I believe that studying the marketplace is one of the best ways to come up with new product ideas. If you ask the right questions and look closely, you will find opportunities to invent everywhere. The most significant benefit of studying the marketplace for ideas is that in doing so, you all but eliminate having to ask yourself, “Are people willing to pay for my product? Do they really need it? Will they want it?” When you pull an idea out of thin air, you have to prove that there’s actually even a need or desire for it. Remember: you don’t have to reinvent the wheel to come up with a great idea. I’ve supported my family for decades by making small improvements to existing ideas.
Here are five places to look for your golden opportunity.
1. Check out your competition. What do leaders in your industry have planned for the future? Where is the industry headed? These are big questions, but they can be answered in part by checking out your competitions’ patent applications. Patent applications in the United States are published 18 months after they are filed. I don’t spend a ton of time perusing the USPTO or doing Google patent searches, but I like to know what my competitors are up to. Checking out other innovations can be a great way to jog your creativity.
2. Read Amazon.com (and other websites) product reviews. What are consumers saying about products in your industry? What are their complaints? What do they wish were different? You may be able to come up with a better solution to a particular, persistent problem you now know people would pay for.
3. Go to a trade show. Trade shows are great places to discover opportunities for invention. They always have a special section for new products; it’s the first place I visit when I arrive. The excitement and energy at a trade show is palpable — it’s impossible not to listen to the speakers, shake hands and make new relationships, read the magazines, and enjoy the special events without getting fired up too. There’s always at least one speaker whose focus is the problems that plague the industry.
4. Get down to the front lines and visit your local retailers. Talk to store managers and employees during a quiet time and ask them what kinds of problems customers are having. What are they looking for when they come in? Are they satisfied? They know what is selling and what isn’t. There is so much knowledge to be gained simply by asking. Form relationships, and tap into that knowledge to jumpstart your brainstorming.
5. Google hot trends. There are many articles published online by writers who report on the minute ins and outs of an industry. For example, I am still inventing for the packaging industry, so I keep abreast of what’s going on by searching for “hot packaging trends.”
Identifying opportunities ripe for innovation is just the first step. You still need to put your creativity to use and come up with solutions to the problems you identified, inspired by the new trends in your industry. All of these tips share a common thread: to keep coming up with great new ideas, you need to constantly stay up to date with and question the industry you want to invent for. Don’t get complacent and rely on assumptions.
Originally published on Entrepreneur.com October 4th 2016.
