Product Development The Easy Way – Part 2

Here’s how to make a new product a for sure winner…

MAKE IT BETTER, FASTER & CHEAPER

When you make the changes to improve the product, do it for less money, not more! And I don’t mean just a little bit better either – make it a lot better.

A couple examples will show you what I mean.

By watching the trends in my raw materials, I found out right away when the prismatic and holographic materials started to be made of paper instead of vinyl or polyester.

At the same time thin film technology appeared to make the brighter film products much thinner to match the paper costs.

Using these new materials I introduced a seasonal product line of Christmas address labels, gift tags and stickers. What made these different was that while my earlier regular sticker product was a 4″ x 6″ sheet of stickers retailing for $1.00, I was now able to do a 8″ x 10″ sheet of stickers for the same price!

This was over 3 times the stickers for the same price! What do you think happened? If a small sheet sells well for $1.00, how will a package 3 times the size do at the same price?

How about a $592,000 order from Wal-Mart?

ONE MORE…

This example is not about one of my products. It’s from an inventor I know in Canada who has a process for making plastic and rubber products from recycled tires and scrap plastic.

He started first with those rubber protectors for ice skates. The existing products on the market wore out fast because the sharp ice skate blades kept cutting through the rubber blade covers.

His product was actually more durable and lasted much longer.

But here’s the best part:

Because he used scrap material he gets his raw materials for free! Not only did he make a better product, but instead of a $6.00 retail price, his product retailed for $2.00 and he put all his competitors out of business!

THE BOTTOM LINE

You don’t have to be an inventor to develop new products – in fact, it’s better if you aren’t that smart. It’s a lot easier to take something that already is selling well and make it better – and it’s a lot more likely to be successful too.

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