Bringing your first product idea to life is sometimes one of the biggest obstacles for those looking for entrepreneurs.
The process of product development may seem almost incomprehensible, and when you hear news from other big businesses, the journey to a finished product is not the same as a direct line.
Tina Roth-Eisenberg, for example, realized that short-lived tattoos were in short supply when her daughter came home, and she mobilized her local community of fellow designers to create Tattly.
David Barnett, on the other hand, had to teach himself how to use 3D design software in order to emulate PopSockets, the most popular phone accessory now.
In itself, these encouraging stories do not provide a end-to-end product development plan, but the similarities they share highlight some of the steps founders often take in starting a business and exporting a finished product.
A new product development process in 6 steps
1. Vision
Most entrepreneurs who wish to hold on to a vision, usually because they are waiting for a clever collision to come up with the perfect product to sell. While creating something “new” can basically fill constructively, many good ideas are the result of duplication in an existing product.
The SCAMPER model is a useful tool to quickly come up with product ideas by asking questions about
existing products. Each character must be fast:
Substitute (e.g. woolly for false hair)
Combine (e.g. phone case and battery pack)
Make an adapter (eg a bra with front nursing bumps)
Switch (e.g. toothbrush with sleeker design)
Add to other uses (e.g. memory for dog beds)
Remove (e.g. middle person to sell sunglasses and transfer savings to customers)
Rewind / Reset (e.g. duffle bag so as not to shrink your suits)
By asking these questions, you can come up with new ways to change existing ideas or prepare it for a new audience or problem.
If you still want "aha!" For now, we compile a list of resources to come up with your product ideas, from analyzing online markets to inspiring historical styles.
2. Research
With your product perspective in mind, you may feel inclined to excel in production, but that would be a wrong move if you fail to validate your idea first.
Product verification ensures that you create a product that people will pay for and that you will not waste time, money, and effort on an idea that you cannot sell. There are several ways in which you can verify your product ideas, including:
Communicating your point of view with family and friends
Posting an online survey for feedback
Starting a refund campaign
Asking for feedback from forums like Reddit
Researching online searches using Google Trends
Launches the “coming soon” page to measure interest on email opt-ins or pre-orders
However you decide to confirm your opinion, it is important to get feedback from a strong and selective audience as to whether you will buy your product. Be careful not to overlook the answer from “definitely buy” people if you were going to build your branded product — until money changes hands, you can’t count someone as a customer.
Validation research will also include competitive analysis. If your idea or niche has the power to remove, there may be competitors already working in that space.
Visiting a competitor's website and subscribing to their email list will allow you to understand how they attract customers and make sales. Asking your potential customers what they like and dislike about their competitors will also be important in defining your competitive advantage.
Details included in product validation and market research will allow you to measure your product demand and the level of competition that exists before you start planning.
3. Planning
Since product development can quickly become complicated, it’s important that you take the time to plan before you start building your brand.
When you finally get to the manufacturers or start looking for building materials, if you do not have a concrete idea of what you want your product to look like and how it will work, it is easy to get lost in the next steps.
The best place to start is with a hand-drawn sketch of what your product will look like. The drawing should be as specific as possible, with labels describing the various features and functions.
You do not need a professional quality drawing because you will not be sending it to the manufacturer in this category. However, if you’re not sure if you can produce a readable graphic that will sound like your product, it’s easy to find rental characters in Dribbble, UpWork, or Minty.
Try using your drawing to create a list of different things or things you will need to make a product live. The list does not need to include all possible features, but it should allow you to start planning what you will need to build a product.
For example, a graphic design diagram might fit this list:
Zippers (large and small)
Silver hooks
Skin straps
Protective bag
Embossed label
Inner bag
Depending on the material, you should also start thinking about the selling price or category your product will fall into. Will the product be an everyday or special occasion? Will it use premium materials or is it environmentally friendly? All of these are questions that you should consider in the planning section because they will help guide you not only in your product development process but also in your product design strategy and marketing strategies.
