If you’re trying to come up with a product idea for a new business, just know that you have a challenge ahead of you. How many times have you purchased a product and thought, “I wish I would’ve thought of this idea”?

The thing is, coming up with something to sell that everyone needs isn’t as easy as it sounds and in fact, thousands of new ideas are created every day that are your direct competition. Fortunately, there are still ways to come up with these ideas.

What to Do When You’re Creating a New Product?

When you’re trying to come up with a unique product idea, it can be rather difficult, but following these tips can make it a little easier:

1.  Think of a Problem First – Not a Solution

It’s smart to come up with a need that everyone has before you come up with a great solution. Think of a problem that most people seem to have in the beginning.

In other words, don’t start out by trying to find a specific product. Instead, start by discovering a problem and then start working on a solution. In that solution, you’ll likely find the perfect product.

2.  Make Sure You Care About the Product

Once you decide on a particular product, ask yourself if the product makes you happy and makes you smile.

To be successful, you’ll want to create a product that you look forward to developing and improving. If you don’t, it’s very unlikely you’ll be successful in bringing it to the market. Besides, developing a product and calling it your own should be fun.

3.  Decide If It’s Practical to Create

All products cost money to develop, but it’s not a good idea if you’ll only be able to sell your product at a low price yet it costs a lot of money to make. Consider things such as your competition, expenses, supply and demand, and more.

Be realistic with the prices and make sure you don’t forget anything in the process. This way, you can more easily decide if it’s even possible that your product will make money.

4.  Decide If You Can Acquire Funding

Most new products are created by people who will need funding to put their products on the market, and therefore you have to be able to describe how you’ll make the product in ways that are easy to explain. You’ll very likely need a business plan to apply for your loan, so consider a product that isn’t too complex and one that is easy to understand by others.

What Not to Do When You’re Creating a New Product

Just like there are things that make creating a new product simpler, there are also some things you should not do, and they include the following:

1.  Not Doing the Proper Amount of Research

Nothing’s worse than spending months and months developing a new product, only to find out afterwards that someone else beat you to it and the product already exists. Before you even start, do tons of research and make sure the product isn’t already out there somewhere. If you use the Internet, this step should be easy.

2.  Not Paying Attention to the Unique Selling Proposition (USP) of the Product

All products need a unique selling proposition; i.e., something that sets it apart from other products. A product that has more features than similar products, is less expensive, or which can get to the consumer faster when they order it is going to be more popular than other products. This is true even if there is another product like it already on the market.

3.  Not Considering Its Profitability

Unless you’re specifically going to market to customers that are wealthy, your product should be affordable to all middle-income consumers, while still making you a profit.

You don’t have to create an inexpensive product, but making sure the profit margin is reasonable means you’re more likely to make money from your products in the end.

4.  Not Realizing There’s No Demand for the Product

Simply put, sometimes a problem is a problem that no one cares to be solved. Just because you love the idea and think there’s a need for it doesn’t mean that that is the case. Share your idea with friends and see what they think.

If they all react negatively, it’s likely not a good business idea. Remember that the product has to solve a problem and be a product people are willing to pay for when they see it.

Your business idea should also not be confusing for prospective customers to understand. If you can’t explain what the product does without a long infomercial, it’s going to be harder to sell it.

Potential customers should automatically see the value in the product and you should be able to explain what it does in just a few minutes. Otherwise, customers can consider it not worth the trouble.

Conclusion

Determining how to create a product that everyone will feel they need doesn’t have to be a challenge if you keep these tips and suggestions in mind.

Making sure the product is a solution to a common problem, a product you enjoy and is practical, and one that is easy to explain to others are all important rules.

You also have to create something there’s a demand for and something that sets it apart from other products. If you do these things, it’s more likely you’ll be successful in the end.