It’s an amazing feeling when the product you’ve developed begins selling, and you realize your dream of owning your own business. You should take some time to celebrate and look back at all the hard work you’ve put in, but you should also be looking forward towards your next product. Developing more than one product is essential to keeping your business thriving and growing. Your first product may have put you on the map, but now it’s time to keep working and developing more products. Here’s why.

There are a few different reasons why it might be time to develop a new product. The most pressing reason is that the market can change quickly, and products that were performing well can begin to lose sales rapidly. Consumers’ needs and wants may undergo a change, and you need to be able to change along with them.

Developing a series of products gives you a consistent stream of sales, and means that you won’t be completely at a loss if one of your products stops selling. Relying on one product to support your business is surefire way to find yourself in trouble when the market changes.

The new product doesn’t have to be a completely different from the initial product. If your product reaches the end of its life cycle, then it’s time for a new, updated version that may reflect different market trends or consumer desires. Developing new products shows your customers that you’re working to be on the cutting edge of your industry.

So what are the steps in developing your new product?

  • First and foremost, you need to have idea generation. Even if you’re developing a new iteration of an older product, you have to bring something new to the table to convince consumers that they need it.
  • Once you have your idea, you need to screen it. You’ll want to get input from employees, customers, and even other businesses to make sure that your idea is viable and there is a demand for it. Don’t assume that because your immediate circle likes the idea, that consumers will as well.
  • You’ve successfully screened your product, so now it’s time to develop and test your concept. A prototype will be created, and you can play with the features and get real feedback from test groups on what they like and dislike about the product.
  • If everything has gone well, you then begin the process of commercializing and launching your product. This involves finalizing pricing and beginning a heavy marketing campaign to attract attention to your product launch. Once you’ve launched your product, review the results of its performance, as well as your own practices leading up to the launch. This will help you refine your process and fix mistakes for future products.

And if you feel like the development phase is beginning to overwhelm you, then you should think about hiring an outside firm to help you streamline the process and get your product to market quickly and efficiently. Contact Pivot International today to find out how your business can benefit from our product development specialists.