Great product ideas aren’t made overnight – or at least most of them. That’s why thorough planning and conceptualization are required before launching a new product. Unless you just want to leave it to luck…
For aspiring entrepreneurs, product development is a long process and a very difficult challenge especially because succeeding is one of your primary goals.
Many businesses have come before you. Many of them faced the same burdens you have now, and some of them have already thought unique product ideas which you cannot use anymore. That’s an even bigger dilemma for you.
But as a start, we will discuss first some steps that you have to take in product development. These are important to make sure the product idea you will be bringing to the market is unique and well-thought of.
There are differences per industry, but in general we can summarize the stages:
Conceptualization
Many new entrepreneurs overthink about producing a perfect and genius product idea that they can sell. They tire themselves trying to imagine something like never before. But the truth is, majority of what we can considered as ‘best’ product ideas are just better versions of existing products.
Doing that doesn’t mean you lose creativity and originality though, there are steps that you can take to create a product that you can call your own. It includes Substitution (replacing materials or promoting an alternative use), Combination (Two supplementary products combined into one pack), or Modification (Better version of current products or reversed/rearranged parts to make the product more efficient)
These strategies will transform existing ideas and give birth to a product which will cater new target audience and solve existing problems.
Data Gathering
After making up your mind on a particular product, you can’t mass produce it yet. This puts you at a very huge risk of failing at the first try.
What you must do is to validate it through relevant and factual data. This ensures that you won’t waste time and resources. It is better to invest on an idea that is backed up by of evidence for success.
People around you can help a lot in your product validation; asking them their feedback on your idea would give you a hint of what your general audience might think.
You can also try using ‘pre-order marketing materials’ to know if people will bite into the product idea. But this is risky too because if people didn’t patronize the idea and you decide not to push through with selling the product, then people will notice it.
You can also look into competitors and see how they are doing with their new products. This will help you understand what attracts the customers and what will push in sales into your business.
Market Planning
At this point, don’t your build your first prototype yet. This is the time that you can pour out all your creative juices to formulate the design and function of your product. You have to finalize this before you even start looking for materials and talking with manufacturers.
What we suggest is a hand-made sketch that is as detailed as possible and includes labels that explains the different features of the product.
This will help you identify the important elements and components of your materials where you will invest to bring it to life. This is a crucial part of building your actual product.
At this stage, you should also start minding about your ideal retail price and product category so you can also plan your marketing strategies and brand positioning. Everything that can affect the way you market your product must be taken into consideration.
Prototyping
The prototyping phase is where you create a sample finished product which will serve as a model for mass production. This will be the first time you’ll have an actual feel and sight of the actual product.
Prototyping may take a couple of tries because it involves experimentations and tryouts to know what version of your product will be the best.
This is also the time to test whether the materials you used are perfect for the product. It you think that it is perfect and it can give you satisfaction, then that’s where you can proceed to the next level.
Sourcing
Sourcing is where you prepare for mass production. You start purchasing materials and establishing your connection with production partners who will ensure stable supply of components.
This is also where you stabilize your supply chain, from the vendors into the customer’s hands.
This phase doesn’t only involve finding manufacturers or suppliers, but you also deal with storage, shipping, and warehousing.
During the sourcing phase, you’ll also have the chance of determining whether to produce your product locally or overseas. Both of these have their own advantages and disadvantages. But only you can know what’s best for your business.
After settling everything, you can head out to costing before the actual distribution. Going through all these necessary preparation means you are putting yourself closer to releasing a successful final product.