Packing, labels, and the overall quality of your items should also be considered before proceeding with the acquisition and billing stages. This will affect how you sell your product to your target customers, so it is important to take these product features into consideration during the re-planning phase.
4. Protection
The purpose of the display phase during product production is to create a finished product that you will use as a mass production sample.
It is not possible to get to your finished product in one go - routine practice often involves trying a few different types of your product, gradually removing options and improving until you feel satisfied with the final sample.
Prototyping also varies greatly depending on the type of product you are producing. The most expensive and easiest cases are the products you can show yourself, such as cooking food and other cosmetic products. This self-made can also extend to fashion, pottery, design and more specific, if you are lucky enough to be trained in these courses.
However, more often than not, entrepreneurs will work with a third party to make their product. In the fashion and clothing industry, this often involves working with a local tailor (clothing and accessories), a tailor (footwear) or a pattern maker (clothing). These services are often available online through local google services in the industry.
Most large cities also have art, design or fashion schools where students are trained in these techniques. Managers from these university or college programs can often give you access to their internal work board where you can apply for prototyping assistance.
For items such as toys, home accessories, electronics, and many other hard-to-find items, you may need a 3D rendering to create an example. Artists or engineers trained in computer-assisted design and development (CAD) software can be hired to do this, using UpWork or Freelancer. There are also easy-to-use online tools such as SketchUp, TinkerCad and Vectary, for developers who want to learn how to create 3D models.
To make the 3D design turned into a visual model, its makers had to make a mold for each part. Molds are often expensive and costly to set up, such as tools and tools, used to cut and build pieces of plastic and other hard materials.
Fortunately, with the innovation of 3D printing, designs can be converted into body samples at very low cost during fast processing.
Chris Little, founder of Wintersmiths, gave an example of his barware line using Quickparts, and explained that he was able to do that on a budget and within a few days. Alex Commons of Bulat Kitchen recommends 3D Hubs, which he used to make a knife, paying about $ 30 for a 3D printed model.
5. Source
Once you have a product that you are satisfied with, it is time to start collecting resources and protecting the necessary partners in production. This is also called building your transaction: vendors, jobs, and resources needed to create a product and deliver it into the hands of customers.
Although this section will deal primarily with the demand for production-related services, you may also be responsible for the retention, shipping, and retention of your choice in this category.
For Shoe Dog, the invitation of Nike founder Phil Knight, the importance of separating your supply chain is the theme emphasized throughout the story. Finding the most versatile suppliers you will need, as well as potential manufacturers, will allow you to compare costs. It also has the added advantage of creating a backup option if one of your suppliers or manufacturers is not working. Exploring several options is an important part of protecting your business in the long run.
When looking for providers, there are many resources online and in person. While it may seem outdated, many business owners prefer to attend exhibitions dedicated to testing. Trade shows, such as Magic in Las Vegas, offer the opportunity to see hundreds of retailers simultaneously - to see, touch, and discuss building and building personal relationships with suppliers, which can be helpful when it comes to negotiating prices.
During the procurement phase, you will definitely face the decision whether to produce your product locally or overseas. It is a good idea to compare the two options, as each has its advantages and disadvantages.
Alibaba's most widely used marine processing platform is Alibaba. Alibaba is a market place for Chinese suppliers and factories, where you can browse a list of finished goods, or accessories. A popular way to use Alibaba to find a manufacturer is to look at listings with similar products of your own, and then contact the industry to see if it can produce your specific design.
6. Calling
After doing research, planning, prototyping, and identification, you should have a clear picture of what it will cost you to produce your product. Costing is the process of taking all the information collected so far, and then entering into what your cost of goods sold (COGS) will be, so that you can get the full price and line.
Start by creating a spreadsheet where some additional costs are broken as a separate line item. This should include all your raw materials, factory setup costs, production costs, and shipping costs. It is important to consider shipping, import fees, and any other services you will need to pay for your final product to fall into the hands of customers, as these fees can have a significant impact on your COGS depending on where you produce the product. .
