Marina Khidekel

As your company grows, you'll add new products. Here are common traps to avoid.

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Prior to launching her business, Hugimals World, Marina Khidekel served as chief content officer at Thrive Global and as a deputy editor at Women's Health and Cosmopolitan. Today, she leads Hugimals World as CEO and writes about founder life for Inc.

Launching a product is never just about the product. As I write this, my two-and-a-half-year-old company, Hugimals World, is preparing to roll out Hugarounds—a new line of warm-able weighted plushies for anxiety relief that double as soothing neck wraps. Customers who have gotten a preview are already excited (many have preordered), but I know that early enthusiasm isn’t enough to ensure a successful launch. So, what does it take?

With this new product launch on my mind, I reached out to other founders to hear what lessons they've taken away from their most successful—and less successful—product debuts.

Don’t Forget Your Community

Building a community early was key for Michelle Cordeiro Grant. She sold her first startup, Lively, a community-driven lingerie and apparel brand she launched in 2016, to Wacoal for $105 million just three years later. She now runs Gorgie, a wellness energy drink brand based in Boca Raton, Florida, which raised $24.5 million in Series A funding earlier this year. Cordeiro Grant built both Lively and Gorgie by engaging customers early, testing her product and messaging before launch.

Before Gorgie’s launch, she collected feedback on the product from her followers on TikTok and Instagram. Their opinions drove changes to the drink’s recipe. She also used Geneva, a community group chat platform, to create a digital space for followers to give feedback on new launches and Gorgie’s merchandising in physical stores. Recently, the company soft-launched its own app, Club Gorgie, that allows its followers to give input and meet friends.