I Have an Idea for a New Product, but Now What?

Do you have an idea for an electronic product, the next must-have gadget or the greatest problem-solving device that was ever invented?  This article will provide you with some guidelines to assist you in getting your idea turned into a successful design. 

Do you have an idea for an electronic product, the next must-have gadget, music or video system, time saver, or the greatest problem-solving device that was ever invented?  Before you begin designing the product, there are a number of tasks that you must complete and issues that you must resolve before you have an actual product design that can be produced, marketed, and sold.  This article will provide you with some guidelines to assist you in getting your idea turned into a successful design.  Other issues, such as whether or not to apply for a patent for your product idea and in detail how a particular product should be advertised or marketed will not be addressed in this article. 

Many great product ideas were turned into fully functional electronic devices but never made their way successfully to the marketplace because the product was not easy to use, the target market or niche market where the product could be sold successfully was not accurately identified or targeted, the product advertising was not successful, an unattractive or non-identifiable name was applied to the product, the product pricing was too expensive, the product was provided in unattractive packaging, the product as manufactured was unreliable, or the wrong sales distribution model was chosen.  There are a lot of minefields to dance in before you have a successful product that meets or exceeds your sales expectations. 

Even if all of these resources are available within your own company, they may not be available to you in the time frame your product introduction requires due to scheduling conflicts with other internal projects.  This is the point in the project where it can make economic and scheduling sense to make use of the resources from outside entities.  Sometimes all of these resources can be outsourced from an electronics manufacturing service provider or EMS, or you may find an engineering resource to provide the initial design services and an EMS to assemble the product.  Be sure to have an appropriate Non-Disclosure Agreement in place with any and all parties that are involved in this process to protect your intellectual property.