How to create a product to sell?

Do you believe that Mr. Jobs created a new market need to succeed with his new product in the market?

Absolutely NOT 

Users already had and expressed the need to listen to music while on the go, to have a wide variety of music, and also to listen to whatever they felt like at any given moment. 

Let's remember, before the iPod, we had standalone radios with headphones that allowed us to listen to content while on the move, but without the ability to choose what we really wanted to hear. To give us more freedom, the famous Walkman appeared, allowing us to listen to our own music, albeit with a cassette limited in time and with dimensions that provided mobility but with limited options. Battery autonomy was another challenge to address. This product became so ingrained in our hearts that there are currently replicas of its original form that continue to be successfully marketed View product on Amazon

In order to provide us with more freedom, the Discman emerged, a device that became a part of our lives, with better battery autonomy and greater freedom to choose our music, thanks to the capacity of CDs. They became an inseparable part of certain generations. So much so that even today, almost appealing to the emotions of those who enjoyed them, they continue to be sold on platforms.

Seriously, do you still believe that Mr. Jobs created the need in order to create a new product?

El iPod fue una auténtica revolución, su diseño compacto facilitaba su uso y transporte, su capacidad de reproducción de archivos mp3, multiplicaba la cantidad de canciones que podíamos tener en nuestros dispositivos, por primera vez podíamos elegir en una nube cualquier canción y comprarla en el lugar y momento que realmente nos apetecía, podríamos conectar el dispositivo a cualquier amplificador y llevar a cada lugar la música preferida. Ni más ni menos, las mismas necesidades que habían visto antes; Andreas Pavel (inventor de la Walkman) y los diseñadores de nuevos productos tecnológicos de Sony, a quienes se les atribuye la creación de la Discman. 

Jobs combined the most advanced ingredients of technology to solve, in a distinct way, a need that was more than evident in the market. 

Therefore, inventors, entrepreneurs, holding onto the reality that you will be able to create a new need and then design and manufacture a new product to sell is far from being a possibility and, furthermore, it is an incorrect way to approach the strategy for creating a new product to sell.

COPYING OR CREATING A NEW PRODUCT TO SELL.

Other highly significant findings in my internet search for identifying useful methods to create a product for sale referred to the numerous tools for comparing products and their sales trends through Amazon, Aliexpress, and other leading marketplaces or platforms for product sales.

The promotion of these tools is accompanied by hundreds of options to train in their use and learn how to make decisions about product selection that, according to their creators, will lead you to success.

In my humble opinion, education is very valuable, and information, data even more so. Therefore, with these experts who teach us to identify and use tools to compare the best-selling products on Amazon, I agree about 50%.

Allow me to explain.

Analyzing the sales trend of a specific product, its evolution, alternatives, and leading brands in its sales is significant information when making a decision about choosing a product to sell. 

But remember, it's not the same to choose a product to sell that is already being manufactured in China, as it is to create a new product to sell.

What is better? 

Appealing once again to common sense, let's evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of copying or creating a new product.

HOW TO FIND A NEW OPPORTUNITY OR PRODUCT TO SELL?

We always talk about finding unmet needs in the market to come up with and create a new product to sell. The truth is, to discover those points of dissatisfaction, the product selling platforms themselves are a great source of information.

Según nuestra experiencia diseñando productos, fabricando robots, modificando productos y colaborando con abogados de patentes, identificamos algunas formas o métodos que pueden ayudarnos a identificar oportunidades de negocio:

1. Default Dissatisfaction: This is one of the most common opportunities for improvement among the individual inventors we've worked with. In most cases, they begin by comparing the best-selling products on Amazon, analyzing competing products, and the brands that stand out in the markets. Once the trends are identified and product sales data is studied, a qualitative analysis of customer reviews for these products on major product selling platforms is conducted. The most common complaints are identified, and their causes are studied. This type of analysis often leads to the process of designing and manufacturing a functional prototype that includes substantial enhancements to address the main unfavorable opinions. Simultaneously, these improvements result in new utility patents, providing exclusive protection to the inventor for 20 years, design registrations to protect the aesthetic modifications of the product, and the initiation of new business models such as patent sales or negotiation with parties interested in exploiting the patents.

2.Excessive Dissatisfaction: Using the same quantitative and subsequent qualitative analysis of product trends with growing demand on major platforms, the goal is to identify complaints or dissatisfaction related to pricing. Price dissatisfaction often arises when a user perceives their problem, need, or aspiration as not being severe or relevant enough to warrant the price associated with the product. In this case, rather than transforming a product to add improvements, inventors focus on redesigning a product to exclude features, simplify it, and turn it into a specific solution for the precise problem valued by customers. Inventors often fall into what we've colloquially referred to as the "BECAUSE" theory internally: "Well, since we're at it, let's add a function, and while we're at it, let's add another function"… Such behaviors in the product creation process are usually counterproductive and, if not corrected, can result in a product entering the market as uncompetitive. This scenario presents a great opportunity for other entrepreneurs or inventors in the process of creating a product to sell. In summary, when dissatisfaction arises due to excessive product features, the objective is to streamline and iterate on how the core problem is addressed, resulting in a simpler yet innovative product with the potential to be patented.

3.Democratization of New Technologies or Products in the Market: The democratization or popularization of new products in the market often presents an opportunity for designing and creating complementary products. Complementary products are those that enhance the use of a specific product. In their value proposition, they typically offer greater ergonomics, protection, or they might simply be aspirational products focused on addressing the user's need for recognition.

A clear example of novel products born from other successful technologies or products is mobile phone cases and accessories. At Let's Prototype, we manufacture an average of 10 innovative products for mobile phones, ideas from individual inventors who recognize the need to stand out, register new designs, and launch their own products in the market. To cite another clear example, the popularization of electric vehicles has led some inventors to ideate and patent solutions to prevent damage to charging cables while making their deployment and retrieval more convenient. These prototypes have been designed and manufactured in our invention manufacturing laboratory. Similarly, other inventors launched a product capable of blocking and unblocking spaces designated for the charging of these vehicles, preventing fraudulent parking in these spots.

TWO TIPS FOR CREATING A PRODUCT TO SELL.

You don't have to be a genius to create an innovative product and sell it in the market.

Far from needing incalculable technological skills, the primary tool for successfully launching a product to the market is observation. Therefore, instead of seeing barriers in the process of designing and creating a new product, you should train your skills to study user behavior and thus draw inspiration from product improvement options that, in turn, represent a clear business opportunity.

En segundo lugar, estoy seguro, que a estas alturas ya tienes claro que, si quieres vender un producto con éxito en el mercado, no se trata de echar ratos y tratar de vender un producto sin invertir. Aunque el camino de crear un producto para vender sea más largo y costoso que el de copiar un producto para venderlo en Amazon, a la larga, te traerá mayores recompensas y tiene muchas más probabilidades de llevarte a la libertad financiera que persigues con tanto empeño.