Production
What are the five phases?
Our five phases of product development take your product from your “Ah-Ha” moment to full production and distribution onto retailers’ shelves in a strategic and organized way. It helps you assess your risks as accurately as possible, minimize costs in the short and long term, choose the right manufacturers, make countless other significant decisions, and ultimately sell a great product at a profit.
Phase 1: R&D.
Phase 1 is a low-cost phase when you generate ideas, create a model, get input from others, and do your initial patent research. There are many questions that need to be answered before you proceed to Phase 2.
Phase 2: Pencil to paper.
In Phase 2, you look into what it would really take to proceed with your new product. How much time, testing, and engineering will be needed to move the project forward? You’ll formulate a master plan to include timelines and budgets. You’ll make decisions about raising capital to cover the costs. If you’re ready, you’ll file a provisional patent. At this point, with all of the metrics at your fingertips, you’ll make an informed decision about continuing to the next step where you’ll make a substantial investment in the future of your exciting product.
Phase 3: When the rubber hits the road.
Now that you’ve got an idea worth investing in, it’s time to hire engineers and have quality manufacturing and customer prototypes developed. You’ll make decisions about branding, packaging, presentation, and photo shoots; you’ll inform yourself about regulatory compliance; you’ll perform a variety of critical tests. In essence, you’ll make it, break it, and fix it to satisfy your end customer and maximize your profit.
Phase 4: Consumer sales testing.
This is your first product launch to help you make decisions about sales and distribution channels. It’s also your opportunity to test the market and get valuable consumer feedback about your product. What do they like and don’t like? What’s the optimal pricing structure? Can you make the price work for the product and the consumer?
Phase 5: Refinement.
In the fifth and final phase, you fine-tune your product for mass production. Based on the customer feedback you collected in Phase 4, you make the improvements and enhancements that are necessary to hit the sweet spot for your market. Because of your due diligence, you will have the right product at the right price sold to the right market. And you’ll be ready for mass production when the Big Box stores come knocking on your door.