didn’t sell the way I hoped.

I thought I was moving fast in the right direction. I was building nonstop, filing patents, refining everything I could.

But looking back, I was deep in the work and too close to see the problems.

I hadn’t tested the product with enough real users. I assumed they’d understand it, just like I did.

They didn’t.

I didn’t really prove that people would pay for it before I committed to production.

A bunch of people said they liked it. One store sold six units.

That felt like proof at the time, but it wasn’t.

And I didn’t talk to enough people who had done this before.

When I finally hired a consultant, I had already locked in most of the design, and it was too late to fix the bigger issues.

If I had to do it again, I’d involve users way earlier, before I got too far into development.

I’d find simple ways to test whether anyone would actually pay for what I was building.

I’d ask for outside input sooner, before I burned so much time and money in the wrong direction.

Most of the mistakes I made felt like the right move at the time. I didn’t know any better, so I took what seemed like the obvious path.

I thought I needed to keep pushing harder. But what I really needed was someone to help me step back and see it clearly.

That’s what would’ve changed everything.

If you're in a similar spot, just know, you're not the only one. Everyone gets stuck at some point on their first product.

Fortunately, there are ways to get unstuck, and I’ve just shared a few that might help.

Talk soon,

John Teel

Founder / Lead Engineer
Predictable Designs