Product Development is a challenge for any business, but especially for small manufacturers. While there are reams of data and statistics out there showing you how many products fail every year, and how daunting the percentages are (and to be honest, there is a lot of disagreement on these numbers), there is relatively little mention of the challenges of coming up with your new product in the first place.
Many New Products Fail, But How Many?
As a small manufacturer ourselves now with just over fifteen years of experience doing this, we can relate to the challenge of building a business from a successful idea and then trying to find that next big idea (spoiler: we did!).
What is Your Product Development Process?
If your first response to this question was “What process?”, then you might not be alone. One thing we’ve learned from both our own experience and those of some of our clients is that smaller businesses tend to be idea-driven, more than data or process-driven. While it would not be fair to say that all big companies are process-driven (many are in “intention only”), there is definitely a much more concerted and organized effort to leverage data and process when developing new products.
For smaller businesses who might not have a well-defined process or have struggled to find their next big product, we wanted to offer a few ideas to help you out. Click below today’s article to download our new eBook “Product Development Process 101 for Small Manufacturers”
How else can we help? Our teams here are always happy to hear about your process or other business challenges. We’re happy to hear your feedback on this or other content you’d like to see more of.
