5 Clear Steps to Turn Your Idea into an Actual Product

You’ve got the idea, but how do you have it made into an actual product? I’ll help you simplify the process by sharing the 5 step framework to get you from idea to physical product that’s ready to sell. Whether that’s your first product and your just launching your business, or you’re ready to add new products to your line.

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Before You Expand

First I want to give a warning. If you have an existing brand and you already have products, I personally have made the mistake that when sales are slow or when your business isn’t growing as quickly as you think it should, you think the solution is adding more products. I have found that the solution is often just putting more effort into marketing. So, if you’re trying to expand on your line, keep that in mind first.

Obviously, there IS a time when it is right to expand your product line, like when you have a strong customer base, business is going well, and returning customers are wanting something new and complimentary to your existing products.

Is It the Right Product?

Before you start creating your new product take the time to consider whether your idea is a good fit for the market. Also, consider if it’s something that you’re passionate about. Because let’s be honest, running a business is hard and there are going to be times when you get discouraged. It’s much better if you start out your business doing something that’s meaningful to you, rather than just to make money. Something you’re passionate about and something that customers can relate to and feel your passion through. Something that solves a problem that maybe you’ve personally experienced that you can help others solve. The more personal the problem, the easier it will be to see your project through.

1. Is there a need in the market?
2. Are you passionate about this product?
3. Does it solve a problem?

Step # 1: Market Research

So once you have your product idea, you need to do some market research. Start by going to stores where you think your potential customer might go to buy that product. Good places to look are Target or Amazon.

Ask these questions:

1. What are the popular products in your category that people are loving?
2. Is this product market really saturated?
3. Is there a high demand?
4. What are people charging for this type of product?

What are these products in this category typically going for? And you’ll make a list of those.

If the demand is high, there are lots of people interested, and the market isn’t too saturated, then you can feel confident that your products have the potential to sell.

Market Positioning

Then, make sure that you position yourself differently in the market than other brands.

• Is your target market very general or very niche?
• Is your target market higher end, or on the more affordable end of pricing?
• Where do your customers shop?
• Are they more organic and earthy, willing to spend more for an organic or sustainable product? Or are they looking for an easy and affordable solution to a problem?

Plot your brand/product on the chart compared to other brands to clarify who will you be marketing to.

Get Feedback

People get nervous when they have a new product idea and don’t want to share it with too many people because they’re afraid of their idea getting stolen. If your product is super innovative and technologically very different than other products on the market then you might want to have people sign an NDA before you share it with people.

But in general, like for my diaper bag product, or if you’re doing a spin on leggings, or t-shirts, or a new decorative pillow case, generally I don’t think you need to worry about people stealing your idea. And it’s so beneficial to get feedback from your audience.

Either get a sample or a drawing and show it to people that are your friends and family, and especially people that you think would be in the market for that product. Get their feedback and take that into account.

How Many Products Do I Need to Launch My Brand?

When designing and coming up with ideas for your product, how many different products do you need to launch a new business?

I honestly think one or possibly two is enough. If you have a unique enough story or you’re solving a unique enough problem, then you don’t need to have a full array of products. The last thing I want to advise someone to do is to, without doing any research, go out and buy a ton of product and then it doesn’t sell. That would be miserable.

So that’s why, before I talk about how to have your products made, I want to make sure that you’ve done the research to make sure that this is a good fit for the market, you have a strong story for your brand, and you’re passionate about it.

Step #2: Design Phase

So after you’ve done the research you start really getting into the design phase. You want to do drawings or sketches and pick out colors. Make sure you’re really honing exactly what it is that you want to make.

Make the Tech Pack

Once you have that vision perfected or as close as you feel like you can get, then you’re ready to have what’s called a tech pack made. We talked about this in episode number three with my friend Victoria Dickson, as she is a technical designer and a consultant who makes Tech Packs.

