About once a week, a student, alumnus, or member of the general public reaches out and says something like, “I have an idea for a new physical product. I just need to find a manufacturer. Can you help me?”
First, let me be clear and succinct about a few points. First, an idea is rarely worth much unless combined with the will, effort, and tenacity to develop that idea into a product that is available to customers and that meets their needs. Second, if all you have is an idea, then you do not just need to find a manufacturer. You need to apply your will, effort, and tenacity to the process of transforming your idea into a specification of the solution that will both delight your customers and that unambiguously communicates the details of the solution to a manufacturer. That transformation is not easy. Thankfully, there are many concepts, tools, and methods that can help you achieve your goals and to avoid wasting time and money.
In this guide, I provide an overview of what you will likely need to do and I provide links to other more detailed resources relevant to your pursuit.
May I suggest that before you proceed any further, you view these videos I made describing my attempts to create a new physical product (the Belle-V Ice Cream Scoop) and to take it to market as a solo inventor. (Note that I did not remain solo for long, and had a lot of help from talented partners in the middle phases.)
OK, now you get the idea and hopefully understand that the process is not trivial, even for a seemingly simple product like an ice cream scoop. Next, let me provide more detail on the key steps:
- Develop a solution concept using the triple-diamond model.
- Create a prototype that really does the job.
- Design the to-be-manufactured version of the product.
- Make and sell 1000 (or maybe 100 if possible).
- Refine your go-to-market system.
I’ll also include some content related to these important financial and competitive concerns:
- Can I actually make money from this entrepreneurial opportunity?
- What about patents?
By the way, if teaching yourself this material is daunting to you, please consider enrolling in my on-line course Design: Creation of Artifacts in Society (via Coursera) from which some of this content is derived. Last I checked, a version of this course was available for free. (Of course, if you are a Penn student, you could also take my course OIDD 6540 Product Design.)
Develop the Solution Concept Using the Triple-Diamond Model
Diamond 2 – Understanding User Needs
Diamond 3 – Developing a Solution Concept
Create a Prototype that Really Does the Job
Here are the videos from my Coursera Design Course on Prototyping.
Design the Product
Once you have a prototype that works very well for you, and perhaps for a few potential customers, you can actually design the product. Huh? What do I mean by design the product? I already have a working prototype. Sure, but that working prototype is not typically implemented in an economical and reliable way, and you have not fully specified the artifact in a way that a factory could produce it.
It’s possible that you can take your prototype to a factory that produces similar goods and that their employees can create the production documentation (e.g., computer models and drawings) required to actually make the components of your product. However, more typically, you need to do this specification yourself. Furthermore, the detailed specification of the product comprises your own intellectual property, and so you may wish to control it fairly closely. In that case, you will need to find someone who can create the documentation (e.g., drawings and models) that represent the production-intent version of your product.
There are lots of different types of skills that may be required for this task. I’m not able to detail them all here. A good next step may be to consult with some independent contractors via platforms such as Upwork to understand better your options.
Make and Sell 1000 (or even 100)
In all but the most time-critical competitive environments, at some point sooner rather than later you should just start making and selling your product. Ideally you would find a way to make and sell just a few — say 100 units. This will teach you so much more than doing further research and development. These first 100 units will not be very good, but hopefully they will be good enough that a few brave customers will buy them and give you feedback. The challenge is figuring out how to make just a few units that are both good enough that someone other than a family member could figure out how to use them and tolerate the inevitable warts on the product and that can be produced at reasonable cost. You shouldn’t expect to make any money on these units, but hopefully you won’t lose ridiculous sums either. In some cases you may need to find the resources to make 1000 units — when, for example, the production economics are such that it is just not possible to reasonably produce 100 pieces. Lots more to say about this, but hopefully this quick advice gets you started.
Find a Manufacturer
Here is a video on my own experiences finding a manufacturer in China. You may find it helpful.
Patents
A patent can be a useful element of a plan for developing and commercializing a product. However, it is not really a central element of that activity. Patenting an invention can wait until many of the technical and market risks have been addressed.
A patent by itself rarely has any commercial value. (An idea by itself has even less value.) To extract value from a product opportunity, an inventor must typically complete a product design, resolving the difficult trade-offs associated with addressing customer needs while minimizing production costs. Once this hard work is completed, a product design may have substantial value.
In most cases, pursuing a patent is not worth the effort except as part of a larger effort to take a product concept through to a substantial development milestone such as a working prototype. If the design is proven through prototyping and testing, a patent can be an important mechanism for increasing the value of this intellectual property.
Licensing a patent to a manufacturer as an individual inventor is very difficult. If you are serious about your product opportunity, be prepared to pursue commercialization of your product on your own or in partnership with a smaller company. Once you have demonstrated a market for the product, licensing to a larger entity becomes much more likely.
File a provisional patent application. For very little money, an individual using the guidelines in this chapter can file a provisional application. This action provides patent protection for a year, while you evaluate whether your idea is worth pursuing.
Here are a couple of videos with examples and details. (The textbook chapter I refer to in the first video is from Ulrich, Eppinger, and Yang — Product Design and Development.
Can You Make Money?
In the short run, do you have gross margin and can you acquire customers efficiently? Here are a couple of resources that may be helpful in answering these questions.
In the long run, do you possess the alpha assets to sustain competitive advantage? Read this to learn more about alpha assets and the five flywheels.
