So that you wish to discover a new product concept to promote on-line? Properly, chances are high you typed one thing like “new product concepts” or “good product concepts” into Google, hoping you’d discover the reply.

Nothing unsuitable with that.

Nevertheless, the issue is you’re looking (and discovering) the very same factor as everybody else. These “new” concepts actually grow to be what everybody’s already doing and promoting.

We’re not going to record out a bunch of product concepts right here—that’d defeat the aim of you discovering what your buyer wants.

As an alternative, we’re going to indicate you find out how to provide you with new product concepts (that don’t suck) you possibly can promote on-line. Your brand-new concepts is perhaps impressed by merchandise that exist, however you’ll be empowered with creativity and freedom to make them your individual.

Bear in mind good ol’ Henry Ford? There’s a quote attributed to him that goes like this: “If I had requested individuals what they needed, they might have stated sooner horses.”

This text will enable you to give your prospects what they want as an alternative of simply sooner horses.

Desk of Contents

What Makes a Product Thought “Good”?

Discover Your New Product Thought

Validate Your Product Thought

Create a Technique

Make Your Product Totally different and Higher

New Product Concepts FAQs

What Makes a Product Thought “Good”?

First, let’s assist differentiate the great product concepts from the dangerous ones. Right here’s a number of tell-tale indicators of every:

Indicators of a Good Product Thought

1. Addresses a Want: Good product concepts clear up issues. These might be large issues (like Elon Musk battling local weather change) or minor issues (like assuaging somebody’s physique odor). Don’t got down to discover a product. First, discover the issue. Subsequent, discover (or construct) the proper product to unravel it.
2. Gives Strong USP: Your product wants a distinctive promoting proposition (USP) that makes it higher than another product in the marketplace. That USP might be associated to options, pricing, scalability, and even velocity of supply. A superb product might be precisely what’s in the marketplace, however possibly your manufacturing is extra scalable, so you possibly can drive down costs for purchasers? That’s a brand new product concept.
3. Has Revenue Potential: The perfect concept is only a notion until you may make a plan to (1) create it and (2) make it worthwhile. Meaning you’ll want to contemplate bills, pricing, provide and demand, the scale of your addressable market, and present competitors.
   Can Be Simply Communicated: You’ll doubtless have to safe funding from lenders or buyers. In case your concept’s too complicated, you’ll wrestle to get financing. Plus, your prospects will face a barrier to entry.
4. Makes You Comfortable: Don’t begin promoting a product you don’t care about—that’s a recipe for a sleazy MLM. You need to be in a position (and excited) to connect your title and picture subsequent to your product. That’s an indication you’re happy with it.
5. Is Value Paying for: There are many merchandise on the market that make you assume, “Oh, cool!” Nevertheless, you don’t wish to simply impress passing-by prospects—you need them to open their wallets. Guarantee your product is value paying for and never only a enjoyable idea.

Pink Flags of a Dangerous Product Thought

• Presents No Identifiable USP: Your prospects ought to be capable of establish your USP. If they’ll’t work out what makes your product totally different from the remainder, then it’s doubtless insufficient.
• Confuses Prospects: If it’s important to persuade prospects it’s a great product, it’s in all probability not. Your product ought to be capable of market itself and not using a 60-minute infomercial.
• There’s No Demand: Some issues aren’t value fixing. You’ll have to validate your product concept to make sure your goal market doesn’t simply assume it’s a good suggestion, however they’re keen to spend their hard-earned cash to purchase it.
• It Already Exists: Do your analysis. There are various entrepreneurs on the market, so guarantee your new product concept doesn’t exist already. If it does (or did), be taught extra about it. How’s it doing? Why did it fail (or succeed)? How are you going to do it higher?

Write these concepts down, and share them with somebody you belief. When you provide you with a product concept you’re in love with, you’ll doubtless see all the great and not one of the dangerous. It’s pure. Nevertheless, for those who give your concept an goal look-through, you possibly can uncover deadly flaws earlier than it’s too late.

