Transitioning from a niche to a mainstream market requires adapting your products and strategies
Business Watcher with Professor Yannick Dillen
By Yannick Dillen
Professor of Management Practice
Launching a start-up is fascinating and rewarding, but also hard work. Growing that venture sustainably into a successful business is equally challenging. If you want to evolve from stage A to stage B, you first need to bridge the gap by adapting your products and strategies and broadening your market. Yannick Dillen, Professor of Entrepreneurship, explains what it means to ‘cross the chasm’ and which strategy you can deploy to navigate this critical phase of your company.
What does ‘crossing the chasm’ mean?
The concept of ‘Crossing the Chasm’ was popularised by Geoffrey A. Moore in his book of the same name. It refers to a critical and essential phase in the lifecycle of a start-up or new product. In this phase, you transition from a niche market to a broader mainstream market. This transition requires different marketing and sales strategies – and it’s key to sustainable growth and success.
How do you transition from a niche market to a mainstream market?
In this Business Watcher video, Professor Yannick Dillen explains how to cross the chasm from early adopters to mainstream customers - and how to adapt your products and your strategy to reach them.
What challenges do companies face when they attempt to cross that chasm?
The main challenge that young growth companies face when crossing the chasm is adapting their products and strategies. In this phase, you move from early adopters in the market to the early majority. Early adopters are often technology enthusiasts or visionaries who are willing to overlook imperfections and take risks on new innovations. In contrast, the early majority is far more pragmatic and risk averse. So, they have different expectations and need reliable, complete solutions and proof of the product's effectiveness.
Which strategy can you deploy to navigate this critical phase? Do you have any successful examples?
Successful firms often navigate this phase by focusing on one specific market niche first – and for this niche, they create the so-called ‘whole product solution’. In other words, the perfect solution for this niche segment. A good example of that is Apple. When launching their Apple Watch, they focused on both design and a user-friendly interface so they could not only appeal to tech enthusiasts but also to consumers who love the minimalistic design of a watch.
Is crossing the chasm important for long-term success?
Crossing the chasm is crucial for long-term business success because the early and late majority account, on average, for 68 per cent of the market. Selling to the mainstream market allows start-ups to scale up and become financially viable. Companies that fail to make this transition often struggle with limited growth potential and may eventually become obsolete.
Has the relevance of this concept evolved in today’s rapidly changing business landscape?
In today’s rapidly changing business environment, the relevance of this concept remains high. The lifecycle of products and companies has accelerated a great deal. This makes it even more crucial for start-ups to quickly and effectively cross the chasm to stay competitive and relevant in their respective industries.