Every business fills some type of need within an industry, but some redefine it entirely.
That’s what my wife, Jessica, and I set out to do when we co-founded Scenthound. When we decided to pursue entrepreneurship, we didn’t want to be another player in an already crowded field. Instead, we identified a shift in consumer behaviors and began testing ideas to create an entirely new category in the pet industry – routine wellness care for dogs.
Our goal was to make hygiene and wellness care more accessible, while educating dog parents about the importance of making preventive care a regular part of their pup’s wellness routine. Now, Scenthound is built around that vision and helping pet owners keep their dogs happy and healthy.
Creating a category doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time, experimentation, and a clear understanding for addressing an untapped community need. Here are four strategies entrepreneurs can use to identify opportunities and build a brand that could change their industries.
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Immerse Yourself in the Industry
You can’t identify industry gaps if you don’t understand it, and that insight comes from spending time in the field you want to innovate in. It can take years of learning the ins and outs of a space before realizing what area needs to be addressed.
After launching our first business, mobile dog grooming, Jessica and I dedicated time to listening to customers in order to learn what was missing from the market. We then realized that offering another grooming service wouldn’t move the industry forward.
That first-hand experience allowed us to understand where there were limitations, customer frustrations, and operational challenges. As dog owners ourselves, we had another layer of perspective and recognized a pattern that we wouldn’t have seen from the outside looking in. Immersion allows you to build a foundation where you can confidently innovate because your ideas are grounded in lived experiences. For entrepreneurs, spending time in the industry is often the first step toward seeing overlooked opportunities.
Redefine the Problem
Category creation starts with uncovering needs customers may not even realize they have. Most dog parents think of grooming as just a haircut. But when we looked deeper, we realized they were really searching for something more — a way to keep their dogs healthier and happier every day.
We created our proprietary S.C.E.N.T. Check®, which focuses on five key areas of routine care: skin, coat, ears, nails, and teeth. These areas are often overlooked until a problem arises, leading to reactive treatment. We have shifted this dynamic, so pet parents can be more proactive when it comes to their dog’s care and overall wellness.
Our goal was to turn the traditional grooming model on its head, and to show pet parents that regular hygiene is essential to a dog’s overall well-being. By reframing the problem, we began shifting the way people think about their dog’s health. That’s the essence of category creation: challenging assumptions, helping customers see their needs in a new light, and delivering a solution that reimagines the experience.
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Prioritize Scalability and Portability
Having a good business idea isn’t enough if it can’t be scaled. Entrepreneurs who want to create a new category, especially in the franchise space, need to ensure that the concept can be replicated. Our business model works because there is a demand for pet care nationwide. Regardless of breed, size, or coat type, every dog has the same universal needs for routine care and services like bathing, ear cleaning, nail trimming, and dental care.
A crucial aspect of scalability comes from simplicity. If a service is too complex, it becomes harder to deliver and execute it consistently. Establish a model that is primed for expansion and is needed across a variety of markets. Ideally, it works anywhere – from a busy city block to a suburban strip mall. The portability of the brand is what fuels long-term growth. An idea that works locally can still be a strong business, but it won’t reshape an industry.
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Embrace Long-Term Experimentation
Innovation doesn’t happen overnight. In fact, failure is part of the process. The hardest lesson in category creation is that it can take years of trial-and-error to find success.
Jessica and I learned from each of our failed experiments that some areas of the business couldn’t be scaled or that certain products and services didn’t resonate with consumers. Our willingness to learn from failure is what brought us closer to the model that worked.
It comes down to being patient enough to play the long game and persistent through the challenges that inevitably arise. Beyond building a business, you’re writing the story for a concept that doesn’t yet exist.
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