As an aspiring entrepreneur, learning how to develop a product from scratch can seem complicated, especially when working on a budget. Nevertheless, this does not mean that it is impossible.
Developing a business from an idea is a nerve-wracking task that requires capital, research and development, hard work, dedication, time and sometimes failure before succeeding.
Do you have a great idea but are constrained by a budget?
Here are tips on how to turn your idea into a marketable product.
How to Develop a Product
Commercialization is the act of launching a new product or service in the market by turning an idea into a real business activity. One vital piece of advice is to use the limited resources you have at your disposal wisely.
Moreover, one ought to plan a lot so that each coin is put to great use in the development of the budget and marketing strategy for the new commodity.
Describe the Product
Before anything else, you have to write a short and precise description of the product so that anyone without prior knowledge can understand its features and benefits.
Research and Development
What is research and development in business? It is the act of researching the market to acquire knowledge of consumer needs, which ultimately aids to create a product or improve the product to fit their needs.
Because most small scale business owners have budget constraints, they are most likely to be developing a competing product rather than create a new one which requires more capital.
According to statistics, businesses that engage in research and development are more likely to succeed than companies which don’t. Determine unmet consumer needs.
During your market research, you need to have some questions to ask suffering consumers. Listen to their responses and figure out the nature of their pain.
For instance, let’s say that you have an idea for a product that already exists. You need to go into the market and ask prospective customers if they are happy with the existing market products. If consumers are not satisfied, they will point out a few things that they need, and from this, one can create a product that they need encouraging them to become my consumers.
Develop Hypotheses
Basing on the consumer needs from your research, you can come up with educated guesses on some of the features that your product must have to encourage them to become clients. Additionally, you need a numeric approximation on the number of clients you believe will be open to using a prototype with those features.
Create A Prototype Solution
The next stage in developing a product is to build a quick and affordable sample that fulfills all those features that will make people buy it over other products. Even though the first form may not satisfy all the client's unmet needs, it is an excellent way to get an understanding of what the sample can do vis-à-vis the final product to get consumers to purchase it.
Write Up a Business Plan
According to statistics, having a business plan offers a significant advantage while starting a business on a budget. This is because, with a well-written business plan, you can acquire a loan or receive investment capital from potential investors, thereby growing your business.
Entrepreneurs without a business plan encounter difficulties in obtaining loans or investment capital and often find it harder to grow their business.
Figure out your Elevator pitch
Before launching the final product into the market, talk it up to your close network including family, friends, and professional contacts. By doing so, you can work on coming up with a short and precise sales pitch that will help in highlighting your product's uniqueness and call to action.
Test Your Prototype
Take your sample product to the market and take note of how the customers receive and use it. Ensure to record the number of clients that try the item and engage them to get a feel of what they liked or did not like about the commodity. Your investors would like to see details of every step.
The purpose of this exercise is to record information that will either verify or refute the hypotheses that you had developed earlier.
Analyze Variance
In this step of how to develop a product, you need to make a comparison of the expected result with your observed outcomes. This assessment is precious in shaping your strategic positioning.
Pick a Strategy
Selecting a strategy involves determining whether to proceed with the product invention or not. Getting better -than expected outcomes settle that you will have customers to buy your product if you develop the current form of the prototype onto a product and market it.
On the other end, if you get worse-than-expected results then, you need to evaluate why the prototype failed and create another version of it. A repetition of the process should follow until when you get the required expectations, or it is evident that the idea is no longer viable so you can shut it down.
Marketing Channel
After getting the expected results and creating the final product, all you have to do now is get it in front of people. You need eyeballs on your product and very high video view numbers. Big companies have a robust marketing budget to work with giving them a competitive edge.
However, this does not mean that you cannot effectively market your merchandise as well. There are several almost free and low-cost techniques to sell your new product to millions of consumers in today’s world.
For instance, Social media remains your best bet and should be your primary avenue for marketing. This is because social media avenues like Facebook and Instagram have made so many small businesses surpass their projected goals. So, set up a page and get to work!
Get Started on Product Development
Using the above tips, by now you know how to develop a product from an idea and you will gain share in the market before your investment runs out. The best advantage that you have over other established companies is that your business can learn faster.
