9 Essential Rules for Product Development

Most entrepreneurs fail in their bid to become successful and up to 45% of new products fail. Those are huge odds you will come up against. But product development is an art. Forget about the patent and luck. This is barely 10% of the process.

 

The rest of the process is about commercialization. You can have a great product, but none of this matters unless you can make money from your creation. If you are new to the game, here are some essential rules for product development.

Don’t Become Attached to Your Product

 

If you take yourself too seriously, you are not going to be able to see the forest for the trees. You will want your product to succeed so much that you won’t let a bum idea go, or you won’t admit that it needs changing.

 

You would be surprised at how many entrepreneurs fall in love with their ideas and can’t seem to let them go. Try to be as objective as possible at all times.

Take Your Time

 

Entrepreneurs tend to be the type of people who want to get things done now. But many take shortcuts in order to do this, and that can lead to the total failure of their products. Be willing to take your time.

 

You should know that nearly everything will take longer than you initially think.

You Need Help

 

So you are protective about your product? That’s great, but you have to be willing to trust others to handle some of the workload. You need associates who can lend their unique skills to the product development process.

 

Many entrepreneurs become bogged down because they are trying to do absolutely everything by themselves.

Ego is the Devil

 

Creative people don’t like to be rejected. They would like to think that the person doing the criticizing is just stupid and they don’t need to take into account what they think. And this is why bad ideas make it out into the real world.

 

Leave your ego at the door. You need to be willing to take on criticism and acknowledge when something needs to be abandoned. It’s better to go to market with one good idea than a hundred bad ones.

Make Mistakes

 

You should never be afraid to make mistakes. Entrepreneurs also fall victim to becoming perfectionists. If you are unwilling to fail, you are never going to innovate like you should. Inaction will stop you from receiving the opportunities you want.

 

There’s nothing wrong with failure. Nobody is keeping score.

Do it for More than the Money

 

Every inventor wants to make money. It’s why most people work in the first place. But if you are doing it solely for the money then the chances are you have no passion for what you are doing. If you are motivated by money exclusively, the chances are you are going to lack the competitive and creative edge necessary to succeed.

Take Rejection

 

Rejection is a part of the game. Whether an investor turns you down or whether your target audience turns you away, you have to accept that this is going to happen often. Your idea isn’t original and the world can probably live without your idea.
Accepting these two realities will release you from many of the inhibitions holding you back. Rejection shouldn’t shake your confidence. It should serve to drive you on. For every person that says yes there will be a hundred people who say no.

Believe in What You’re Doing

 

The major characteristic of success with all successful businesspeople is that they are able to believe in what they are doing. This doesn’t mean that they act like lemmings and follow through every idea to the bitter end. They are invested in themselves. They know that for every bad idea a potentially good one will come along tomorrow.

 

Integrity of the mind is a powerful thing if you can get it.

Sell Yourself

 

What a lot of entrepreneurs fail to understand is that investors are investing in them as much as the product. A great product will fail without the right team behind it. Dream up the ideas and learn to sell yourself as the person to take it forward.

 

Conclusion

 

The life of an entrepreneur isn’t an easy one. But by the following the right rules you can increase your chances of success. By targeting your weaknesses, you will become a more well-rounded and better businessperson.

 

How will you begin becoming a stronger entrepreneur going forward?

 

 

Filed in: Startup Community