If you’ve spent any time around me, you've likely heard me say, “It only takes about five smart individuals to make millions of dollars.” The standard response I receive is, “Yeah, but what five?”

As we wind down 2010 and begin to execute on our revised, refined and reignited strategies for 2011 I’d recommend that everyone begin by taking a step back and looking at their leadership team. If you want your business to grow, or simply survive, you need to have the right people doing the right work starting at the top.

As a business consultant I see weak business models, weak leadership teams, inexperienced management teams and untrained staff daily and I ask myself, “Why is it so difficult for so many companies to succeed?” In general, most companies I’ve worked with have good product(s), offer decent services and have a reliable support team to work with customers. So, why do these models fail when the fundamental building blocks are there, the customers are there and the stars seem to be aligned? How long can we blame it on the economy? I think a more effective exercise would be to take a closer look at the management team: Are they the right five?

Many digital signage companies have spent significant dollars on research trying to identify the next ‘hot’ vertical market(s) for digital signage growth. Understanding the value of good market data and then using that data to effectively map product development for a given market will determine who will ultimately be in the game and who will be watching from the sidelines.

Primary research focused on addressing communication pain points guides solution-development activity and anticipates the creation of useful tools: software, hardware and services designed to serve a specific customer or industry.  Copycat development strategies and gut feeling development are two methods often seen in the solution-creation process, and depending upon the size of a product marketing and product-management organization, it may be a fairly effective methodology. One thing that appears to be consistent across all groups is the constant chatter about innovation, as often touted in mission statements, vision statements, and core values. But in order to truly ‘innovate’ for a specific vertical market don’t you need to really understand the market, and know its pain points and desired goals? Of course you do!

I’ve recently become aware of several technology-driven venture capital groups investing in primary research surrounding the communication and technology integration needs of select brands in the retail industry. Why? To determine baseline criteria as to what type of technology companies they should invest in based on the needs of the end-user/deployer, and to provide foresight into where they see the market going next. A little reverse engineering of pain points assists in aligning retailers' plans to spend their technology dollars, now possibly including digital media.  Venture Capital groups seeking industry-relevant innovation are allowing additional dollars to be fed into the digital signage industry, and more specifically into the truly innovative technology companies that can build solutions that align with a customer’s specific needs. What does this all mean?  It’s another twist in the solution-mapping recipe within the digital signage industry and a new model that may prove to be a winning one in the under-deployed retail sector.