Productisation

A good product is an item or service for which there is demand. A good product meets the norms of the field and administrative regulations. Remember that the product will not necessarily remain good if it is not constantly developed.

A good product is significant for the operations of your business. Financiers are also interested in it. 

A good product works efficiently in accordance with its intended use. Its use is problem-free. Therefore, it has been designed with the user in mind. A good product is finished. 

If a product is an item, it should have a suitable design and should be pleasing to customers. It should withstand the conditions of use without breaking. High-quality design makes a product stand out.

A good product can be manufactured or offered as serial production. Manufacturing and distribution costs are so low that your business will get the profit it seeks from the sales price.

The different characteristics of the product, such as quality, functionality, and timeliness are seen in the eyes of the customer as a whole on whose basis the customer forms an opinion of it. The customer is ultimately the one who decides if the product is good.

When starting the development of a product, conduct technical, commercial, and production-related product plans as well as necessary analysis. If necessary, produce a prototype of the product. Test the product with care before starting actual production.

Create a product package of your product idea with the help of product development. The product package is your new product that is ready as a whole that can be duplicated.  In addition to the characteristics of the product, it also includes its external appearance and brand. 

A product package may be

• a new kind of product or manufactured item
• a product that is offered as a service
• a product package that combines goods and services, such as a software product, which is installed and adapted to the needs of the individual customer. 

A product package that emerges via product development is finalised and ready for commercialisation. It meets the criteria of a good product.

When your company wants to productise an item, or object, or manufactured product, find out what the best method of manufacture would be. Check the various raw materials and select the most appropriate. Take the recyclability of materials into account too. Think how to make the product as user-friendly as possible.  Also ascertain the best design and packaging solutions.

Have a prototype of the product made. With its help you can test and evaluate the details of the use and production of the product.

Note that productising an idea may require fairly large investments. These are nevertheless necessary to enable your company to hone the details of how the product is manufactured and the characteristics for the best possible quality. 

Come up with a good name for your product so that it stands apart from the competition. Remember that a product name, brand name, trademark, and the image that is formed around it are usually as important as the actual characteristics of the product.

It is wise to protect the name of your product with a trademark. Therefore, you should choose a name that can be registered as a trademark. Read the page about protecting products; Protecting inventions, product ideas and skills.

When your business wants to productise a service, the first thing to do is to draft a service concept. In it, describe what the intended purpose of the service is, what it contains, how it works, and what it promises the customer.  The service concept should also include training that might relate to the service, the required supplementary material, and the contracts to be made in connection with the service.

Seek to develop the service into something that can be duplicated. It can help your business easily expand its activities to other cities, for example. When parts of the service can also be duplicated, your company can utilise them in other services as they are.

See to it that the service is easy to understand, credible, and that it stands apart from the others. You should be able to document the service in detail. It should be possible to price the service each time on the same principle, so that the hourly rate is always the same, for example.

Plan the service with the user in mind, through service design, for example. Get feedback from test users as early as possible. In this way product development will move in the right direction resulting in a service that customers will be willing to pay for.

Have the product tested at different phases of product development by users who are part of the target group. From them you can get both confirmation for solutions that have already been made, as well as new development ideas. You can also get pilot customers who are the first to use the product and who can get others inspired by it.

Remember that consumer behaviour is different in different countries. A product or service that is successful in its home market will not necessarily be as successful abroad.

Draft a product plan in which you clarify your idea verbally and present related charts, calculations, and diagrams. With your plan you can prove that your idea is functional in theory. Visualise your text with illustrations or scale models, for example. 

If your product is a manufactured item, have a physical prototype made to enable you to evaluate the quality and characteristics of the product. It will help in choosing the most appropriate material and production method for the product. Also use it to evaluate the product's attractiveness, usefulness, and other factors that affect competitiveness.

With the help of a prototype you can ensure that the product is:

• functional and durable
• suitable for mass production
• cost-effective to produce
• easy to market
• in accordance with regulations
• successful in its design
• suitable for its distribution chain, for example can it be displayed on a shop’s shelves.

You can apply for help and funding for your company's product development both from public and private entities.

In your product development, you should take advantage of expert services in development work at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, the ELY Centres, your municipal business services, and the development companies of your region.

In product design and testing you can use the help of universities and other institutions of higher education, the technology services of universities of applied sciences, as well as vocational institutions of education. In addition, you can get help from companies in your own field, consulting firms, and prototype workshops specialised in the production of prototypes.

When you ask others for help in the product development of your company, pay special attention to confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements.

You can apply for public financing for the product development of your company through Business Finland and the ELY Centres, for example. Private financing is available through banks and other financial institutions, for example.