Idea Development #2: Product innovation
Product innovation - Don't wait all your life for THE ONE IDEA
You often wonder how others came up with their great innovative business ideas? You would also like tobe self-employed and are almost desperately looking for the ONE GREAT business ideafor a product or an offer? With all ideas, however, you feel like they already exist in some way?We can put your mind at ease: There are two possible paths to a successful business idea.
The product improvement
As you have probably already noticed, there are several variants and providers of most things in our everyday lives. For example, there is not just one car or one mobile phone. So what did these entrepreneurs, who were not the first on the market with their idea, do? Apparently, they did not discard the idea "because it already exists", but they took the other path to product innovation: the path of product differentiation and product improvement.
In contrast to the development of a completely new idea, an idea that already exists on the market is taken as a starting point and modified. The "proof of concept", i.e. the proof that the idea is fundamentally accepted by the customers, is already provided and minimizes the risk for the entrepreneur. Since at the same time competition is naturally higher than in a completely new market, one's own idea must be different from the existing ones in order to offer customers an additional benefit. Even a "product improvement" needs its own USP (Unique Selling Point) to be able to compete successfully in the market. So how can this be created?
The voice of the costumer
Basically, it makes sense to take over the features of the existing offer that are positively evaluated by the customer and additionally improve the negative ones and add missing ones. How do I know what the customers think about the initial product or the initial idea and which features are important to them?
To do this, you should look at all the "customer testimonials" that you can find about the initial product. These can be found in evaluation portals, articles in trade journals, test reports, etc. It is certainly also helpful if you are "your own customer", i.e. you understand the idea to be improved from the customer's point of view.
The product development - The „ONE idea“?
Exactly this approach then often leads to completely new and perhaps even to the "ONE idea".
Because problems or missing solutions that show up in one's own direct environment are often the starting point for new business ideas. If you then ensure through research, customer surveys, etc. that sufficient market participants are to be inspired as potential customers of this product or offer, you should go with your idea into further implementation. A look at current and longer-term trends can also help to develop new business ideas. In particular, the combination of several trend currents creates potential for successful business ideas.
You can find more on this in our blog article "Megatrends".