The Hiddens Skills of Product Development

Is B2B product development a skill or an art?


It's a little bit of both but in this short article I'm going to show you how to make it more skill than art. Here's a couple of things you need to perfect as you move your product from concept to launch.


First Things First - Develop a Project Plan

Here's a good place to start because the best product development project can become derailed quickly if you don't know how to properly plan. My motto is THINK, PLAN, DO. Follow this and you will never go wrong. Over the years I've personally witnessed companies that have jumped to DO bypassing the other two steps and have found themselves unable to react during the development and incubation stages.


If you are familiar with any of the popular project software, like Microsoft Project, feel free to use it. Don't be intimidated though if you are not familiar with any of these. You don't need sophisticated software to prepare a project plan. Remember, it's not the equipment, it's the player.


OK, so you know the devil is in the details so be as specific as possible. It's OK if you miss steps but every project plan should cover processes (steps), people, and time required. The more plans you write the better you will get at it; promise.


Prepare a Budget

I'm often asked, within what margin should the budget be. It may take a while to get a feel for this so be patient and pay attention to what it costs to build your products. Whether you have to use an outside company for development or are being cross charged from an internal department, know your products, the components, and make sure you stick to your plan. Remember my motto, Think, Plan, Do. I guarantee you will overrun your budget if you go straight to DO.

The next question is should you account for the people time. Some of my larger clients who have mature product development departments are capable of allocating full time resources so it is easy to account for the cost of their time. Otherwise, these are sunk costs and trying to account for time other than x% is not worth the effort.


Translating Needs into Requirements

I use a proprietary approach I developed that allows product development teams to quickly identify the stakeholders and map to their needs. Once you know the needs of your target base it's easy to figure out what features need to be built that the customer wants, will keep you within budget, and can be launched within your time frame. Remember, you don't have to build everything in the first phase. I'm a big believer in launching the basic requirements and phasing in new features in future releases that can be publicized. The key is getting the first set right. Too many companies release products that do to much and end up confusing the target market and can't be priced correctly. My Marketing Optimization Grids ensures this never happens.


The Battle for Customers' Minds (Value Prop)
I want to spend just a second talking about value proposition. Here's my definition. I want the customer to do something different than what they do today at a cost (lower, the same or more) that will provide some added utility versus their current product or process. So you see if you add in a lot of features it makes it hard for the customer to understand how this may fit into their current process. The customer may be open to new solutions but if you make the comparison too hard it inertia takes over. And, as I always say, "you can never underestimate the power of inertia".

I'd love to know your product development stories. Write me here or visit me at Stages of Innovation.

Rob Goldberg 2009

Stage of life matters when starting a business

Is the right temperament important for entrepreneurs...

For me personally and for my consulting clients I would define it not by temperament but by stage of life; single, married, number of kids, one or two incomes...

I've heard this argument before from one of my partners. We did a radio show together on small business that led to a series of consulting projects. I was always struggling with my schedule to fit everything in. He would say, "If you focus on one thing and do that well you would receive the rewards."

The reality is sometimes life doesn't allow that. Mortgage, children, the need to sleep a little every night, a lifestyle that my family has come to enjoy all add to my decision that in order for those like me to move full time to any one venture it has to replace the combined income from all of them. And I can tell you having raised VC money for a few of my ventures as well as others, investors are not happy paying salaries.

Here's what I recommend to my clients.

1) Define stability - it means something different to everyone. But as an entrepreneur you need to know what this is for yourself and your family

2) Know what your greed/risk ratio is. Here's how it works. I'm willing to assume some degree of risk for some return of reward. Logically, the more risk I assume the more reward I should receive. Based on your business model where is the ratio if you are looking for supplemental income versus replacing your income entirely. I often use this as a starting point to see how much I'm willing to give up.

3) All boats rise in a rising tide. Look for help early on. Trading 20% of your company may be worth it to get the company off the ground. Remember 100% of nothing is still nothing.

4) Try licensing your invention. You may end up giving away more of your company than you want and may have to pay a little up front fee but it is worth it if it takes off and you really don't want to take it to the next level. One word of advice - patent what you have before you talk to anyone.

I'm not trying to imply that being an entrepreneur is not hard work; it is. There are alternative ways for passionate people to feel the sense of starting and growing a business and still sleep at night.

check out my web site http://www.stagesofinnovation.com for more information about getting your invention or business off the ground.

Rob Goldberg 2009