Mar 20, 2015

1. Generate ideas for new and modified products: for example from customer feedback, employee suggestions and technical developments

2. Assess how these ideas fit with your strategy, market position and skills: confirm that you have the resources to devote to development

3. Research the market and competition, assessing customer requirements and sales potential. Learn from successes and failures, identify key risks and plan your marketing strategy

4. Form a project team covering all the key skills required, for example marketing, design, production, purchasing and finance. This team will be led by a product champion

5. Define the basic product specification, translate specific features into product requirements and identify your key selling points

6. Plan the critical path, identifying which activities must be undertaken first, which must be completed exclusively and which can happen in parallel

7. Set parameters including budget, objectives and timescales; assess risk regularly during development and modify plans as necessary

8. Forecast the likely selling price and set target production costs; assess likely actual costs of development and production, allowing for contingencies

9. Design the product in consideration of marketing, production and purchasing requirements. Develop a prototype to iron out technical and production issues and test market reaction

10. Gear up for full-scale production and launch the product. Continue to monitor the product’s success and look for opportunities to develop it further

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