Many entrepreneurs who are just starting often have a hard time turning their business ideas into actual products. But if you are not experienced in the art of entrepreneurship, it can be difficult to know where to start. We’ll guide you through the basics of turning your idea into a product!
Product Design
When your idea is just that, an idea, start by designing it. This can be as simple or as complex as necessary for you to have a nice-looking drawing of the product. Or if you are more of a digital person, draw out your idea on the computer! Just make sure it looks good enough so people will want to buy your product. The design process in new product development is crucial because it helps you focus on factors such as functionality, aesthetics, and manufacturability. With a proper product design, it’s time to develop the product! Think about what materials you will need, how much it will cost to make, and if there are any other components. Make sure your product is feasible so you can eventually turn it into a reality.
Product Marketability
After you’ve done all the hard work to design your product, test it out in the real world. Try making a prototype using materials that are readily available to see if your idea can work! You will spend some money upfront but in the end, you won’t have to make any changes once you invest more heavily in materials.
Once you’ve tested your product and determined its marketability, it’s time to think about who will want to buy your product. Determine what aspects of your product appeal most to the consumer, and use that data in marketing strategies. This step is crucial because, without a target audience, there’s no way for you to sell your product! Plus, understanding the marketability of your idea helps you develop a marketing plan that can help get your business off the ground.
Testing Your Product With Customers
That’s right, testing your product is a crucial step in turning a business idea into a product. One of the biggest problems new entrepreneurs have with successfully developing products is not talking to customers. They have different ideas about what appeals most to certain demographics and how they interact with the world around them. For you to be successful at turning your idea into a product, get feedback from potential customers! Ask them if they’d buy this type of product and why or why not. That way, you can make sure that when you finally launch your product it will appeal directly to people who want it.
Market Testing
Now it’s time for the real deal: market testing! This step might require some serious cash on your part, but if your product truly is marketable, it will be worth the investment. As you continue to work on your business idea, make sure you are also considering the logistics of actually marketing and selling your product (determining price-points, distribution channels, etc.).
Once you’ve done all that research and testing, bring out the big guns! By this point you have spent a significant amount of time developing your product so now is when you see what makes or breaks it. Whether it’s producing enough units to meet the demand for this first batch or putting together a top-notch marketing campaign, this step can sometimes depend entirely on how much money you’ve invested in-market testing.
Product Launch
Now it’s time to launch your idea into the world! But before you go full steam ahead with producing and selling your product, make sure manufacturing is sustainable. You don’t want an unsustainable manufacturing process to hurt your company later on! To ensure proper manufacturing, you should:
- Strike a balance between quality and cost to find manufacturing costs.
- Figure out who will manufacture your product and where they are located.
- Make sure the manufacturing process is repeatable and auditable.
- Keep in mind that it’s easier to maintain an existing relationship than build new ones!
Once your manufacturing process is set up, it’s time to sell your product! You can either choose to start selling your product yourself or hire distributors. If you are not experienced with the art of entrepreneurship, hiring distributors might be best for you. This is because distributors have already created quality relationships with retailers across the globe whereas beginning entrepreneurs may struggle to convince them of their products’ value. However, if making direct sales is more your style, you can always consider hiring sales reps to help with your direct sales.
In the end, remember that there is no “one size fits all” approach to producing a product from an idea. You will have to use your initiative and knowledge about business to successfully turn your idea into a product!