subject: Why Most Product Ideas Are Doomed - And How You Can Make Sure Yours Isn't One of Them [print this page] Why Most Product Ideas Are Doomed - And How You Can Make Sure Yours Isn't One of Them
In a Ponoko recently surveyed thousands of creators about how best to turn their product ideas into reality and make money from them. Here's a list of the top 8 questions that new designers find themselves asking.
Question #1 What do I do first?
It's all very well to have a great idea, but where do you start? When you have a product idea, there is no one place that instantly springs to mind to go and get started. So, very little gets beyond the idea stage.
Sometimes you can find your feet by talking to someone in the know a designer friend, getting quotes for materials etc. However marketing can be your next problem how to sell your product! This is sadly where many designers will head back to their day jobs.
Question #2 How can I make the design process super simple?
A simple design process means different things to different people, depending on their level of expertise.
For designers this means outputting their idea from their favorite design software package and presto! But is your software compatible? Will it work, or won't it? You want to be able to send in any file type.
For beginners, 'easy' means a way to submit a design without needing to use design software. Or at the very least a free online drag and drop wizard that has some really good support. Where do you find one of these to enable the making of almost anything?
For people who have the idea but not the design skills (which admittedly is many of us), this means being able to describe what they want using text and photos and giving this to a design pro to do the job for them. But where do you find a designer who is able to listen and give you what you want?
And for everyone it means getting feedback on the design idea and the design file before investment. It's no good have great ideas that aren't possible in reality.
Without the right level of design expertise between you and your helpers, your idea is doomed.
Question #3 Why are't we speaking the same language? And what are these big old fees?
Like the tower of Babel, you can't get work done if you can't communicate. Sadly designers and manufacturers are usually after different things; for example, designers like to be able to test their ideas out before committing to a solid design. Manufacturers want designers with certainty over their designs and who want massive orders.
Usually manufacturers solve their problem by charging a fixed setup fee or requiring a minimum order size. Or both! This is not a good situation for designers.
Maybe you've get lucky and find a service that doesn't charge any upfront fees or have any minimum orders. You may then find that they speak in a complex language (sometimes referred to as 'engineer-speak') AND tell you how your design is not possible. They may also be located miles away from you, meaning the shipping cost is a complete deal breaker!
This all leaves you a bit stuck - your idea is doomed unless you find someone more local and work on translation and a lot of perseverance.
Question #4 What can I make this out of?
So you got your design in top shape and found a friendly manufacturer who speaks designer language. Now you have to chose the right materials, and hope like heck your manufacturer can even source them, let along work with them.
It's likely you'll get stuck having to use second best materials, and having to buy a boatload of them to make a single prototype. Oh what fun this great idea has turned out to be - why can't someone just supply me with an unlimited selection of materials with no minimums!
Question #5 - Small orders VS small cost
Beyond the setup cost and minimum order requirements, the cost of labour and machine time can make things too much for creators to seriously consider.
The same applies if you're going to sell your ideas. The price that covers your costs won't be marketable unless you mass produce the product and unless you are totally confident of success that is not a smart business model.
Unless you're willing to take the risk of mass production or compromise the high value and precise nature of your manufactured designer idea and hand make from scratch, you'll find yourself at yet another roadblock. Neither are terribly excellent choices for a start up designer.
Why is there not a service where the cost matches my expectations and the expectations of my customers, without needing to go down the mass production route?
Question #6 - Will anyone actually buy my creation?
You may see your idea as the best thing since sliced bread, but will anyone else want to buy it? And how do you make them aware that the product even exists? Door salesmen have a pretty bad rep these days...
And when it comes to selling online, people have questions about just what people want to buy, how to setup an online shop, exactly where to promote themselves and how to form online relationships that turn into (repeat) customers.
Question #7 How will I find the time?
So many designers have the will but not the hours in the week to get their design work done. In many respondents' experience it's taken more than 40 hours going back and forth and around in circles with materials and manufacturing suppliers. Fiddling with designs, back and forthing with manufacturers and distributors the list goes on.
So it's a loud and clear message that people want a single service that is easy to rock up to and press play for instant attention and results - in terms of both making and selling success.
Question #8 What comes next?
Many people just want regular ongoing support and education so that they can be confident during the whole process. How to design for best quality and lowest cost - and how to promote themselves and sell online.
While there's plenty of 'how-to' content out there, people want it served up, backed up and from a single trusted source that understands their specific situation as a creator.
So what?
How do you avoid all of these problems to turn your idea into reality and cash, with ease? There are a number of stellar services that solve up to 25% of the problems above, and Ponoko currently solves 50% of them, but there's currently no single service that does them all.
What now?
After review of these results, Ponoko Part II appears to contain all of the essentials that every creator needs to be successful. Visit their website and give it a go to find out if it's right for you.
