They should also map out their projects to be sure they aren't trying to do too much. McGrath and MacMillan tell us that the goal is to learn as you go and effectively convert assumptions to knowledge at low cost. Using the knowledge of ceramics acquired making scissor blades, the company successfully moved into more profitable ceramic markets, such as semiconductor-chip substrates. The authors highly recommend the use of key ratios to benchmark company performance. Something must happen to improve your ratios.
Entrepreneurial insight is the crucial ingredient behind entrepreneurial success .
Entrepreneurial insight is seeing something about an industry or a market that others miss or fail to understand and finding a way to convert that knowledge into a powerful market position. The authors astutely observe that while it is relatively easy to reverse-engineer a product, products bundled with services are much more difficult for competitors to replicate. McGrath and MacMillan strongly emphasize carefully examining the features of your own products and services. Enragers must be eliminated, while exciters to drive customer purchasing should be sought. McGrath and MacMillan point out that there is no definite correlation between the expense of creating a feature and the customer's perception of its value.