Don’t Skip: Ecommerce Enterprise Concepts That Yield Highly effective Outcomes

Discover Your New Product Thought

Now that you recognize what you’re in search of, it’s time to begin looking. If inspiration comes from mountain meditation or lengthy hikes within the wilderness, go get after it. But when these product-finding strategies allow you to down, listed here are some locations to begin:

1. Ask Your Prospects

This strategy goes in opposition to Henry Ford’s well-known quote, however your prospects nearly (nearly) all the time know greatest. Begin there.

When you’ve got prospects, ship out surveys or conduct interviews to determine their issues. When you don’t have prospects but, establish your goal market and begin there.

You would even discover a subreddit you’re excited about and open up conversations there. For instance, for those who’re into mountain climbing and wish to discover a product concept that solves hikers’ wants, you may be part of the r/Mountaineering, r/Backpacking, or r/Ultralight subreddits. Browse the conversations there, probe into complaints, or simply flat out ask individuals what they need.

You would begin by asking what’s difficult them or what they want mounted. Dig deeper and ask what they assume may clear up it. They may not all the time know the reply to the second query, and that’s OK—that’s in the end your job to determine.

When you establish an issue, begin figuring out your prospects’ willingness to pay to repair it. If it’s nothing (or not so much), it’s in all probability not a difficulty value fixing.

If the issue is value fixing, begin pondering of a product. Don’t fear about perfecting the design and all of the elements simply but. After getting a prototype or a draft, ask your prospects if they might be excited about one thing like this. If the reply is “sure,” then you recognize you’re heading in the right direction.

2. Spot What’s Scorching

Search for what’s trending on ecommerce websites or social media platforms. What’s doing effectively? Why? Are you able to replicate it and make one thing higher?

For instance, if everyone seems to be raving about on-line studying, is there a course you possibly can create to unravel a necessity? If a course already exists, are you able to make one which’s higher or extra inexpensive?

Bear in mind, fads come and go. When you bounce right into a development early, you possibly can capitalize on the second and get out earlier than it cools off. When you be part of too late, you may find yourself investing in a product with shortly diminishing demand.

A technique to make sure you keep on monitor is recognizing wants throughout the developments. For some time, air fryers had been a scorching subject throughout the information and social media feeds. Nevertheless, they didn’t clear up any determined wants—they simply gave individuals new healthy-ish methods to cook dinner meals. After some time, the hype petered out, and now there’s a bunch sitting unused in client’s closets.

3. Don’t Be Afraid to Steal

“Good designers copy, nice designers steal.” These well-known phrases spoken by painter Pablo Picasso apply to far more than design. You don’t want a wholly authentic concept—you simply want to repeat, steal, and iterate to make the subsequent smartest thing.

Even smarty-pants Elon Musk didn’t do something exceptionally revolutionary—he simply took a well-liked mannequin of automobiles (which have been round for over a century) and made them electrical, highly effective, attractive, and unique. OK, he did greater than that, however you get the thought.

Or check out Jibbitz. Jibbitz capitalized on Croc’s recognition (nonetheless don’t perceive why individuals put on these footwear) by creating charms to let wearers personalize their footwear. Jibbitz primarily piggybacked on one other model’s success to hit it large, and Crocs ended up shopping for the tiny startup for $10 million.

You would additionally take into consideration all of at this time’s social media apps. Bear in mind when Instagram stole Snapchat’s mannequin and added Tales to their platform? After which each different social media platform did the identical factor?

Or bear in mind when Chook and Lime began littering each metropolis within the US with electrical scooters? A few months later, Uber, Lyft, and a number of other different manufacturers had been already on the scene.

You don’t have to provide you with one thing brand-new. Borrow, steal, and Frankenstein your individual product concept—simply make sure that it has a USP that beats out the competitors.

4. Consider Upsells and Cross-Sells

When you’re already promoting items, you don’t essentially want an out-of-the-box product. A intently associated product has the potential to succeed, and it additionally may increase your current merchandise gross sales.

For instance, for those who promote footwear, you possibly can increase into shoelaces or socks. When you promote on-line programs, you possibly can increase into e-books or in-person lessons.

When you’re eager about it, take a look at methods you possibly can enhance your current product. Are there easier, cheaper or extra strong, pricey variations you possibly can present? For instance, you will discover about 3 totally different fashions of each new soccer footwear: budget-friendly, middle-of-the-road, and premium.

