Without further ado, your IoT project will fail if:

1. There will be no demand for your product

Banal? Perhaps, but according to CB Insights this is the most common cause of startup failures, occursing in 42% of cases. Many companies do not study the market and their future target audience properly and, as a result, produce a product which does not solve the problems of the market despite its innovative nature.

How should it be? When starting development, it is ideal to have a list of customers who have expressed a desire in purchasing a given product at a given price. The main differentiation between this approach and a focus group is that its participants express potential interest but may not necessarily be your core customer base. You therefore need to target persons who are awaiting the launch of your project just as much as you are.

2. You strive to create something perfect

We are sure that there are no “perfect” projects. We have thousands of ideas on how to improve existing IoT products already available globally. At some point, it may seem to you that a new key revision will add value to the project and is thereby absolutely necessary. Developers can endlessly write code and expand new functions, but, in the meantime, the project is not turning a profit and is not receiving feedback from actual users, risking remaining an unreleased masterpiece.

How should it be? Determine the MVP model at the development stage, send it out to the first customers (see first point), collect feedback, and refine new generations of the product based on the real user experience.  

3. You didn't allocate the budget

If you have already succumbed to the temptations mentioned in the previous paragraph and have been polishing out flaws for several years, or perhaps you have hired a team which turned out to be too large, you risk running out of funds before the project is completed. Another common mistake is to start development without solidifying a complete A-to-Z budget. In a hurry to get ahead of competitors, companies often begin developing a project and expect that they will find additional sources of funding in the process. This does not always work out and, as a result, the project can come to a halt mid-development.  

How should it be? Calculate the budget required for development (including costs and unforeseen expenses), include key players’ salaries, and begin work only after making sure that the project has enough funding to complete its process from start to finish.

4. You hired the wrong people

This reason is cited by 23% of failed startups. In IoT projects, special attention should be paid to the technical director who will be responsible for the vector of product development. In our next articles we will talk about the importance of a technical director in electronic design projects.

How should it be? Before starting sales, hire only the people necessary for the project and delegate responsibilities according to qualifications. Entrusting  IoT product development to a specialized design house is a more beneficial decision than assembling such a team yourself.

5. There is no clear product vision

Set goals can often be achieved in several ways and you can always change the type of communication or the processor, but it is important to have a clear understanding of what problems the product should solve and what functions it should perform. You will greatly complicate development progress if you change requests during the process.

How should it be? Before starting development and before conducting market research, describe the goals and requirements for product performance and service life, as well as the problems that the final product should solve. If there is a clear vision of the product, the development team will be able to select the necessary hardware and software according to the given characteristics.

6. You did not take into account the legal requirements

When examining the technical possibility of creating a product and its further costs, do not forget that the legal requirements in different countries vary. In addition, there are restrictions on the transportation of devices with lithium batteries by air, and goods imported into the territory of the European Union must comply with certain standards. It is worth noting issues of data transmission, as some countries require that the data received in the country remain in the country or be transmitted over networks of a national operator. Remember to read the license agreement when using any open source software, sometimes it can not be used for certain types of projects or it could require code sharing.

How should it be? Immediately after drawing up technical specifications you need to make sure that the means of transportation you have chosen will be available for your product, amd make a list of necessary certificates your product must receive.

7. Your product solves only one problem

At a certain point in the development of any project, it will face a problem referred to as “scale up or die”. If a product was created for only one purpose without further development opportunities, it risks becoming outdated before it even hits the market.

How should it be? Think in advance about what development opportunities exist. The CTO should explain possible limitations and offer technologies that will help upgrade the product in the future without the need to radically change its software/hardware.

Creating an IoT product is a complex task that requires good organization, financial investment, and, of course, a reliable team of performers. We hope that our article will help you pay attention to important stages of development and avoid common mistakes. For the best IoT and electronic design projects, please contact Grinn.