Eating Our Own Dog Food: The Importance of Practicing What You Preach In business, it's vital to practice what you preach.
This concept is especially relevant when it comes to your own products and services. "Eating your own dog food," or "dogfooding," refers to using your own products to demonstrate that you truly believe in them. This article will cover the benefits of dogfooding, why it's critical for a successful business strategy, and how to start practicing it.
The Benefits of Eating Your Own Dog Food
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Improved Product Quality: By using your own products, you can identify and fix any problems, leading to a more polished and high-quality product that can increase customer satisfaction and loyalty.
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Increased Employee Morale: When employees see their leaders using the products they produce, it improves their morale and motivation, resulting in increased productivity and creativity.
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Better Marketing: By using your own products, you can create compelling marketing materials and demonstrate the benefits and capabilities of your products through real-world use cases, attracting new customers and retaining existing ones.
How to Start Eating Your Own Dog Food
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Assign a Dedicated Team: To get the most out of dogfooding, it's important to have a dedicated team in charge of using and testing your products. This team should consist of a cross-functional group of employees, including product managers, developers, and customer support representatives.
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Set Clear Goals: Before starting dogfooding, set clear goals and expectations, such as identifying areas for improvement, testing the scalability of your products, and gathering feedback from employees and customers.
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Incorporate Dogfooding into Your Workflow: Once you have a dedicated team and clear goals, start incorporating dogfooding into your daily workflow by regularly using your products, providing feedback, and making improvements.
In the website design and development industry, dogfooding refers to using your own products and services internally before offering them to clients. By doing this, you can test and identify any issues, make necessary improvements, and ensure that you're providing the best service and products to your clients. This practice has allowed companies, like Subtle Difference, to adapt to the ever-changing technological landscape and provide exceptional digital experiences for their clients.
In fact we ate soo much that we ended up creating a professional Content Management System (CMS) called RealOnline. The system has been tested and developed for local sites with traffic from millions of visitors per year to the more humble and niche focused with a few thousand visitors.
In conclusion, dogfooding is a crucial aspect of a successful business strategy. By using your own products, you can improve product quality, increase employee morale, and create better marketing materials. Assign a dedicated team, set clear goals, and incorporate it into your daily workflow to get the most out of this practice. Start eating your own dog food - your business will thank you for it!