The most common enquiry I get at Inventors HQ is:
“I have a good idea, but I don’t know what to do or where to start”.
When I was setting up Inventors HQ, I realised that approaching a new product idea is not dissimilar to setting up a business plan.
Here are 6 ways to put a new product idea to market:
- The first questions you need to ask yourself.“Why is this a good idea? What problems does my idea or invention solve? And, how big is the problem?” These questions relate directly to the demand for your product. Before you do anything else, you need to ask yourself if your idea or invention has sufficient selling potential to warrant an investment of resources. It is even worth doing some market research to make sure you have a market before you begin.
- Are your ideas similar or do they already exist?Once you’ve determined your idea has legs, you need to see if your idea or similar ideas already exist in the market. Do a search on products and patents and have a look at how you can develop the idea to a proven prototype stage.
- Build and protect your ideas.In order to be able to sell your idea to other people, you will really need a prototype so that they don’t have to imagine what your idea is and how it works. The prototype is also a great way to solve problems and glitches that I guarantee you will find. We find that when you solve one problem, you create another; but eventually, you will iron out all the glitches and you will end up with a pre-production prototype. Don’t be discouraged if it takes many prototypes, as this is often the case.
When you know what you are going to make, you will need to find suitable manufacturers to build, package and deliver your invention product.
This is also when you should consider getting a patent attorney involved to get some input on the level of protection that may be possible so you can protect your idea and intellectual property. They can also provide further insights into your industry and market. Not all patent attorneys have the same industry expertise, so it is worth asking the question about where they specialise.
- Review your business model.Once you have a working prototype and manufacturers sorted out, it’s time to review your business model. Use the information you have collected to date to look into what funding is required to commercialise your product and create options for the market – for example, different colours, sizes – the consumer wants choices!
- Get ready to go to market.Now, it’s time to get ready to go to market and in order to do this, you need to create your product branding, product strategy and packaging. These are the things that will communicate your story and show the consumer how your product is different to other similar items. You also need to establish your company if considering a Government funding assistance program and consider how your product will be distributed.
- Take your product to market.This is when you need to formalise your marketing and promotional strategy, pricing information, sales and distribution agreements, operational and logistics systems, public relations, websites, advertising and selling!
Often there appears to be so many things to do when developing a new product that the process seems too daunting and many people don’t make a start. What we do at Inventors HQ is to break the process down into small bite sized pieces and focus the effort one piece at a time. This approach creates a clear path and direction and gets the job finished whilst also helping to minimise the risks.