Are you able to do the identical factor together with your merchandise? When you promote an internet course, you possibly can have a condensed cheaper model or a extra complete costly model.

5. Discover Your Personal Issues

You (sure, you) are a client, too. What issues do you’ve? Is there a day-to-day problem you want you possibly can clear up? There’s a great probability your private persona belongs in a distinct segment market—if you will discover an issue you wish to clear up, there is perhaps different people (hopefully a number of them) with the identical problem.

Don’t fear—we’ll get into validating your concept later to make sure it has legs to face on. However don’t low cost your issues. This methodology doesn’t take lengthy processes or intensive analysis. Simply take into consideration what actually bothers you and the way you want you possibly can clear up it.

Take Airbnb, for instance. Founders Joe Gebbia and Brian Chesky struggled to pay hire, so that they determined to hire out airbeds on their living-room flooring to convention attendees in San Francisco. The subsequent day, the pair created a web site—6 days later, that they had 3 tenants sleeping on their flooring.

Codeacademy began as a Columbia College programming membership. Co-founder Zach Sim struggled to be taught new coding abilities on his personal, so programming native (and cofounder) Ryan Bubinski used Sims as a guinea pig to create a self-paced studying expertise that grew to become Codeacademy.

Don’t overlook your individual issues. Create an answer that’s value paying for, and also you’ll doubtless discover different prospects identical to you.

6. Experiment with AI Instruments

Contemplate synthetic intelligence (AI) instruments as your greatest associates on the subject of ideating on new product concepts. They may not be as dependable as a mentor or co-founder, however they’ll shortly enable you to sift by way of concepts and automate lots of the validation course of.

For starters, ask ChatGPT about potential product concepts in an business or sector that pursuits you. Have a dialog with the AI to slender issues down. Present it with suggestions to assist refine future responses. You’d be shocked how intelligent it may be in serving to you determine your individual ideas.

Past the primary ideation stage, you can even use AI instruments to assist with every thing from market insights and competitor evaluation to prototyping and development forecasting:

• Market Insights: AI can analyze huge quantities of information to establish market developments, client preferences, and rising wants. Use a device like Crayon to offer market intelligence which will help in discovering new product alternatives.
• Competitor Evaluation: AI instruments can automate the monitoring of opponents’ merchandise, costs, and buyer evaluations, which might spark concepts for brand new or improved merchandise. Strive a device like Kompyte to trace opponents in actual time to tell strategic decision-making.
• Prototyping: AI will help in creating prototypes and simulating how merchandise will carry out below varied circumstances. Instruments like ANSYS Discovery provide real-time simulation to shortly consider design options.
• Development Forecasting: AI will help predict upcoming developments, which might be invaluable for product growth. Instruments like Development Hunter use AI to establish and forecast developments that will help you keep forward of the curve.

Validate. Validate. Validate.

Have an concept for a product? Unbelievable! Don’t do something with it but.

Hear us out.

Earlier than you go off to the races or begin digging down deep into rabbit holes, validate your product concept. You don’t wish to commit any time or cash (or worse—get personally connected) to an concept that’s going to crash and burn.

Whereas we will hold asking theoretical questions and enjoying with concepts, sustainable companies are solely constructed when cash adjustments palms. If it’s going to reach the long-term, it must cross a stress check. Right here’s find out how to do it:

Smoke Check With a Touchdown Web page

Construct a touchdown web page that highlights the advantages (and pricing) of your product. Drive visitors to the web page with natural (social media and electronic mail) and paid (PPC advertisements) methods, after which see what your prospects do.

Do they click on the “buy now” button, or do they depart with out taking motion? Set a click-through charge aim for what you need the web page to realize. If it hits that aim, then you possibly can really feel assured in really creating and scaling the product. If not, then you definitely may wish to rethink your concept.

This smoke check helps you discover out if individuals are actually keen to purchase your product. Mates, households, and colleagues may say your concept is nice, however an actual viewers with actual cash offers you the chilly, laborious fact.

The entire course of to your smoke testing touchdown web page ought to solely take a number of days. Don’t spend an excessive amount of time making a elaborate touchdown web page—hold it minimal with the fundamentals.

