MaryEllen Tribby: Whose Idea Was it Anyway? (Part II)

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Last week we introduced you to the first five steps to profitable product ideas. Now, here are the last five!

1. Use a checklist: Checklists can be used to stimulate creative thinking and as a starting point for new ideas. Many manufacturers, consultants and trade associations publish checklists you can use in your own work. But the best checklists are the ones you create yourself, because they are tailored to the problems that come up in your own day to day life.
2. Get feedback: Some entrepreneurs prefer to work alone, but feedback is critical. Getting someone else’s opinion of your work can help you focus your thinking and produce ideas you hadn’t thought of yet.

   Take the feedback for what it’s worth. If you feel you are right and the feedback is way off base – ignore it. However, if nine out the ten people you ask have the same notes on your work so far, it will behoove you to examine why.

3. Team up: Many people think more creatively when working in groups but tend to involve too many people.

   It is recommended that three to ten people are the ideal size for an entrepreneurial team. With more you are in danger of ending up with a committee that spins its wheels and accomplishes nothing. The people you team up with should have skills AND thought processes that balance and complement your own.

4. Give new ideas a chance: The creative process is a TWO-stage process. The first is an idea producing stage, when ideas flow freely. The second stage is the critical editing stage, where you hold each idea up to the light and see how it stands.

   Many of us make the mistake of mixing the two stages together. Don’t criticize during the first stage. Instead think about how the idea can become better and easier.

5. Define success: Always set metrics. Define what is the least amount of sales you would accept for this product to be a success. Also define your optimal amount of sales as well as the number of sales that would be beyond your wildest dreams.

   This tells you if the product is viable. Can you hit the minimum amount of sales? If not, perhaps the idea is not viable as it is and you need to go through your steps one more time to make sure you have solved the problem you set out to solve.

In the end, the market place will determine if your product is one they want. And if you have completed the ten steps you will be positioned better than 99% of your competition.