If you have been able to secure multiple quotes for various items or manufacturers during the acquisition phase, you can add separate columns for each line item that compares costs. One way is to create a second version of the spreadsheet, to compare local production with ocean production.
Once you have calculated the value of your COGS, you can find the selling price of your product and subtract the COGS from that price to get your main line, or profit, per unit sold.
Product development in well-known industries
The process of product development will vary naturally by industry, so let's take a brief look at what you can consider in three major and well-established industries: Fashion and Clothing, Beauty and Cosmetics, and Food and Beverage.
These three industries have specific approaches to product development due to the many well-documented studies that can be used for promotion.
Fashion and clothing
In the fashion industry, product development often begins the old-fashioned way of schooling: with a hand-painted, or digital equivalent using a program like Prereate.
Draw and make a sample using a pattern maker or tailor. During the protocol phase, a size set is created, which means a list of samples of different sizes for each size you want to sell. Once the size is completed, it is put into production.
Instead of making a product, some fashion and clothing businesses prefer print-required to produce their own clothing in the first place. Print-demand allows you to upload make-up to a third-party app, which connects your store to a repository and a screen print layout. When an order is placed online, your design is printed on an existing stock of T-shirts, jerseys and various other items offered, making the finished product without the need to design the whole outfit.
Other things to consider:
Hang tags: a tag with a logo hanging on a garment and usually contains details such as price, size etc.
Labels: fabric tags sewn or stamped on a garment that usually contain details about the contents of the fabric and care instructions
Wash tests: put your product in wash tests to understand how it adheres over time and how it should be cared for
Beauty & Cosmetics
The beauty and cosmetics industry includes a wide range of products that are constantly growing due to health and self-care styles. From makeup to bath and skin care products, many types of beauty focus on all natural ingredients and sustainability, making it easy to make a product on your own using daily ingredients.
White branding is also popular in the beauty and cosmetics industry, which is the process of finding an existing product or manufacturer, and then packing and branding a product that is already producing. Whichever method you decide to take, mass production of cosmetics is usually done by working with a lab and a pharmacist to ensure that quality remains consistent on the scale.
Other things to consider:
Labels and Warnings: Identify everything used in the product and any possible response
Rules and regulations: researches FDA regulations and how they relate to your product and packaging, both where it is manufactured and where you intend to sell it
Shelf life: doing experiments and adding the expiration dates required for products
Food and drink
Food and beverage products are among the easiest things to start developing at low cost and for the comfort of your home. Making a new energy bar can be as easy as buying ingredients and making a recipe for your kitchen, as Lara Merriken did when she started Larabar.
To move from this recipe to packaged goods that you can sell in stores or online, you will need to find a commercial kitchen that is licensed to produce food and that has passed health and safety tests.
These kitchens are usually set up with large ovens and cooking utensils to accommodate large batches, but if you are considering mass production and packaging, a co-packer or co-manufacturer might be the best option. These are production areas that focus on processing materials and producing food and beverages on a scale.
Other things to consider:
Labels and warnings: list of ingredients, healthy food information to display
Laws and regulations: Many countries have laws regarding food information, allergen warnings, and health claims that you will need to comply with
Expiration dates: to understand your product life and how to produce, pack and store the product to set this
What will you bring to the market?
During product production, each finished product journey is different and the whole industry has its own unique collection of quirks involved in creating something new. If you find yourself having trouble finding everything, remember that all the products that came before you had to overcome the same challenges.
By following these steps as you go through your product development process, you can cut down on the huge task of bringing a new product to market in easily accessible categories.
No matter what you do, with all the necessary preparation - research, planning, prototyping, fundraising and cost - you can create your own successful end product.
Entrepreneurly.in can be your partner every step of the way. We provide end to end solutions to new age startups and Businesses. You can contact us for more information about our services and we will be happy to help you:)
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