Many inventors make the mistake of inventing something without first trying to find out whether there is a market for it. Now that you know it, you can avoid this mistake. There is no foolproof way to find out whether product is going to sell or not. You’ll only know that once you have finished the invention process for the product and are trying to market it. However, there are some useful steps which you can take to reduce the chances of your invention ending up as an unwanted product.
Steps to increase the chances of inventing a product that sells
When you start trying to invent something, make sure that you have some sort of expertise in that area. Just to help you avoid silly mistakes. It gets even better if you happen to be an expert in that particular field.
Do as much research as you can. Keep reading relevant magazines, websites, blogs, journals, books, forums and reference materials. Obtain as much information as you can about the specific area in which you’re thinking of inventing a product.
Be very alert for people complaining are reading about is something. Many inventions have resulted from the inventors listening to people complaining bitterly about something.
Assess the market size of the invention. If the market size is really small, there is no point in going ahead and putting in a lot of effort and time, only to find in the end that you’ll never be able to get enough customers to become profitable enough.
Get as much information as possible about similar products. Find out their weaknesses. How can you make it better? Building a better mousetrap is enough, most of the time.
Once you have a concrete idea in your brain about the product or invention which you’re planning to manufacture, before doing anything, seek the opinion of consumers who are using the product as well as the opinion of experts dealing with the product. If all of them unanimously have positive opinion about your idea, you can move forwards with confidence. Conversely, if a vast majority of them have negative opinion, it may be prudent to take a hard look at the market viability of your invention.
All being said, if you are a genius like Ben Franklin, you won’t be needing much help from anyone!