Questions

Companies that implement both B2B and B2C products have a deliberate strategy around it.

1) Supply & Demand
Often times, you'll notice see a company seek out businesses to create the supply and then consumers to create the demand. These companies are usually in a chicken-and-egg situation where they need both to actually have a complete product. Think of travel (Orbitz/AirBNB), e-commerce (Amazon), dining (Yelp/OpenTable), etc. The hottest companies in each of these areas needed to create the supply (hotel rooms, retail products, restaurant listings) to ensure consumers would have a reason to stop by and purchase. While working at DIRECTV, we had to have a strategy to gather exclusive content (NFL Sunday Ticket), the supply, to drive demand. We also had to make a push to gather customers (typical TV commercials to even working with larger apartment complexes to demonstrate that it is always legal to put up a satellite dish regardless).

2) Moving Up/Down the Value Chain
Some companies have great products that achieve product market fit with either consumers or businesses. After this milestone, these companies adapt their product, messaging, and/or strategy to tap into the other market by going heavier (B2B) or lighter (B2C) with quality/service/customization. They often use freemium pricing models to get the best of both worlds. Some examples would be Dropbox and Google Apps. While working at Cisco, I was part of the Linksys group where more basic products would be sold under the Linksys brand whereas those with more business features or better quality would be sold under the Cisco brand.

The non-profit sector is unique but the above strategies still do apply. So I would recognize the nuances of non-profits but still assume that standard business/product logic remains. I would be happy to give more specific recommendations over a call where you can tell me more about your background and product ideas.


Answered 10 years ago

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