In the fast-moving world of B2B product development, there’s a silent killer creeping into meetings and roadmaps—and no, it’s not a virus. It’s something I like to call the “Everyone” Epidemic. The symptoms? Overly ambitious goals, scattered strategies, and an inability to say the magic word: No.
As a product manager, I’ve seen this problem derail more ideas than I can count. So let’s dig into why trying to please everyone doesn’t work, and how you can break free by focusing on what really matters.
This is a 4-part series, so let’s dive in and take a moment to reflect after each section. With every piece, we’ll uncover new insights to help you break free from the “Everyone” trap and sharpen your product strategy.
The “Everyone” Fallacy: Trying to Be Everything to Everyone
Picture this: You’re in a strategy meeting, and someone says, “Our product is perfect for small businesses.” Great! A clear focus! But then, an executive chimes in, “Why not medium enterprises too? They’ve got bigger budgets.” And before you know it, someone else adds, “Let’s also target large enterprises. We just need a few more features”.
What started as a focused plan has now turned into an all-encompassing mission to serve small, medium, and large companies alike. Sounds like a win, right? Wrong.
Here’s why this “everyone” strategy can be disastrous:
- Lack of Focus: If you’re trying to serve everyone, you’re not really serving anyone. Each market has different needs that can’t be met by a one-size-fits-all solution.
- Stretched Resources: Whether it’s engineering, marketing, or sales, your resources get spread too thin. Instead of doing one thing well, you end up doing everything just okay.
- Mixed Messaging: How do you create marketing messages that speak to small businesses and large enterprises? You can’t. You’ll end up confusing both.
- Sales Complexity: Selling to different types of companies requires a deep understanding of each market. A generalist sales team won’t cut it.
- Product Bloat: Adding features to satisfy every market makes your product bloated. It loses its focus and becomes too complex, leaving users frustrated.
In the next installment, we’ll dive deeper into the dangers of targeting multiple industries and why this approach often backfires.
Acknowledgment: A special thanks to Ankita for her insightful review and thoughtful proofreading of this article.*
About Author: Asit Sahoo is an experienced product leader with over 10 years in AI and product development, having built $100M+ portfolios and co-founded an e-commerce startup.
