How To Come Up With Ideas For New Business Products

For the growth of any business, it’s imperative to come up with new products to offer to your target market. However, generating ideas for new business products is always a challenge. There will be times when coming up with ideas is going to be so tricky, as you may not even know where to begin. Perhaps the competitor is already selling that product, or that it already exists in the market. So, you’re going to have to dig more in-depth for more ideas.

When it comes to idea generation, it’s also important to remember the basic fact that not all of these are going to be marketable at the moment. You may have to wait some other time before introducing these products or make revisions of it, so it sits well with the general public.

That said, here are excellent ways of coming up with ideas for new products to sell:

1. Look For Both Internal And External Idea Sources

In generating ideas for new products for your business, take the time to consider both internal and external sources. These refer to those ideas that are either found in the company or those outside of it.

Here’s a quick description of both types of sources:

• Internal idea sources refer to those that are in the organization itself. Generally, it’s through the effort and research of the employees, who underwent an extensive research and development process. Good businesses, in fact, value the input that their employees may have into helping the company decide on the best products to generate.
• External idea sources are those that your business can gain from studying your customers, suppliers, and competitors. The goal with external idea sources is to be able to anticipate the wants and needs of your customers before the competitors will be the first to do so.

 

2. Perform Basic Research Using The SWOT Analysis

One of the oldest, most straightforward, but most effective tools in business research is the SWOT analysis. This means Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. This tool is used, such that your business can understand your current position in the market and how the products that you’ll design will also fair. Additionally, this is where you’ll be able to generate more ideas, depending on what you see as opportunities in the market today.

To help you out, here’s an example of a SWOT analysis that you can be guided by.

 

3. Screen Your Ideas

This section applies when you’ve already generated a couple of ideas on hand. Even when you’ve done this, note that not all of these ideas are going to work, or be feasible. So, to ensure that the ideas you’ve generated will be the best for your business to develop at this time, it’s vital to screen through all of these.

The goal here is to avoid spending time and resources on products that, no matter how you envisioned to be good enough, are not worthy of production. Going through this process can help your company avoid substantial business losses later on, especially when you’re also still in the start-up phase, where business resources are very limited.

 

4. Always Study The Market Trends

Market trends are very unpredictable. They’re always changing. So, it’s your responsibility to be able to stay on top of these trends. You’ll want to be able to give your customers the products that suit their needs.

For example, you’re in the business of selling household items. When you conduct a market survey and analyze the current trends, you’re giving your business a thorough insight into those products that customers are willing to pay for. Hence, this gives you an idea of what to create. If you’re also trying to make changes to current products that you’re selling, this market study will also give you insights on what modifications you have to make, such that the products will grab the attention of your potential buyers.

 

5. Brainstorm Possible Product Issues

This applies if you’re looking for ideas on where best to perform modifications on existing products that your company has. As you go through this process, give yourself the time also to brainstorm through every product issues that are present. Apart from merely brainstorming with your team, speak to your loyal customers too. Get feedback from your customers about their needs and how your products can meet these.

After going through this process, now it’s your responsibility also to recognize the ideas of your customers in coming up with modifications of your existing products, or even in that of creating new products.

 

Conclusion

Coming up with new ideas for your business products to sell is always a challenging activity. With so many companies in the world selling all sorts of products, you may not have the total guarantee that the products you design and sell are going to be a big hit. This is precisely why it’s vital to give so much thought and research into the idea generation process. As you decide on new products to sell to the market, keep these guidelines in mind.