Many entrepreneurs are seeking the recipe to launching a new consumer product to market. Many realize that having a great idea isn’t always enough, nor is an unlimited supply of investment capital, if they even have any. So what’s the secret? How about asking those who’ve actually brought products to market? Seems simple enough but you’d be surprised by the number of hopefuls who are immune to good advice and prefer their own ideas after having “researched the web”. At best, we can say that . .
. . launching a new product is a series of catastrophes that results in a victory.
This is an adaptation from a statement made by French politician George Clementeau who was actually describing “War” in his original quote but the take-away is essentially the same . . if you want to take a new product to market as an entrepreneur then it can be like going to war . . with the world, with those around you and even with yourself. Your own thoughts can start to betray you after having stared at any one part of the equation for too long. So how do we avoid the catastrophes?
Psychology
There are two main areas that generally impact the product development process most. Many of the programs that we review have already been passed around from one under-qualified service provider to another, leaving clients scratching their heads over what to do next. The unfortunate reality is that even with the best of intentions and well thought out plans, in the end, they wear the badge of failure when thing go sideways. Main reason? Client psychology and poor decision making . . it’s one of the leading causes of the 90% failure rule. If you’re unfamiliar, that simply means 90% of new product ideas, even brilliant ones never see the light of day.
Budget
We’re asked, all day long, “How much does it cost?” and when posed with such a generic question we like to retort with “How much does it cost to build a new home? Sure, we can generalize a bit but more often than not, product concepts and goals are just not well thought out at the initial review in order to give a truly meaningful response. At best we can say that the minimum costs for some garden variety widget with a level of curb appeal that might draw water is not less than $5K in industrial design and engineering costs. This simply gets you to the manufacturer’s RFQ and in the queue for tooling and parts costs with varying MOQ’s. The sad reality is that there are droves of freelancers from here to Timbuktu that will bait customers with the gimmicky $1,000 – $2,000 budgets which typically buys you 6 – 12 months of revisions, many added prototype costs, weeks and weeks of chasing unanswered calls, emails and ultimately the excuse that “there was a death in the family”.
Conclusion
This article may not give you the magic bullet but hopefully gets you thinking about the realities of what you’re contemplating as a startup. Let’s say for the sake of argument that your brilliant new idea is in fact a sea-worthy vessel . . . well, they said that about the Titanic. There’s a silver lining to the slightly off putting tone here though, and that is, there were numerous attempts to warn of a possible catastrophe the night the Wonder Ship went down and so you too, with the right people on board and with the right educated decision making and a realistic budget, can avert failure.
To find out more about how to avoid the catastrophes and what a meaningful product design process might look like, call or write us today at Seattle Product Design. We’d be happy to evaluate your product, devise a strategy to minimize risks, maximize budget and be a part of the critical decision making.
