When someone comes to us with an idea for an innovation, we ask a lot of questions. Many of those questions are expected: 

• What problem are you solving?
• What’s your solution?
• How does your solution address an unmet market need?
• How will you secure funding?

There’s one question we ask, though, that often throws people for a loop: How are you going to sell your product?

We mean this question practically, not theoretically. It is not a question about marketing or consumer behavior, but a question about distribution. Logistically, how will you sell your idea? What distribution channels will you use to get your product into consumers’ hands?

It’s great to have ideas, but no matter how great your idea is, if you don’t have a way to get it into the hands of the user in such a way that it makes money, it doesn’t matter.

Distribution is way harder than people think, and it has changed a lot over the years. So it’s best to think about it often and early. These three simple questions can guide you to an appropriate distribution strategy.

#1: Who Is Going to Use the Product?

Let’s start with an easy question: Who is going to use the product? 

List all the potential users. You probably already have a primary target audience in mind, but don’t discount secondary and even tertiary audiences as well. After considering the distribution channels, you might discover that it’s easier to reach a smaller subset of your audience first before expanding into a larger audience.

Get as specific as possible. For example, perhaps your target user is farmers. Well, what kind of farmers? Industrial farmers? Organic farmers? Fruit farmers? Farmers in areas with late frosts, wildfire risks, issues of irrigation? The better you understand your target audience, the better you can strategize distribution channels.

#2: Who Is in Charge of Purchasing the Product?

This second question is key, because the end users and the people responsible for purchasing the product are not always the same. If you don’t properly target the decision-makers in your distribution strategy, your product will never make it into the hands of the users.

Take medical products. Twenty years ago, a doctor would go to a convention, see a tool they liked, then go back to purchasing and say, “Buy that.” Then purchasing would do it.

Then private practices began to disappear in favor of hospital groups, and doctors were folded into the corporate bureaucracy. Now, the doctors are no longer the decision-makers. The purchasing department, due to the exigencies of a shrinking health care budget, tells them, “You will use what we have, and if you don’t like it, too bad.” So now, if you want to sell a medical device, you’re better off targeting medical suppliers, not doctors. 

This disconnect between the user and buyer can apply to any number of products, including consumer goods. For example, think about the myriad products designed for children. The children might be the users, but it’s the parents who will make the purchasing decisions.

For successful distribution, target the decision-makers and the decision-influencers.

#3: How Do the Decision-Makers Learn About and Buy New Products?

Once you understand the users and buyers, you can determine the appropriate distribution channels. Where do the decision-makers go to learn about and buy new products like yours? 

A key distinction to consider is consumers versus businesses. 

With consumers, the most common distribution channels are direct sales via the internet (typically paired with social media marketing) and retailers (including physical box stores, e-tailers, and even shopping channels like QVC). 

Distribution channels for businesses can be trickier. One option is to identify key players in the existing supply chain. Distributing through a supplier who already has relationships with multiple businesses can be more efficient than trying to target each business individually. Also think about where the decision-makers physically gather—like conventions and networking events. This is one of the areas where who you know matters as much as what you know. 

Once you’ve identified the viable distribution channel(s), you can begin strategizing how to best leverage and gain access to those channels.

A Path to Distribution

The specifics of your distribution strategy may change as you develop your innovation, but it is imperative that you identify a viable path to distribution early in the process. Otherwise, it’s like building a boat inside a workshop without considering how you’re going to get it into the water. After you spend months carefully constructing, sanding, and painting, you might discover it won’t fit through the door! 

Distribution might be one of the last steps of the innovation process, but you need to think about it up front to prevent major issues that undercut your efforts.

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