The Implicate Order of New Product Development

One of the issues I address frequently in coaching professional creatives is the issue of getting their ideas into products and the products to the market. In Hollywood, Bio-tech, Silicon Valley, Business -- anywhere new ideas, products or services are being invented and commercialized, people have to deal with when and how to market their invention or service.

Referring to the struggles to get new products out of the idea stage and into the marketplace, my friend, Steve Phillips, a seasoned consultant, jokes that its great to be on the cutting edge, but you bleed there.  Having been part of several start-ups, myself, including self-publishing the original Artist's Way with Julia Cameron, I agree with Steve.

Products always seem to take more time and money than we think they will. As as a rule of thumb I like to take initial estimates of cost and time and double them and take initial estimates of revenue and sales and cut them in half. Usually these adjusted benchmarks are far more accurate in the long run.

However, do not let this frustration stop you.  As long as we are working at a B job to pay our rent, then I say let's create, invent, open a business, give it a shot.  Why not? 

Next, remember that the bigger the idea, the more likely it is to exist already somewhere else -- in someone's head, in their laboratory, at their company. Therefore, we need to move quickly when we have new product ideas to put them into form that someone can buy/use/benefit from in some way.  (This is not always true of course, some inventions or fine arts take years to develop - but even then the creator or artist is working everyday to refine their technique.)

It is a common debate among new product developers whether it is better to be quick to market with a rough product that you then work quickly to improve, or whether you should wait and see the mistakes other people make and then improve their product once you know their weaknesses. Fortunes have been made (and lost) doing both.

But the bulk of my experience has been with start-ups with limited resources, and I usually vote for getting something into the market as soon as possible. We have no choice, since we must move quickly to stay ahead of any large competitor looking to invade our niche. However, what we lack in marketing firepower and strategy we make up for with initiative and the joyous feeling of innovation - of selling the very first model of something we invented. Only the true artist or entrepreneur knows the excitement of having a customer see your work and say, "I'll take it."

One final note, the help we need to get a new product developed and sold almost never comes from the people in our current circle of acquintances. As I have said, before, it is the chance meeting that leads to the breakthough, so keep your eyes and ears open for that influence, that person, that piece of information just outside your normal social sphere. 

Many entrepreneurs I know get a hunch and they "know" that their product will work, as if it is part of the implicate unfolding of the universe. Though I do not mean to speak in mystical terms, give it a try.  Pretend your new idea already exists as a fait accompli. Like the acorn and the oak tree, what would it take to make that acorn grow? Now, stay alert for the unexpected.

Mark Bryan

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