Ready To Roll Your Great Idea? What You Need To Know Before You Take The Leap

                                         

#Business

Hey!

Last week, I shared a post titled “how to turn your idea into quick money. I must say that the viewership of that particular post was quite amazing. Thanks immensely for being avid readers to my blog.

It is great to have a million-dollar idea. Before you translate those fine ideas into money, that your idea must be analyzed, test and proven to be viable to make an impact on others before you get to the market to cash in. 

On the blog, I am going to discuss something that is related to the last post, and also share an experience of Mr. Kazi Ahmed of Beaverton, Oregen, who had conceived an idea, held up for a while and did extensively research of the product before launching into the market.

Ahmed was 36 years old when he discovered that he had diabetes. He learned about the disease, feeling uneasy about his total reliance on doctor’s advice, he took a decision by coming up with a new product - software for monitoring and managing his diabetes especially the impact of certain food and exercise programme in his blood sugar level.

His goal was to feel in control of his eating and exercise regimen, while keeping his blood sugar at a safe level. Convinced that other diabetics would be equally interested in such a monitoring system, being a Programmer, he perfected a software that could download blood sugar reading from readily available analyzers, then detail the effects of various meals and activities it had on them.

He had a talk with his doctor, who thought the idea was terrific – not only for diabetes patients but the doctor as well. Because of doctors have a compelling need for a similar product that could be used as a management tool to help diabetes patients remember and implement their nutrient and treatment regimen.

Also read: Get Your Product to Market in Six Steps

Ahmed spent several months at the library, learning what he needs to know about diabetes, its treatment and overall market size for his product. By the time he was done with his library research, he could comfortably converse with medical professionals about diabetes patients and his product idea. 

If he had just gone with his initial gut feelings, he would have had many problems but the research he did, not only kept him from making a big mistake, but also help him to develop his business, Nu Medics, which produced its first $1 million in sales in 1999 and poised for rapid growth.

DOCTOR’S ORDERS

Knowing that he had to get more real-world information than medical journals could provide, Ahmed took his research to the next level by assembling an informal focus group of 14 people who treated diabetes, including endocrinologists, diabetes educators, nutrients and nurses.

He talked about his idea and then asked the participants for their input. The group’s advice coincided with his doctor’s advice; the product is needed, but doctors had a greater need for it at this time than the patients did. The group also gave him an insight into features his product should have and offered a suggestion on how it could be improved.

Ahmed originally planned to introduce three products: the Diabetes Partner PC software programme, which patients could use at home, Clinipro, a diabetes management system for a medical professional and online service that would transmit the patient’s reading to their doctor’s computers.

Although his first thought was to concentrate on the patient software, after his research, he changed his initial market emphasis to the clinical software for professionals.

FILLING THE RX 

Further research helped him realize the doctors who needed his product most were pediatric endocrinologists. Children with diabetes are challenging for obvious reasons: They don’t tend to like following a strict diet and medication regimen. That market, with its product need, is where Ahmed ended up making his first sales.

Most importantly, he carefully researched the pricing strategies used by other medical companies selling similar products. He found that downloading software from companies marketing, blood sugar analyzer cost $60 to $100 and that medical record software system for $3,500 to $5,000 per user.

Armed with this fact, he first concentrated on setting up about 500 medical professionals with his software and then using that medical network to help him sell his Diabetes Partner PC patient software and online record transfer system.

Finally, this plan made him to enlist doctors as allies in selling the value of his software and also greatly reduce his marketing expense.

THE LESSON LEARNED

Research played a key role in Ahmed success:

·         It helped him fine-tune his product so it had all the features in the market wanted.

·         It helped create early support from medical professionals.

·         It helped him target a market with a high level of perceived need.

·         It helped him create an effective introduction plan for his product.

In all, Ahmed’s research played the vital role of convincing him that, his invention had real sales potential and that the product was worth the time and money he would have to invest to make it a success.

I have found out that inventors move slowly on their product because they are not sure they truly have a marketable idea. Apparently, if they have, they should move full speed ahead on getting it to market.

Did Ahmed predict every possible glitch in his product? Following his lead and do early research, he knew when he should drop introduction plan, in order to enable him to successfully launch his product.

Making marketing mistakes will cost you a lot of money. My candid advice is that if you do not have deep pockets to remedy marketing mistakes, follow Ahmed’s example, and be sure you have a product the market wants before you leap into limbo.

Let me stop here so far. You will hear from me later. Please share this post. THANKS!