Do you build a product or find the market first?

I love running a business. I love the freedom that comes with it and I love the solutions I am creating for people in East Africa.
Last year, I set up a small workshop to make the prototype of my product and test with the market. Two weeks later, I got an extremely huge order that almost made me cry. See, my small workshop could do like 60 packets every day. Did I forget its 60 packets of washable sanitary pads? I did, oh.

First, I had to grow and grow fast. I had to expand my workshop, hire and train some employees and buy materials. I only had a month to deliver 1500 packets. Getting funding for this LPO is a story for another day, but I somehow managed to get funds to buy machinery, materials and to bring in more women to ensure the products are delivered in time. Well, we delivered like two weeks late, but we did deliver.

When you run a start up, you find yourself attending workshops to ‘train you’ on entrepreneurship. Most of them just feed you a lot of BS, but that’s just from my experience. One will tell you to focus your energy on creating a good product, while another will send you looking for market to see if your product has a market.

Well, I was caught in the chicken and egg trap. I went on and focused on getting the right product, the correct packaging and basically have my workshop running well. I forgot about the other important part of the business. MARKETING my products as I produced them. Three months ago, I had inventory that filled up a room. I was cash strapped. All my cashflow was in my inventory. When did I get here?

Lets hope I get rid of them by end of July so I can run the workshop smoothly.