Designing a new product that the market has never seen before, and ultimately refining a whole product line that’ll make you a lot of money, is the dream of all young entrepreneurs. But it’s not quite a straight process that someone has managed to streamline yet, despite all that innovation!
You’ll have a lot to prove and a lot of competition to come up against. Will you be able to overcome the obstacles and prove you’ve got a product that’s worth the market’s time and attention? If you keep the points below in mind, you’ll have a much better chance of making it all the way into a customer’s basket.
Build a Concrete Idea of Your Ideal User
So, who is it you’re making the product for? What do you want them to get out of using your product? What do you want the reviews to say? These are all things to think about now, rather than later on when you’re neck deep in customer service disputes.
The more you know about the end result at the beginning, the better your development will align with the reality. You’ll know what your product is really about, what it’ll be able to do, and the supplementary features you can add once you’re past the initial production stages.
Essentially you craft yourself a ‘roadmap’, which is not only exciting to follow, but will get funding providers very interested as well! Your ideal customer will feature prominently, and you’ll have an answer for any variety of woe you want your product to specifically address.
Constantly Refine Your Business Plan
Rarely do we ever just go with a first draft; from online content creation to submitting important documents, it’s always best to check, check, and then check again! So don’t let your product plan, or your subsequent business plan, go through without the same refinement. Remember, product ideas are likely to change, so the plan you make to sell it should change too.
Will it Be Hard to Prove Your Legitimacy?
This is always something to keep in mind, especially for businesses who want to open up websites for new software types or online games. Indeed, this challenge is rather unique. After all, hundreds of scammers try to build up a target base using these models every single day, and that can make it hard to prove your legitimacy with a bona fide idea.
However, it’s not entirely impossible; you just need to go through the admin with a fine tooth comb. Start with your payment portal; many card companies can take a while to authenticate a digital based business, but you can automate the merchant onboarding process when you’re working with the right provider.
Do some research to find out what you’ll have to do to sail through the screening – namely what licenses you may need to possess. You should also focus on making your website an incredibly secure place to be, with a fully encrypted SSL on display in your code.
Never Deploy an Idea without Some Feedback
You’re one person with a single view point, even when you try to see things from another side. Because of that, you’ll need a fresh pair of eyes or two on your product idea from day one. These eyes need to be people who can provide actionable constructive criticism, without making you feel negative towards your idea or its ability to make a difference.
Now, this can be a hard pill to swallow. As human beings, we tend to be protective of our thoughts and the way we use them. Opening them up to the world in such a vulnerable way, and specifically asking for feedback on what’s going wrong/could be better can dishearten even the most confident of entrepreneurs.
But the more you ask around, the better your product will be. So, present it like you would to an investor and explain your thinking behind its purpose in full. This way you’ll gather relevant feedback from various viewpoints, which you can then use to develop a better version of your current design. Peer review will always be essential!
Your product idea could very well make it to market, but only with some very hard work! Define your ideal user, develop a strong product plan, focus on your legitimacy, and then show your idea around. Without following steps like this, your brainchild could end up in the mud before you’ve even had the chance to sketch out a first design!