For those of you who are doubting whether you should start a physical product-based business, keep reading because I’ve got you. I know that it’s sometimes scary to start something new and to invest a lot of money in your new business idea or your new product idea. Let me explain why planning your new product idea from A to Z will bring in more profit.

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Complexity and moving parts in new product development

Because new product development can be complex and has a lot of moving parts, you should always create a project plan. When you have a well-thought-out plan, you feel in control. You have a clear overview of all your resources and all the activities that need to be done from product idea, through specification, development, manufacturing, and launch.

In addition, it’s very important that you use tools and templates that help you really master your new product development, be in control and feel certain that you can do a good job in managing the project team. 

Define a step-by step process in new product development

So here we go! First I would like to say that for me personally, I love having a structured process in getting from product idea to launch. I always divided the product development into different phases and started in the first phase, finished all deliverables and actions, and then moved on to the next phase. And within all those phases, I defined the deliverables and responsible persons.

Only when those deliverables are taken care of, then I could pass that milestone and move on to the next phase. If those deliverables were not finished, sometimes everybody, including myself, agreed that we could move on under the condition that a certain deliverable was done within one week.

Milestones indicate that it’s time you decide to continue or not

We put a certain deadline on actions that have not finished.  And there were moments or projects that we said ‘no, we cannot move any further because we didn’t take care of this thing and that needs to be solved first’.Otherwise, we will run into issues later on in the project. And when you have defined those phases for yourself, and you’ve defined deliverables that you need to do in every phase. You’ll have a clear structure and step-by-step process in your project.

Indicating responsible persons help taking accountability for actions

In an ideal world, and that’s what I would always do, you appoint responsible persons for every deliverable. Everybody is accountable for the thing that they need to do. You can also directly speak to a person when some deliverable is not met. Based on those phases and those deliverables, it’s much easier to create a realistic project planning.

You can use a spreadsheet like Excel for this and start immediately.

FREE Excel Adjustable project planning for new product development

I have for you, a free template to help you get started. It’s an adjustable new product development planning.You don’t have to invent the wheel! The different new product development phases are already included for you. Also, some deliverables are already included for you to simply adjust to make them your own and match your market, your product, or your project.

Manage your project team with ease

With a planning, with those phases and deliverables, you always know where you are with your new product development. And it’s much easier to manage team members and explain to team members what needs to be done and when that needs to be ready. Because you can easily see all the connections and the links from deliverables that are needed by other team members or other experts or your supplier.

It’s very easy. And it also gives you a tool to keep in the driver’s seat and to take proactive action when things go off track. So if you are worried about what to do or how you should  handle something, then I would advise you just start with dividing your project into phases. Start with the ideation phase, next the specification phase, the development phase, the manufacturing phase, and the launch phase, for example.

Within those phases, write down the deliverables that need to be taken care of and add the name of the responsible person. When the deliverable list is complete and everyone in the team agrees, you create a project planning based on this file. 

Creating a project business plan will help you get results faster

The second thing I would advise you to do before you start investing in new product development is to create a project plan or a business plan.

This is not a timeline. It’s more of a business plan. You answer questions like, what’s my target market? What’s the product about? How are the financials? How much do I think I’m going to sell? What will my profit be? What will the investment be that’s needed to realize this new product idea? What disciplines do I need in my team?

What external people do I need in my team? 

Are we going to produce it in our own factory or are we going to We’re going to outsource it. 

All those topics you need to add in your project business plan. You also explain the constraints in this project and the risks you see. You add them all to the plan. In this business project plan you also have a chapter, high level project planning.

Clarity, confidence and control

You can add some high level milestones in this project business plan as well. This project business plan, you can show to investors, banks, to whoever you need to convince of your new product idea. They need to get confidence in your new idea and want tonsee how you will manage the project to reach your business goals. This Project Business Plan will give you clarity and the confidence to start.

You’ll know when you need to do what, what it’s going to cost, and what the product margin will be. And if you’ve done these things, then you have a great base to decide whether this is a product idea you want to invest in.

Why planning your new product idea from A to Z will bring in more profit?

So here you have it! Tips and strategies you can follow to plan you new product idea from A to Z in an efficient and structured way.

To help you out, I’ve created a FREE Excel template for you to start creating your new product development planning. Download the excel template here!