We recently completed the test run of a new product as part of a market feasibility study. Despite having seen my fair share of feasibility studies in my banking days, I rarely sit on the opposite end—which is having to really think about putting the outcome of the report into action.

But this isn’t quite my first stint at building a new product or entering a new market.

In 2016, I had to assemble a conference from scratch, from financing to execution, nearly single-handedly. We later institutionalised the platform, calling it the Asia Investment Conference and replicated as an annual production. I later realised that the banks also had something similar that connected large investors to companies (usually public listed ones) that were looking to raise capital. They called this product “corporate access” and housed it under the equities division.

The actual process of testing a new product in the market can be incredibly demoralizing. It’s basically rejection after rejection. In the process of carrying out the market study, I must have stepped on so many toes I wonder if we can truly spin this into a commercial venture.

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According to aero-propulsion engineering, most of a plane's fuel is burned when it is taxi-ing and taking off, not when cruising in mid air. It takes the most amount of energy for a plane to break that initial resistance, to move, to reach escape velocity and to eventually fly.

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When building a new product or a new business, all the team members must have the ability to overcome that initial resistance. And the truth is: If you are building anything new, you are always going to face resistance. 

The team cannot be complainers. They cannot keep lamenting on the fact that this is a new market, a new product, or that there are simply not enough resources and internal / external support to do whatever they need to do.

They certainly also cannot be wasting time putting together slides to explain in ten different ways why something doesn’t work, or why it cannot be done. They neither feel victimized nor do they spend time assigning blame. 

They just get it done.

There is no room for excuses, because that’s the only way to break that initial resistance, that is all there is to it.