For businesses that sell products to customers, the development process is super important. This is when you decide what your product will be and what it does. The entire process revolves around creating something that people will want to buy. At the same time, you have to work on marketing it better than anything else out there.
Typically, you have two main approaches to product development:
- Create a brand new product that’s never been seen before
- Take existing products and make them better
We see both approaches time and time again in the business world. But, which one is better for you? In all honesty, you can’t really pinpoint one approach as the best one to choose because it depends on your business and the ideas you have.
Today, we’ll look at both of these approaches to see some of the key things to consider, helping you decide which one to choose when creating a product for your business.
Creating brand new products
Many years ago, the idea of creating brand new products wasn’t as challenging as it is right now. This was simply because we had fewer products out on the market. So, you were bound to see new things being created time and time again. In 2022, it is harder to come up with a product idea that’s never been seen before. Harder, but not totally impossible.
The key to this approach is to identify gaps in the market. Look at the world and consider what you could create to improve different aspects of life for certain people. A good way to narrow things down is by defining your target market. Who are you trying to target? What industry are you focusing on? This will let you do some deeper research to figure out what’s already out there and if there are things that might be missing.
Looking around the room I can already identify at least one example of a brand new product that we’ve seen hit the shelves in the last decade or so. Drones fit this description perfectly. A drone fills a gap in the market perfectly. It was created to help provide aerial footage for photographers, filmmakers, and so on. Before drones were created and sold publicly, we didn’t really have anything that could compete with it.
Primarily, creating brand new products will require you to look at modern and emerging technologies. Look at the trends and see if you can create a product idea that uses new tech and fills a gap in the market. Who knows, you could pioneer something that everyone starts copying and adapting.
Innovating existing products
This is perhaps the most common way to develop a new business product. Instead of trying to come up with something that nobody has seen before, you take existing products and add your own spin to them. Here, the key is innovation. Things like Outerspace product design are the perfect example of this. You can see the products that have been designed aren’t new at all. The products themselves have existed for many years, but adding new and innovative technologies makes them different from other products on the market.
Ultimately, you need to find a product and look at where its weaknesses lie. Then, you develop a better version of this product that will make the other one seem redundant. I believe that smartphones are always the best example of existing product innovation. Rival companies are all creating the same product, but they put their own spin on things. Apple uses its own processors and technology, other brands use Android features or their own stuff as well. You end up with a see of similar products, each with its own unique innovations or features to tempt customers to buy it over the rest.
For most people, this will be the approach that makes the most sense. It is simply easier for you to look at the market, pick a product, and figure out how you can make it better. However, a benefit of the first product development approach is that you might make more money in the long run. If you create something that’s never been seen before, you could hold the rights to the technology behind it. So, if other companies want to take your product and innovate it, they will have to pay you.
Overall, both approaches have their pros and cons. For you, it’s a case of looking at your business and considering the ideas in your head. If you have a plan for a brand new product that could shock the world, go for it. If not, look at the market, find products that sell well, and then improve them to create your own rival product!