At foundr, we’ve launched lots of on-line programs, and we make it a follow to validate each one earlier than we put within the money and time to make it a actuality.

Flesh Out Your Total Technique

GTM. Manufacturing. Transport. Financing. All of it. Determine the logistics of how your new product concept goes to come back to fruition. Do all of this analysis earlier than you begin constructing prototypes and web sites.

You may discover a logistical element that shuts down the entire product concept, so do your due diligence:

• Sourcing Your Product: How are you going to construct or purchase your product? Do you come up with the money for and sources? If it’s one thing like an internet course or e-book, do you’ve the abilities and bandwidth to convey it to fruition? If not, are you able to rent somebody?
• Go-to-Market (GTM) Plan: How do you propose to launch and market your product? What value does it should be to beat out opponents, attract prospects, and enable you to earn a revenue? What channels will it is advisable to use to succeed in your viewers?
• Transport: How will you get your bodily or digital product from you to your prospects? Will or not it’s by way of electronic mail or the publish workplace? Will they want a login, or will or not it’s a downloadable product?
• Financing: The place are you going to search out the cash to make this occur? Do you’ve a wealthy uncle, or will it is advisable to ask a financial institution for a mortgage?

It’s so much to consider. We all know. But it’s essential you consider all of these items earlier than pursuing a brand new product.

The perfect concept may verify all of your packing containers, however for those who don’t have the cash, time, or means to make it occur, it’s not going to be a good suggestion.

Make Your Product Totally different and Higher

Distinctive Worth Propositions

A Distinctive Worth Proposition (UVP) is a transparent assertion that explains how your product solves prospects’ issues or improves their scenario. It delivers particular advantages and tells the best buyer why they need to purchase from you and never from the competitors.

Crafting a compelling UVP requires a deep understanding of your prospects’ wants and needs, in addition to the market panorama.

Totally different Is Higher than Higher

In a aggressive market, being totally different typically holds extra worth than merely being higher. Differentiation creates a blue ocean of alternative, whereas being higher typically results in pink oceans the place competitors is fierce.

Goal to redefine the issue you’re fixing or provide a novel answer that units you aside from the competitors.

Take Current Issues and Clear up Them in Totally different Methods

Innovation typically comes from taking current issues and approaching them from a special approach. This may be achieved by making use of totally different applied sciences, using distinctive supplies, or using unconventional methodologies. Search for inspiration in adjoining industries or solely totally different fields to search out novel options to previous issues.

Product Innovation Framework

A scientific strategy in direction of product innovation might be segmented into 4 essential dimensions:

1. Design:

Deal with user-centric design that not solely seems to be good but in addition enhances person expertise.

Make the most of design pondering methodologies to empathize with customers, outline issues, ideate options, prototype shortly, and check your assumptions.

2. Perform:

Improve or add functionalities that clear up issues in a extra environment friendly or pleasant method.

Leverage cutting-edge applied sciences to allow new options or enhance current ones.

3. Worth:

Contemplate revolutionary pricing methods that would make your product extra accessible or interesting.

Discover totally different enterprise fashions that would differentiate your product out there, reminiscent of subscription fashions or pay-as-you-go.

4. Time:

Contemplate when a product turns into obtainable and the way lengthy prospects have the chance to purchase it, including a way of urgency and shortage to the advertising combine.

By integrating these components inside your product growth technique, you possibly can be sure that your product not solely stands out out there but in addition delivers distinctive worth to your prospects, thereby securing a aggressive edge within the market.

Hold Studying: What Can I Promote On-line to Make Cash?

New Product Concepts FAQs

Make Your New Product Thought Come to Life

New product concepts are nice and all, however they solely dwell in your mind and on the again of a used serviette till you launch them to the world.

Sound intimidating? It may be. Properly, with out the appropriate mentors and processes, that’s.

Allow us to assist stroll you thru the complete product growth course of. Sourcing specialist, Kian Golzari, will share his confirmed blueprint that may take you from “questioning what to promote”, to having your individual distinctive product manufactured, shipped, and making gross sales sooner whereas avoiding pricey errors.