How to Know If Your Product Design Is Worth a Million Bucks

Many people have a “EUREKA!” moment at least once in their life. Sometimes it comes out of nowhere, other times it happens after studying a problem for months or even years.

If you’re an inventor and/or entrepreneur, your “Aha!” moment is probably about product design. And, more likely not, you might feel like you’ve stumbled upon the best idea in the world. You’re probably wondering why no one else has thought about it. But, before you go looking for a manufacturer who can turn your concept into reality, you need to ask yourself: is your idea really worth a million dollars?

Well, a million dollars is a lot. But you need to consider whether your product will be profitable. Will your design result into a product that sells like hotcakes, or will you end up with thousands of unsold items collecting dust in your basement? This is information you want to get before putting your life and soul into developing your idea into a real world product.

It can be difficult to predict exactly how your product would perform since no one can really foresee the future. However, you can confirm whether your product design is a million-dollar idea or not by asking yourself the following questions:

What problems does your product address?

Million-dollar product designs often solve one or two consumer problems and provide solutions that are not found in existing products. If your product design simply copies the features of the goods that are already on the market, it’s not going to stand out from the crowd and help you earn high revenues.

What trends does it reflect?

Riding the trends wave isn’t necessary, but it does help your product have higher chances of success. The current smartphone trend, for example, involves minimalist designs with large screens. So, if you’re designing a smartphone, you’ll want to reduce its bezel size and incorporate as few buttons as possible while leaving plenty of space for its screen. Sometimes it can be great to put something out there that surprises people and falls outside the norm. But if you defy trends and try to swim against the current, you’re asking for trouble. The magic trick is to leverage trends while offering an innovative product.

Who’s your target audience?

If we’ve said this once we’ve said it a thousand times: you have to know your audience if you want your product to succeed. This is especially true if you’re still in the design phase. By having a clear idea of your target customers, you can come up with features that specifically address the needs and preferences of these people and create a product that they’ll actually want to buy. This, in turn, increases the chances that your product will be a big hit and that you’ll enjoy high sales and revenues.

Do you have competitors? Who are they?

Asking these questions is important, especially if you’re improving on an existing product and not creating an entirely new one (which is pretty much always the case). By knowing who your competitors are, you can study their products and see how different they are from your own. You can then come up with ways to improve your product design and ensure that your goods have better performance and/or a cheaper price than those of your competitors’. Even better: you can even develop completely new features that will set your products apart and ensure they’ll pique your customers’ interest.

Are you okay with being first?

If you’re creating an entirely new product and carving out a new niche, you most likely won’t have any competitors. This might seem like the ideal scenario: you have no one to compete with, which means you’ll have full control of the market without even trying!

But, if you look closer, you’ll see that it can also be a huge challenge. For one thing, you have no one to use as a gauge, and you’ll find it difficult to know whether you’re really succeeding or not. Since no other company is ahead of you, you won’t know whether the market you’re entering is profitable or not. As a result, you have to forge a completely new path and face the risks associated with being a revolutionary.

Can you come up with a great elevator pitch?

Not all products need an elevator pitch. But, if you can come with an interesting and attractive description of your product design and deliver it in just a few minutes, it’s a sign that you’re on the right track. A fantastic elevator pitch often helps you catch the eyes of investors and make them curious about what you have to offer. It also assists you in coming up with unique marketing and advertising campaigns that will effectively get the word out about your product.

Can you imagine your product making the rounds on social media?

We’ve mentioned above how an elevator pitch can be used in marketing, and this is certainly true when it comes to social media marketing. People usually have short attention spans when they’re on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites — not to mention that there are loads of online ads clamoring for their attention.

However, when you have a one-of-a-kind product design and marketing concept, you can stand out on social media and get noticed by your target audience organically.

Are your loved ones on board with your idea?

We don’t advise telling everyone and their cousin about your idea before it hits the market — you do need to keep everything under wraps to preventing anyone from stealing your product design! But it’s also important to share your idea with your family and friends and see what they have to say. These people want you to succeed and will most likely give you an honest review of your design. Through them, you’ll get helpful insights and constructive criticisms that you can use to improve your product as a whole. If you get negative feedback from them, it probably means that you need to get back to the drawing board and work on your design more.

Can you sell your product for a profit?

Many inventors and entrepreneurs think that selling their products at a 50 percent markup is enough. But markups and profit margins are a bit tricky, and it’s important to understand them. You need to consider not just your own profit margins, but those of the manufacturers, distributors, and retailers. The trick is to sell your product at a level that returns a profit for you, while also maintaining the margins required by the rest of the chain.

At the end of the day, a product on store shelves can easily sell for 5 times the cost of production. Of course, this is just a ballpark figure and it varies significantly for different products and different industries.

It might seem too high, but multiplying the production price by five times is important since it allows you to pay overheads and have enough money to cover the costs of failed products. This does sense: after all, you can’t realistically expect all your products to succeed and rake in high revenues. Because of this, you need to have some backup funds that will keep your business going even when you experience slow sales.

Keep in mind: your pricing should still be competitive. If you’re selling your products at $10 apiece while your competitors sell theirs at $8, you must either find ways to reduce your manufacturing expenses or highlight your products’ advanced features to convince people that they’re worth the extra cost.

What’s stopping you from making the first move?

Even the best design ideas have something that may prevent them from turning into reality. The most common factor is budget constraints, especially when for startup businesses. Many inventors and entrepreneurs also run into the problem of not having technology that’s sophisticated enough to create their products. Identify the hindrances that get in the way of your product and find ways to solve them to make your design really worth a million bucks or would actually just cost you a million.

Getting help with product design

Once you’ve confirmed that your product design really is a million-dollar idea, the next thing you should do is to look for help. This might not be your first instinct; after all, you came up with the idea on your own, so why should you get the help of others, right?

Well, not really. Successful business owners will tell you that the best products didn’t sprout from a single mind — they evolved from the collaboration among numerous people. So, if you want to achieve success, the best thing you should do is to seek advice and assistance from those who know the industry.

Fortunately, there’s no need to look far since you can find all the help you need here at Cad Crowd. We have a vast network of product designers and engineers who have spent years in the manufacturing industry and have helped numerous clients from different niches. Simply tell them your ideas (you can send your notes and sketches if you have them), and they will transform your early concepts into a working design that’s ready for production. Our designers and engineers are knowledgeable about product standards and can help you create designs that will surely get the approval of the relevant governing bodies.

We also connect clients with leading U.S based manufacturing companies to help you get your product made.

So what are you waiting for? Contact Cad Crowd and let us help you find the right people to work on your product design!