Another important initial step in making money from your new invention idea is to find out if your product idea is something people want! YOU think your idea is great and that every person will buy one….but, you need to get concrete data to find out if people out there will actually buy your terrific product.
The last thing want is to get stuck spending a bunch of money creating your product and then find out that it won’t sell. So doing thorough research before you invest any money into your new invention idea is crucial.
Questions to ask yourself:
Why would someone want to buy my product or service?
Who is my target market?
Who is my competition?
If I have competition, where do they sell their product and how do they market it?
How is my product different and better?
Below are several ways you can conduct consumer market research for your new invention ideas.
If you are concerned that someone will steal your idea, you can have them sign a non-disclosure agreement before you ask them questions about your product.
Person to person research/Interviews - Start with the people you know, your friends and family and people you run into on a day to day basis. Make sure you document their responses in your journal. You don’t want to forget any useful information.
Surveys – You can conduct informal surveys by sending out email blasts to your contact list. You can also ask your friends and families to forward your survey on to their list of contacts. Make sure to include your email address in the body of the email so people can respond to you directly. You can also do surveys by phone or snail mail. Snail mail is more expensive due to the cost of postage, envelopes and paper. Your response rate is usually really low also.
Focus Groups – You can conduct your own market research group by gathering a group of your friends together and asking them questions about your new invention idea. Or you can use a marketing company to conduct focus groups for you for a fee.
For examples of questions to ask check out 14 Essential Invention Idea Survey Questions.
