You round up the kiddos and strap some luggage to the top of the family travel vehicle, ready for the annual summer road trip. Dad, dressed in his signature khaki shorts and sandals with knee socks says, “We’re heading to Wisconsin! Wisconsin Dells here we come!”
Woot-woot! Off to Point B: Wisconsin. Easy enough.
Now, compare that to the mid-trip question from kiddo #2, “Where are we going?” to which Dad replies, “Who knows?”
There’s something to be said for a spontaneous summer adventure with the family, but that should not be the case with launching. Unfortunately, something as vital as aligning your destination is commonly uncommon among launch projects. How uncommon? A recent Boston Consulting study found:You round up the kiddos and strap some luggage to the top of the family travel vehicle, ready for the annual summer road trip. Dad, dressed in his signature khaki shorts and sandals with knee socks says, “We’re heading to Wisconsin! Wisconsin Dells here we come!”
Woot-woot! Off to Point B: Wisconsin. Easy enough.
Now, compare that to the mid-trip question from kiddo #2, “Where are we going?” to which Dad replies, “Who knows?”
There’s something to be said for a spontaneous summer adventure with the family, but that should not be the case with launching. Unfortunately, something as vital as aligning your destination is commonly uncommon among launch projects. How uncommon? A recent Boston Consulting study found:
29% defined success during launch
13% after launch was over
6% never defined success at all
That means nearly half of all launches had no plan for defining success. Very convenient. But, when you hear that, it’s easy to understand why nearly 90% of launches fail.
That’s why it’s so crucial to define and align on your success—your Point B—as you build your initial plans.
And there’s no standard, set definition for a Point B. It should be a combination of hard and soft metrics. Things like brand satisfaction, optimized sales cycles, site visits, product downloads, lead conversion rates—anything that represents momentum—works well.
The key with a Point B isn’t just what. It’s when. And when is as early on as possible.
Looking for help defining your Point B? We should talk.
