Sometimes it’s necessary to get inventive, especially if business is a little slow. It might be that your current product or service is going out of style and needs reinvigorating, or it could be that you need an entirely new product altogether to offer new value for your customers.
In this article, PIER 23 will look at six top tips for creating a brand-new product for your business…
Take stock of what you already have
When creating something new, it’s important to know what you have already. It’ll always be difficult to sell something as an ‘original’ if it fulfils the same purpose as one of your existing products. An audit of your current products and services can put things into perspective and you’ll be able to take a step back and look at the ‘bigger picture’.
Know what’s working well for you (and what isn’t)
Don’t end up replicating something that’s already not doing well in your business. If you own a bakery and your marmite and custard pie isn’t selling (no surprise), don’t go creating a marmite and custard muffin. If your business has a range of products or services, examine the characteristics of the successful ones and look at forming them together to create something new and great – but only if it fulfils an appropriate purpose for the customer. You don’t want to end up with Frankenstein’s monster.
Find out what your audience wants
This seems fairly obvious but its importance should not be understated. Just like PIER 23 says in this post, doing your research is incredibly important. Use sales data you have collected for what sells well, which products people enquire about and, perhaps most importantly, what you often have to tell your customers you don’t do. If you’re a locksmith helping people get back into their properties and they ask you if you do key-cutting, but you keep saying no, perhaps it’s time to look at developing that as a new revenue stream.
If you’re a new startup with no data to assess then this next tip will be important for you…
Take a peek at your competitors
Competitive analysis is key to successfully increasing your share in the marketplace. It’s also great for coming up with new product ideas. Don’t just identify what your competitors do, identify what they don’t do too. This can help you identify gaps in the market which you can then develop into.
Be creative
This can sound daunting but if you prepare yourself in the right way, it can come quite easily. Once you’ve identified your current products, looked at the gaps in the market and analysed the things your audience are asking for, coming up with something new becomes immeasurably easier. Don’t rush this process, creativity can be stifled by stress. PIER 23 offers free services to collaborate with you through this, so just email concept@pier23.com for support.
Test everything, then test again
If you’re launching a new product, start small and then build out from there. Speak to small test groups or even your friends and family to get their honest opinion. Your research will push forward your strategy and, if you’re starting small, you can make changes to your product or service as you go until your ready to launch. Important things to test for are functionality (does it work?), customer satisfaction (do they like it?), advocacy (would your customer tell people about it?), commercial viability (does it make money?) and durability (can it stick around for a while?).
Keep us updated with your progress or, if you need any help for free, just contact PIER 23 at concept@pier23.com and together we can develop concepts for growth.
