Growing Your Business with YCN Series – #3: How to open new markets with fresh new products/services in 7 steps
Growing your business means more cash for you now, and a higher sale price in the future when you decide to eventually sell your business.
The 4 key areas covered in this series are:
- Expanding and improving your customer base
- Finding new markets – with existing products or services
- Developing new products or services – to open new markets (what this article will be focusing on)
- Improving profit
The greatest business successes in history have stemmed from companies adapting to changes in their industry. A significant way of adapting comes from capturing new markets by tapping into fresh types of consumption – new products and services – creating vibrant, long-term growth for companies (in old and new industries alike). In this article, we’ll outline 7 steps in developing new products and/or services for business growth.
DEVELOPING NEW PRODUCTS OR SERVICES
- Conduct customer research to identify new ideas. Ask your customers about what new products or services they would like to see added to your range. Brainstorm ideas with your staff, along with which new markets to target. This article has some advice on how you can unlock innovative ideas.
- Check financial feasibility of any new product or service. Calculate whether you can make a profit from your planned new product or service. Carry out some market research to be sure of demand. For example, if you’re a manufacturer of sports goods and you’ve created a prototype for a new style of cricket bat, get opinions from a whole range of cricketers, from kids up to professionals.
- Test new offerings with your customers. Before introducing your new product or service to the market, make sure you test it first. Listen to consumer responses and take on board any advice before going to market.
- Protect your Intellectual Property. Once you’ve developed some intellectual property (IP), it’s vital you protect it. Have a look at the IP Australia website for detailed information on what you need to do to protect your business ideas.
- Licence other products. Consider licensing another business’s products or services to extend your product or service range. It’s especially effective if they’re complementary to your own offerings. Read our article about some other profitable ideas you can learn from larger companies.
- Look to joint venture with other businesses offering different products. Keep an eye on other successful businesses within your industry, or those targeting markets that you’re interested in, and look at how to develop a strategic alliance.
- Import products unavailable in Australia. Search out products that aren’t available or are difficult to obtain in Australia but will potentially open new domestic markets.
NEXT STEPS
- Why not book in for a 30-minute meeting with YCN to help you with brainstorming the above steps and create a tailored Action Plan to help you develop new products and services – leading to higher profits and increased value of your business!
- Also, keep a look out for the final article in this Growing Your Business with YCN Series! We’ll be providing tips on improving profit.
