Pretend to Own
Test your product before investing: borrow or rent!
Borrowing or renting resources for product testing minimizes financial risk and helps validate ideas before significant investment
GOAL
To gather data and insights while reducing costs and flexibility in product development
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Easy
Borrowing or renting the necessary resources to test the product before committing to a significant purchase can be an effective method of validating our ideas and testing their success.
How does this approach work?
Instead of immediately purchasing tools, equipment, spaces, or cloud services needed to test your product, this method encourages you to find alternative solutions such as borrowing or renting. This way, you can validate your idea, collect valuable data, and reduce the financial risk of launching an invalid product.
How to implement this approach:
Identify critical resources: List all the resources you need to test your product, such as tools, equipment, spaces, or cloud services.
Look for alternative solutions: Explore different options for obtaining the necessary resources, such as borrowing from friends, colleagues, or companies, renting from rental services, or using shared spaces.
Be creative. Consider unconventional solutions that could help you obtain the resources you need at a reduced cost.
Record your insights: Document the results of your experiment, the data collected, and the lessons learned. This will help you make informed decisions about your product's future.
Benefits of this method
Borrowing or renting resources offers several advantages:
Reduces financial risk: If your idea does not work, you will not have invested large sums of money in resources you no longer need.
Increases flexibility: If your product requires changes or you decide to change direction, you can do so without facing the consequences of an expensive purchase.
Allows you to collect valuable data: By testing your product with real users and collecting feedback, you can improve the product and increase its chances of success on the market.
Success examples
Polaroid: In the winter of 2019, Polaroid organised a pop-up in New York to promote its Polaroid Lab product. Instead of purchasing a permanent space, they rented a temporary space to allow visitors to try the product and collect feedback.
Volkswagen: In 2017, Volkswagen saved €325,000 by using 3D printing for tool production. Instead of purchasing their 3D printers, they used external 3D printing services, achieving high-quality results at reduced costs.