Her specialty is leggings and athletic wear, but you can basically find a technical designer for any type of product. They can make a tech pack for you, or what’s also called a technical package, which is kind of like a blueprint for your design. You can find a technical designer through Upwork or  LinkedIn, and you’ll work with them until they have created this blueprint that includes:

• A flat drawing of the product
• The list of materials
• The dimensions and measurements
• The colors you want
• Your brand name
• The name of your product

Pantone Colors

And when you’re picking colors, you pick from what’s called a Pantone book. I have the Formula Guide Coated, The Plus Series from Pantone. You pick the color you want your products to be from this book, whether it’s one color or you’re doing several colorways. In the tech pack and you provide them with the Pantone number. That is the universal code so that a manufacturer overseas, or even the manufacturer down your street, is speaking the same language as you when you tell them what color you want. Pantone is the industry standard for manufacturers.

You don’t want to just say, “light blue,” because who knows what light blue color they’re going to pick. This way it’s exactly the color you want.

Step #3: Working with a Manufacturer

Once you have the Tech Pack dialed in, send that to several manufacturers to get a quote. Ask them how much it will cost to make it per unit and ask about their minimum order quantity requirements, which is also called MOQ. MOQ can be tough for a lot of new brands because oftentimes the minimum order quantity they require can be high.

Some places to find manufacturers include Alibaba.com for overseas manufacturers. There are a lot of not-great manufacturers on there, but it’s also still a great tool. I choose to work with manufacturers on there that are verified and have the certifications that they need. It’s also comforting if you know they’ve worked with bigger brands like Disney or Nike.

If you’re interested in learning more about certifications, listen to our upcoming Episode 7, where I interview Industry Expert, Laura Bonnell.

For U.S. manufacturers, you can look on LinkedIn or there’s a good website called MakersRow. You can listen to the previous Episode #3, with Victoria Dickson, where she lists a few more resources to find manufacturers.

Choosing Overseas vs. Domestic Manufacturing

You also need to decide if you want to have your product made overseas or domestically. And this is going to depend on a few things. It’s going to depend on:

• Cost vs Minimums
• Who your customer is
• Techniques
• Your Values
• Specialized Techniques
• Convenience

Cost vs Minimums

Cost per unit overseas is much more affordable, but you must buy a LOT. The cost per unit in the U.S. is much higher, but you can buy much less.

Overseas you’ll probably have to order at the very least 200 of the exact same color and if you want to have another color made of the exact same product, you’ll have to order at least another 200. Many Overseas factories will ask for a 500-unit MOQ, but sometimes maybe you can find manufacturers that are willing to go a little bit lower.

With both types of manufacturers sometimes you can do something that’s called a sample run that allows you to order fewer than usual at a higher price point.

Also, consider that the price they’re going to give you does not include the cost of shipping that product to you. And if you’re shipping things from overseas, it’s going to be more expensive to have it shipped to you. You’ll also have to consider custom fees.

Who Your Customer Is

Is it important for your customer to have their products made locally? Do they want to support us-made businesses and they’re willing to spend the extra money to do that? Or are your products on the lower price point and they want something that works, but is not that expensive? So make sure you ask your target customers as you’re doing the research, what they think about that and their values.

What Are Your Values

What’s important to you? Is it important to you to have things made locally?

Specialized Techniques

Different parts of the world specialize in different products. There are some technologies in China or India that the U.S. hasn’t quite perfected yet. Sometimes to create a specific type of product or use a certain technique or feature you will have to go overseas.

Convenience

If your manufacturer is local, you can swing by and see how it’s going, talk to the people that work there, look at the samples, and have quicker communication.

When you’re working with someone overseas, often they’re on a different time schedule. So if you send them an email at two in the afternoon, they might get back to you at say 2:00 AM. Then they may have a question they need answering and you don’t respond until they’re asleep. It can just really delay the communication, but sometimes that can be worth it.

Additionally, an overseas manufacturer will find all of the materials your product requires for you. You will tell them what you want and they’ll go find it.

