New Product Development Method, Part 2: The Business Plan
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The New Product Development Method series documents every stage that will take place in the process to get a new product to market. This is the second part in a series on the development, design and execution of a new product that I am working on.
If you haven't read the first part of the series, The Idea, read it before you continue here. The Idea and The Business Plan are more related than you may think.
The Business Plan is the first time that you'll really map out what your product is and what it could be. Developing a business plan isn't that difficult, but it requires you to analyze your idea and determine what is necessary, what isn't, what could work and what isn't worth it.
No two business plans are exactly the same, and you may find that yours is different than what I'm outlining here, but the purpose is the same: to map out aspects of designing, developing and bringing your product to market.
Here are the topics discussed in our business plan:
- Mission Statement
Your goal in developing your product - Offerings
What your product offers - Market Information
Information about your target market, including size, growth trend, and other key demographics - Competition
Who else has/could have a product similar to yours - Risks
Potential problems with your product and/or development - Funding
Where your money is coming from
There are many other topics you could discuss — and you should. You know your product (and hopefully your market) better than anyone else, so expand these headers as necessary. I'm simply providing an outline of your outline.
It pays to circulate your business plan among any business partners to get their input. This will also help get the whole team on the same page.
While a business plan may not help you in the later stages of product development, it forces your great idea to become a realistic product. In your head, ideas sound great; when you write them down, they have to be easily explainable, marketable and still a winner.
Filed in Business
