How to Create a Product Development Strategy for Your Idea

More than 42% of companies fail due to a lack of demand for their product or service. 

To build a successful business, you need a strong product development strategy. But what should you include as part of this strategy? 

This article will break down a simple way to build a successful product development process.

Know Your Target Audience

How can you build a product if you don’t know who it’s for? You need to know the exact target group for your product if you want it to sell.

How do you do this? Create customer personas; who is your ideal customer?

Where does this ideal customer live? What products are they currently buying? What’s their age, profession, and gender? 

Once you’ve created your customer persona, get out and talk to those people. You need to find out whether they need your product! If you know the specific details of the person you want to create a product for, your customer research will be much easier. 

Is There Product Market Fit?

New product development should only happen if there is a product-market fit. Are you filling a gap in the market, is there real demand for what you want to create? 

Think about the why behind your product development plan. Are you building a new product because you think it would be cool or a genuine need for it?

What’s the problem you are solving for people? How is your solution better than what already exists?

Analyze the Costs and Profitability In Your Product Development Strategy

So you’ve established that you have a product people want. The next stage in the product development cycle is to determine if your product is profitable. 

It’s great if you have a feasible idea, but will you make money from it? How much will it cost to make your product? What’s a possible retail price? 

How many units of your product will you need to sell each week and month to keep your business ticking over? Will it be worth the effort? 

Remember that most consumer goods only have a 10% profit margin. 

Where Will You Find Suppliers?

For any physical product, you will need suppliers to provide you with the raw materials for your product. 

Make a list of the exact supplies you need, whether it’s metals, plastics, electronic parts, or aluminium extrusions. Then you can start to research the best and most cost-effective suppliers of these materials. 

How Will You Measure Sucess?

The next of the product development stages is to determine how you will determine success for your product. What metrics will you use to measure sales?

What’s your goal for how much of your product you want to sell?

You need to define your goals first so you can break them down into achievable actions. 

Write down your success metrics and create a dashboard to track inventory and sales. 

Keep Your Plan Focused

With a clear and specific product development strategy, you can develop whatever product you like. 

You need to break down the process into small, achievable tasks if you want your product to become a success. 

Want more business strategy tips? Check out some more of our other business articles.