Jason Unger

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Welcome to the first in what I hope will be a continuing series on the development, design and execution of a new product that I am working on. My plan with the New Product Development Method series is to document every stage that will take place in the process to get a new product to market.

The first step in developing any new product is easily the most important and most difficult: the idea.

I've been blessed in that I am an ideas man. I have the ability to research a market and determine what is missing or what the next step should be in the industry's growth. This is not something that everyone has, and it is not something that everyone can learn. It's as simple as that.

My newest online product idea came to me while sitting in a meeting at work. I'm honestly not 100 percent sure how it came to me — the meeting topic didn't have anything to do with the idea.

But I was thinking of a growing niche — an important factor when looking to create a new product. Rarely is it worth it to enter an already flooded market with a competing product unless you are 100 percent certain that

1. No one else is doing it
2. This is the way the market is heading
3. Players in the market cannot do it with the flick of a button.

While the first two requirements are important, number three is the most crucial. As a startup, you don't have any kind of brandname recognition nor the backing of established players in the industry.

If you are going to be entering a saturated market, you have to be completely positive that the market leaders cannot implement your idea before you even get off the ground. And this doesn't even mean stealing your idea — if they have the resources, data or infrastructure to do something even remotely similar, they'll do it, and you'll be SOL.

Coming up with a new product idea to develop requires asking some key questions.

Where is a market going? Try looking at a market and comparing it to other markets. What does one have that the other doesn't? How can this be adapted to fit the new market?

What makes life simpler? This isn't a hard question - what do you complain about everyday? What would make you stop complaining?

What do you enjoy doing? How could it be more enjoyable?

These questions might sound vague, but that's only because they can be applied to any market, activity or situation.

I took four steps to turn my idea into a business plan, and they can work for you, too.

1. After coming up with my new product idea to develop, I did research into the market to see if there was anything similar.
2. There wasn't, so I asked people in that market if my idea would be useful, and I received positive feedback.
3. I ran my idea past experienced business people not in the market to determine viability and listen to outside critiques.
4. I discussed the idea with trusted advisors and potential business partners to see what they thought.

Taking an idea through a gauntlet of feedback is important. A product idea may sound great in your head, but ridiculous to potential users.

If you receive tons of negative feedback, chances are your idea will not fly. But just because you get criticism does not mean that the product is useless. Constructive criticism is the most important consideration when developing a product. Every product has a hole or two, or users who "want it to do" whatever, but you cannot dismiss constructive criticism as unrealistic or unnecessary.

Coming up with an idea is the most difficult step in the entire product development process. It determines your product, and you are nothing if not your product.

Stay tuned for the next post in the series: New Product Development Method, Part 2: The Business Plan