What to Do with a Product Idea You're Not Yet Sure About

If you have an idea for a product, it can be exciting and exhilarating. You want it to work out and for all your plans to come to fruition. However, before you get too far ahead of yourself, it’s important to consider how good that idea might truly be. If you’re not yet completely sure about the product and taking it to market, there are some steps you should take to gain more insight.

Discuss it with Focus Groups

Focus groups can be really great for gaining a better understanding of what your target demographic is really looking for from the kinds of products you have to offer. If you don’t know what they want, you might end up trying to sell them products that they have absolutely no interest in and that’s obviously not something that’s going to go well for you.

Does it Address a Genuine Problem?

You should always ask yourself how your product is going to be used. Your business should try to make sure it's putting out products that answer a particular problem. You can be sure that your products are going to have a use if they’re addressing genuine concerns and problems that your target customers have on a day to day basis.

Research the Market

Understanding the market and what’s already out there might help you make a decision regarding what to do with your product. If there are already similar products out there, you’ll need to make yours different. But if you think yours is better than products that are already selling in high volumes, it might tell you that you have a winning product on your hands.

Make a Prototype of It

The next step to take if you’re wanting to find out whether there’s a future for your product idea is to make a prototype version of it. These are useful because they give you an idea of what the product will look and perform like, without having to go through the process and cost of manufacturing them at bulk. You can use thermosetting plastics and other techniques to get them made quickly and then start testing them.

Make a Call on Whether to Take the Risk

When all’s said and done, there’s no way of being certain because you can’t predict the future. In the end, you’ll need to make a call informed by the research carried out and the things we’ve discussed above. Whatever you decide to do, you’ll be taking a risk. But that’s simply the nature of running a business, so embrace it.

Not every idea you have is going to turn out to be a goldmine for your business; that’s just the reality of the situation. It’s up to you to find ways to assess and test these ideas before you jump in at the deep end and take them to market. Don’t rush into anything until you’re sure about what you’re doing.