My company is at a point where we should begin creating our category. How would you go about that process step by step today, for a small and rising org? Thanks :)

Creating a category could be one of the most complicated process for any organization. It is very important that you make sure your company has the resources necessary for this. Here are 3 questions I would ask my business before thinking on expanding to new categories:

1. Will my core business be protected?: The biggest mistake you could make is to unprioritized the part of your business that brings the most value to the company. Unless you can be certain your main revenue stream is safe, I wouldn't suggest start exploring for new categories. Of course there could be situations where you need to create a new category because your core business is dying or competition is catching up, in this case this will be part of your strategy, but you still need to make sure you don't kill the cash cow before time.

2. Do you have enough resources? : Think of a new category almost as a new business. Of course you'll be able to find efficiencies with your current operation. But mostly a new category means going for new customers and this requieres a whole set of different skills, people and go to market strategies.

3. How connected is this new category with your core business? : Creating a new category is challenging by itself but you can make it easier by avoiding going to far from you main activity, for example: if you are in the soda business you could move to alcoholic beverages before thinking on moving to chips or sweets. The same if you are a clothing company, you will have a better chance to succeed if you move to footwear than going to the tech industry.