Once we’ve had a new idea it has to undergo some rigorous testing…
- Is it practical?
- Has it been done before?
- What’s the market?
- Is there space in the market?
- What are the unique characteristics of this product or service?
- Precisely how will it make money?
We’ll then consider the intellectual property within the concept. Is it worth protecting through patents, trademark, design rights, copyright etc?
The next stage is market research and lots of it. Only if the idea makes it this far, do we consider its commercial fit to a number of different possible business models. For example, sell it to another company outright, a distributorship, an agency agreement or a royalty’s deal. Another example would be to spin off a separate enterprise dedicated to the marketing of that particular product. This can sometimes involve attracting additional investment.
We will carefully select a manufacturer or supplier with the right skills, experience and reputation to take the design to prototype and commercial samples for market testing.
Assuming there is no need for further design refinement the next stage is to set up manufacturing, packaging and logistics contracts.
And finally the challenge of course is marketing and distribution. B2C or B2B? Bricks and mortar, mail order or online retailers? Distributors, wholesalers, retailers or agents? Whatever the route to market, Rob McAlister has the knowledge, the experience and the resources to complete the journey from initial idea to happy end customer.