Never heard of Wondershare? The company has been around since 2003. They’ve been press darlings for years. They’ve released a number of products, including video editor, DVD creator, Video converter and more First launched in China, the company’s market reach now extends to the US, Germany, Japan and Hong Kong.
So what can entrepreneurs learn from Wondershare?
A brand isn’t built overnight. Slow and steady often wins the race – and the hearts and minds, when it’s a sustainable business that you’re planning to build. Here are some of the points to Wondershare’s strategy, not the least of which are product, planning and people.
1) Diversified Product Line
Wondershare has developed a suite of tools for PC’s, Smartphones and portable devices, including tools for Video, DVDs and PDFs Training tools for the group work, System optimizer and data recovery tools, and iPhone and android apps. A diversified product line maximizes your target audience and can cut down your risk. In other words, don’t put all your eggs on one basket.
2) Online and Offline Target Markets
Wondershare focuses on both the online and offline customer. While online might be a bigger distribution channel, always good to go where the customer is, and there are those customers who prefer to buy official software in physical store.
3) Think Out of the Box – and Beyond Your Borders
Launching your company and product in your country of origin makes sense, but the company vision (in many cases, and especially with software) should also include a global vision and strategy. Wondershare launched in China, and went on to develop robust markets in the US, Germany, Japan and Hong Kong,
4) Heavy investment in Development and Research
R&D is one of the most important parts of a company’s DNA. Software needs to be updated, bugs fixes (platforms do change and software needs to be upgraded, too). It’s all part of customer service. 70% of Wondershare employees are engaged in some form of R&D, 70% of Wondershare sales depend on R&D, since it’s delivering great products that keeps customers coming back. Sales may be the lifeblood of a company, but R&D is the air. And we all need air to survive. Basic.
5) Strong Marketing Plan
The marketing is essential to increasing sales, and it’s often the one critical component that’s overlooked in the startup world. Want to expand your business? Marketing is key. You may not need an army, but you do need three soldiers: SEO, SEM, PPC. Your SEO team should be your first line.
6) Your Employees – One of Your Greatest Assets
For the growth of any company or industry, you need to have people who are passionate about their work and the company’s product. Talent and ability are also critical, of course. Creating products that are best in class start with a team who are as well.
7) The Lean Startup
Although Wondershare has been in business for over a decade and can boast an international presence, it sticks to its Lean Start-up roots and adheres to the Lean Start-up spirit – and principles – when it comes to product development, adopting a combination of business hypothesis-driven experimentation, iterative product releases.
Wondershare still considers itself a young rising star, intrigued by technology and always curious to see what we can come up with next. Building a solid company is as critical to as the products themselves, but at the end of the day, it’s about the possibilities – and the wonder of it all.
