216: 5 Key Tips For Starting Your Product Development Journey
03/11/24 • 27 min
Wade Harmidy, an esteemed project manager at MAKO Design + Invent, dedicates his meticulously cultivated expertise to guiding inventors and hardware startups through their product development journeys. Armed with an impressive academic background that includes an Honours Bachelor of Science degree and a Post Graduate Certificate in Quality Assurance, in addition to a prestigious Six Sigma Black Belt certification in Project Management, Wade is a beacon of knowledge in his field. Today, he graciously shares key tips for modern inventors, startups, and small-scale manufacturers. He expounds upon how to best navigate the beginning of your product development journey by revealing 5 indispensable strategies that will ensure you succeed in your product venture.
Click this link for This Episode's Full Info Page: https://www.makodesign.com/podcast/216-5-key-tips-for-starting-your-product-development-journey/
Key Takeaways in This Episode:
- What are the core factors that dictate how your product journey will go?
- Having a definitive vision for what your invention will achieve or what problem it is solving is integral.
- The clearer your vision is in the initial stages, the more likely it is that an experienced team will be able to help you realize your vision.
- Write down your product vision! Shoot for fewer words than more words.
- Have something tangible to bring to the product engineering firm. You don’t need to be an artist! Just get the idea down.
- Make sure to consider the end user and what your product accomplishes for them.
- MVP design is a key tenet.
- Setting realistic deadlines is incredibly important!
- Cutting corners often leads to failure!
- Plan for the big picture and all of the key milestones you need to hit.
MAKO Design + Invent: www.makodesign.com
Kevin Mako: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevmako
Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. We also help our clients with business and product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories.
Wade Harmidy, an esteemed project manager at MAKO Design + Invent, dedicates his meticulously cultivated expertise to guiding inventors and hardware startups through their product development journeys. Armed with an impressive academic background that includes an Honours Bachelor of Science degree and a Post Graduate Certificate in Quality Assurance, in addition to a prestigious Six Sigma Black Belt certification in Project Management, Wade is a beacon of knowledge in his field. Today, he graciously shares key tips for modern inventors, startups, and small-scale manufacturers. He expounds upon how to best navigate the beginning of your product development journey by revealing 5 indispensable strategies that will ensure you succeed in your product venture.
Click this link for This Episode's Full Info Page: https://www.makodesign.com/podcast/216-5-key-tips-for-starting-your-product-development-journey/
Key Takeaways in This Episode:
- What are the core factors that dictate how your product journey will go?
- Having a definitive vision for what your invention will achieve or what problem it is solving is integral.
- The clearer your vision is in the initial stages, the more likely it is that an experienced team will be able to help you realize your vision.
- Write down your product vision! Shoot for fewer words than more words.
- Have something tangible to bring to the product engineering firm. You don’t need to be an artist! Just get the idea down.
- Make sure to consider the end user and what your product accomplishes for them.
- MVP design is a key tenet.
- Setting realistic deadlines is incredibly important!
- Cutting corners often leads to failure!
- Plan for the big picture and all of the key milestones you need to hit.
MAKO Design + Invent: www.makodesign.com
Kevin Mako: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevmako
Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. We also help our clients with business and product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories.
Previous Episode
215: Launching a New Product on Walmart Marketplace
Michael Lebhar is the visionary behind SellCord, one of the world's foremost Walmart Marketplace agencies that boasts a remarkable track record for facilitating sales exceeding a billion dollars for hardware startups and renowned brands on the esteemed Walmart.com platform. In this episode, Michael is poised to impart his vast insight into the power of Walmart Marketplace and its salience to modern inventors, burgeoning startups, and small-scale manufacturers. The guidance he affords encompasses a detailed exposé on the intricacies of Walmart Marketplace, essential tips for seamlessly launching debut products on the platform, irrespective of prior experience, and proven strategies for achieving sustained growth in product sales.
Click this link for This Episode's Full Info Page: https://www.makodesign.com/podcast/215-launching-a-new-product-on-walmart-marketplace/
Key Takeaways in This Episode:
- What is Walmart Marketplace, and how does it differ from Walmart Retail Stores?
- It is more difficult to get your product onto Walmart.com than Amazon, but that presents an increased opportunity.
- Having a website already set up that sells or promotes your product is a huge asset when applying to Walmart.com.
- Walmart.com uses a listing quality score to judge the quality of your invention listing on their platform. This affects what page your product will be listed on.
- There are Walmart style guides you can access that tell you how to properly structure your product ad. Make sure to follow it!
- Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) is an important feature to subscribe to that is similar to Amazon Prime.
MAKO Design + Invent: www.makodesign.com
Kevin Mako: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevmako
Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. We also help our clients with business and product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories.
Next Episode
217: Using Crowdfunding for Real Customer Feedback on Your Invention
Yuri Dvoinos is the visionary behind an illustrious portfolio of 15 enterprises that have collectively amassed tens of millions of dollars in revenue. Among his ventures lies the portable Jammy Guitar, a resounding success story that garnered $250,000 in initial funding during its inaugural crowdfunding endeavor, swiftly followed by a staggering $500,000 in its subsequent campaign. Today, Yuri shares how he accomplished these commendable feats and his insight into crowdfunding to inform modern innovators, burgeoning startups, and niche manufacturers. He elucidates the profound significance of customer feedback and delves into how to optimally harness such feedback to drive subsequent product iteration and development.
Click this link for This Episode's Full Info Page: https://www.makodesign.com/podcast/217-using-crowdfunding-for-real-customer-feedback-on-your-invention/
Key Takeaways in This Episode:
- Crowdfunding provides instant, high-quality feedback from real customers!
- A large factor in their success was that they identified a gap in a market with lackluster products and filled the gap with their product.
- The primary reason they wanted to do a crowdfunding campaign was not to secure funding, but rather to get real customer feedback from backers who had pre-purchased the product.
- Make sure you celebrate your campaign's successes once it has finished!
- After that, leverage your campaign to get interest from important people in the industry.
- Customer segmentation can be very valuable when striving to find your ideal target audience, as you can develop a product exactly for them.
- Version 2.0 comes after launching an MVP.
- Consider leveraging both Kickstarter and Indiegogo!
- As you evolve, you will figure out how to reduce costs associated with hardware development.
MAKO Design + Invent: www.makodesign.com
Kevin Mako: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevmako
Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. We also help our clients with business and product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories.
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