This post is contributed by Jason Dirkham,
All kinds of businesses are exciting, but ones that involve product development are especially intriguing. These kinds of operations bring something into the world and, as such, there are usually high levels of satisfaction involved. Of course, having an idea for a product is one thing; bringing it to life is another thing entirely. While there’s some overlap between the operations of regular businesses and product development, the latter comes with a host of unique challenges and obstacles that must be overcome before the product is launched.
In this post, we’ll run through some handy tips that all budding creators must keep in mind when developing their products.
Fundamental: What Problem Does Your Product Solve?
You can invent a million things. That’s the easy part. The challenge is inventing something that people want. And while that’s a pretty broad approach, fundamentally it comes down to: why would someone want this product? What product does it solve? Take a look at any existing product, and you’ll see that it solves some sort of issue for the consumer. Some of them are easier to identify than others, but they’re all there. Having a clear idea of what yours will solve will help validate the idea and give you a starting point for your target audience.
Feedback From Friends and Family
Your friends and family can provide invaluable insight into the merit of your idea before you’ve even spent a penny. Realistically, your friends and family will be similar to the type of people who you hope to eventually sell your product to. If they’re not interested in what you’re making — or more importantly, not interested in buying such a product — then it’s unlikely that it’ll take off. On the other hand, if they’re on board, then it’ll be worthwhile pursuing. They may also have some good suggestions that help to refine your thinking.
Conduct Focus Group Workshops
Of course, you can’t proceed full steam ahead with your product idea based on what your friends and family say. They’re unlikely to give you a truly unbiased opinion. They should be used as a sounding board and to get your ideas a little further down the road. The real test will come from focus groups. This is where you’ll present your idea — ideally with a prototype — to everyday consumers to whom you have no affiliation. You’ll get good and bad feedback from these groups. It’s important not to take bad feedback too seriously; in fact, you should welcome negative feedback, since that’ll tell you what you need to work on. It’s much easier to correct a problem at this stage, rather than figuring out a real problem once it’s already hit the market.
Studying Existing Products
It’s highly unlikely that you’re inventing an entirely brand-new product. That hasn’t been done in a while. In all likelihood, you’ll be riffing off existing products. It’s recommended to gather many versions of your intended product and study them as intently as possible. You’ll find things that you like, don’t like, and which aren’t present at all.
As well as studying products that have achieved some market success, it’s a good idea to look at products that didn’t perform well. You can learn a lot from failed products — if nothing else, it’ll help you avoid making the same mistake as that company.
Work With Outstanding Suppliers
It’s easy to view the prototype of your product in relatively unserious terms. After all, it’ll just be one of probably many prototypes that you have to make along the way. However, it’s important to invest in your prototypes as if they were the final product because, in at least one case, it will be. Plus, having a quality prototype will make it easier to attract investors and give your focus groups a product that they can actually test to its full capacity. As such, it’s essential to work with high-quality suppliers for your products; a great steel, copper, plastic, or silicone manufacturer will give you the materials you need that allow you to bring your vision to life. Plus, once you’ve sourced a great supplier, that’ll make it easy to get work underway once you finally begin full production.
Test, Test, Test
This is a big one. You only get one opportunity to make a first impression with a product. It doesn’t have to blow consumers away, but it shouldn’t put them off for good. But that’s just what will happen if you launch a product that isn’t fully ready. It’s worthwhile keeping a hard launch date off the table until you’re completely ready. Remember: the product doesn’t have to be in its final form, but it must bring value and, perhaps most important of all, be safe to use and long-lasting. A product that is faulty will cause the public to distrust your name, and there’s little you can do to get it back at that stage.
Embrace Setbacks
The road to the top is never linear. That’s true for all businesses, especially those that deal with product development. You’ll make significant progress at some stages that put you ahead of schedule and then hit roadblocks that threaten to push your launch date back. At other times, you’ll be engaged in exciting aspects that make going to work a joy, but at others, you’ll have to grind through boring work that will make you want to quit. Anyone who’s expecting to sprint their way to a great product launch is misguided; you can do things quickly or you can do things right, but you can’t do both at the same time.
The best way to deal with setbacks is to embrace them. It’s just another part of the game you’re playing. And for the boring, dull days? Well, remember that those are the days that cause everyone who doesn’t bring their product to market to quit. So you can be one of them, or you can suck it up and recognize that this is the fight that you signed up for.
