5 Ways to Successfully Develop a New Product

Did you ever think of a great idea but didn’t know how to bring it to fruition? There are five ways to ensure that you will take the correct steps and mitigate most risks during the stages of product development. It’s easy to get excited when we have fresh ideas. But sometimes, the excitement can lead us to rush the process, leading to a loss of money and time.

Idea Generation

For any new product produced, the first step is idea generation. Although, merely having an idea isn’t a guarantee of the success of your new product or service. Most successful companies gain ideas from customers, customer data, or other companies and markets. Ideas derived from customers can be something as simple as a company scanning through reviews to see what customers think can improve or even replace a product. An example of ideas based on customer data is a restaurant that starts selling a new food item based on an abundance of specialized orders. That item wasn’t initially on the menu, but the company kept track of multiple customers placing that order. Since the demand was higher, the company could add that new item to the menu. Alternatively, ideas from other companies are just that. Innovators search for products and ideas from their competitors and explore different ways to join that market or make a better product. Now that we understand different ways to generate ideas, let’s discuss the screening process of those ideas.

Screening

Screening is the second most crucial part of on process. Three critical considerations during the screening process are safety, liabilities, and return on investment. Safety is the number one concern when creating a product. All products must meet safety regulations and recall any items violating the consumer product safety act, which leads us to the following screening requirement, liabilities. If companies produce unsafe products, they’re fully liable for the negative outcome that the consumer experiences. For example, if the objects are small enough, most toys for kids have either an age restriction or a choking hazard disclaimer. The company can assume liability without proper labeling if a child chokes on a too-small toy. Return on investment is a different kind of safety net for investors. Return on investment or ROI is the company’s profits on its initial investment. Investors are reluctant to invest in a company that will cause them to break even or lose money. For an investment to be worthwhile, the investor will want to see a decent return on investment. If not, it won’t be worth the time or money. Since we did a good job screening, let’s see how that leads to idea evaluation.

Idea Evaluation

The idea evaluation stage enables companies to conduct thorough research to answer all assumptions. Concept testing is an excellent way to understand how customers feel about the product. As you can tell, concept testing is a crucial step during the research process because it can get all critical feedback from customers. Ultimately, the customers will determine the product’s success or failure. Customer feedback is imperative because it tells the company how the customer perceives the product. If the customer doesn’t understand the packaging, the company can change the image or wording to fit its audience better. After the idea evaluation is complete, it’s time for the development stage.

Development

The development stage requires more research and funding. Since, by this point, all of the bad ideas are gone, companies feel more comfortable investing more money to finish the production process. Some companies may even give customers a sneak peek of the product. Giving the customers a sneak look is two-fold because it allows the company to market the product while at the same time learning if they need to fine-tune the product based on customer feedback. In the development stage, the company can also find out if the product will be successful even though it was already screened. Now that the product has been through the other four processes, it’s time for the fifth process, commercialization.

Commercialization

During step 5, the company places its product on the market. To do so, the company needs to be ready for this step. Everyone must play a seamless role during the commercialization phase, from manufacturing to the individual sales representatives. If products sell fast and the manufacturing department can’t produce more, the company may lose the attention and business of the consumer. Companies need to conduct the commercialization phase only at the rate they can support. If they don’t have an abundance of their product, selling in stores nationwide isn’t the best approach. They should only release products as fast as they can sell and produce. Once the company gets into a good rhythm, then it can expand.

If you’ve read this far, you now understand the five steps to developing a product successfully. Always remember, never skip any steps because you may miss a critical point. Rushing the process isn’t always better for long-term success.