If you’re working with a U.S. manufacturer, you typically have to go find those materials yourself, buy them, and get them to the manufacturer. So you will find the fabric and the hardware or whatever it is that goes into it.

Contacting the Manufacturers

One idea is to send your tech pack out to some overseas manufacturers and some domestic manufacturers and compare the pricing and the minimum order quantities for those factories. I think it’s a good idea to pick 5 to 10 manufacturers to start with to get quotes and MOQ from.

In your email to the manufacturer, you will attach your technical package in pdf format. You’ll also ask:

• The cost per unit
• The minimum order quantity
• The timeframe it will take them to make the products
• What certifications their factory has
• How much will it cost to have a sample made

Remember, the cost to have the sample made does not include the cost of having it shipped to you.

Step #5: Product Development Phase

So based on your manufacturer’s response, you’ll probably narrow down your manufacturers to two or three and have them make samples for you after that. You are now in the Product Development Phase and your manufacturers will ship you your first sample.

Usually, your first sample is not going to be exactly how you want it. Often they will not use the exact materials that they will for the final product. It’s more to get the shape or the silhouette right.

Once you get that sample, you’ll write what’s called comments. You can give your comments in the body of the email or attach a pdf. The document will list the changes you want to make with pictures, arrows, and text, for example, “I want a different fabric here, a different hardware here.”

You’ll have several prototypes made until the product is the way that you want it. And that’s fine. You want to do that ahead of time. Don’t rush into having so many products made when it’s not the way you want it.

On the other hand, and this is something that I’ve struggled with, don’t get stuck in overdevelopment, which is where you just keep asking them to change things and change things because you’re just so worried it’s not perfect. I’ve been stuck in that phase before for almost a year. I think it’s a good idea to try to stay within 6 months during that process. If you’re going overseas, it can be longer than if you’re doing it nearby.

Step #5: Bulk Production

Then, once it’s the way you want it, you will order your bulk production. The factories that I’ve worked with have first requested that I send about half of the payment upfront. That will allow them to buy the materials and pay for the labor to have those products made. Once they’re totally done with the manufacturing process, they’ll box it up and get it to the shipper (aka freight forwarder). Once it’s in the shipper’s hand, they request the other 50% of the payment. That’s how it’s worked for me in the past.

If your order is really small, like under a thousand dollars, sometimes they’ll just ask for that whole payment upfront.

It’s always scary working with a new manufacturer and sending them money. So when you look for a manufacturer, choose someone that either has good certifications, has good reviews, or you know, someone that’s worked with them, just so that you don’t end up wiring them money and then no products come. That would be the worst. So make sure you do your research there.

Using Trade Assurances on Alibaba.com offers an extra level of security.

Shipping Your Products to You

If you’re shipping your products overseas and you choose to do it by sea, which is what most people do, it can take one to two months to get your products. It can be much faster if you choose to ship it by air, but it’s also much more expensive.

I have actually occasionally had them ship me a few boxes by air and then sent the rest by sea. And then hopefully by the time I’ve sold through those first few boxes, the sea shipment will have arrived and it will go smoothly.

You also need to look for a freight forwarder or sometimes they’re called a 3PL. Sometimes your manufacturer will have ones that they’ve worked with and that they trust, so you can get that information from them. Or you can just do some good old Googling and see which ones have good reputations and reviews.

Conclusion

So that is the framework for how to have your products made! I hope you found it helpful and not overwhelming. This process is exciting and that feeling when you get your first product that you’ve designed and dreamed up is so fulfilling and exciting. I think your customers can see that and feel that, especially when it solves a problem for them. For me, that excitement propels me to keep making things and making people happy with those products.

So I hope you find this empowering and that you know that you can actually have your products made and run a business.

Free Product Launch Guide

If you enjoyed this episode then you’ll love the Free Product Launch Guide that goes into more detail about this same process.

Links Mentioned:

Episode #3 with Victoria Dickson

Upwork or  LinkedIn for finding a Technical Designer

Pantone Books for color selection

Alibaba.com

Makersrow.com