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Travis Blake, president of R3 Deconstruction (r3demo.com), says the most important part of product development research should be whether the product already exists. “When entrepreneurs are in development mode, they can tend to put on blinders and drink their own Kool-Aid. Hence why 99 per cent of new products fail or don’t make it to market — they aren’t actually ‘new.’ The best business decisions on developing new products quite often are the ones we walk away from.”

PHOTO BY TRAVIS BLAKE

“Before jumping in too deep, talk to people, share the product with them and ask for feedback. What would they be willing to pay for it? Does the investment make sense compared to the potential return? Find out if similar products exist, or have existed, where they placed in their markets, and what worked or didn’t work for them. Make sure there is a market for the product before investing too much time and resources into developing it.”— Shannon Berry, president of Protologic Inc. — protologic.ca

“Every season I bring a new item to my line to test the market. I start buying small quantities without investing much time researching prices. It’s more of an instinctual kind of approach. I call it my ‘gambling fund.’ If I see that interest in the product is there, then I will take action by investing time and money in order to find the right price, source and quality.”— Mariana Konsolos, founder of Princess Florence Handbags — princessflorence.ca

“As a minimum, you should take your new product to consumers you would target and find out if they value your product and if it solves a problem for them. If your new product doesn’t solve a problem, it doesn’t have a market.”— Kevin MacDonald, business consultant at L6S Business Consulting Inc. — L6SBC.ca

“It’s important to get data from a variety of sources, which means you may have to ask the question differently to each group. Find out if there is a market need, who your competitors are, what the price point is, how can you differentiate, what the risks are, etc. Getting a wide variety of groups to participate in the research will give you credible and unbiased data.”— Ashif Mawji, CEO of NPO Zero — npozero.com

“There is never a good time to fly blind when developing new products. Do as much research as you possibly can. Even if you spend a little too much time researching, it’s far cheaper than having the product fail or, worse, causing your clients damage.”— Deirdre StLuke, corporate storyteller

“Product research will never yield a 100-per-cent level of confidence, so I have used 75-per-cent confidence as my threshold so I don’t get paralysis, but still move quickly and confidently to market. If the research is real, not family members/friends and reflects your target market, a couple of targeted interviews, statistically relevant surveys and a couple of prototype tests should provide the project a Go or No Go. The rest is in the launch.”— Darryl Moore, vice-president of marketing and communications at Executrade Consultants Ltd. — executrade.com

“There is a famous parable in the book Art and Fear that goes like this: ‘The ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio would be graded solely on the quantity of work they produced, and all those on the right solely on its quality … Come grading time, and a curious fact emerged: the works of highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity. It seems that while the quantity group was busily churning out piles of work and learning from their mistakes, the quality group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay.’ ”— Laura M. Schuler, general counsel at Schuler Law Group

“It depends on the cost and the risk involved. Many of us create relatively low-cost products and products that probably won’t damage our reputation if they don’t do well. If this is true for you, then avoid getting caught in research paralysis. Figure out costs and get a basic idea of how customers might respond, then push the product out. Your best research on these low-cost, low-risk products will be done in the marketplace.”— Lauren Sergy, founder of Up Front Communication — laurensergy.com

“In a perfect world we could take unlimited time to develop perfect products, but in the real world, we should try to develop quality products and recognize that sometimes the best development is done by testing your products in a revenue-generating transaction. Once you’re up and running, you should consider your cash flow when deciding how much development work to undertake. Too many resources devoted to development will take away from the resources required to generate immediate cash flow, and too little will hinder future cash flow when your competitor’s technology passes you by.”— Josh Spurrell, founder of Josh Spurrell Prof. Corp. — spurrell.ca

“Do enough research to get an answer you can work with to identify what actions to take and with whom, what you do not know, and where to go next. Less is inadequate, more is a waste of energy and precious time.”— Patricia Lambert, producer of Red Shoe Savvy

“Proper market research is absolutely critical when developing a new product. Going with your gut can provide you some direction, but adding research can give your business the map from Point A to Point B.”— Mark Boulter, president of Mark Harding Consulting Group — markhardinggroup.ca

“I suggest doing as much research as possible until you feel confident that there is a market for the product or service you are developing. There is always a risk involved in being an entrepreneur, but doing your research will reduce this risk and increase your chances of being successful.”— Keltie Brisson, co-owner of Rehab and Retreat — rehabandretreat.com

“Before we released our digital building operation and maintenance solution, CDML Converge, to the marketplace, we conducted extensive market research to identify if there was a need and also an appetite to improve the handover of building information assets and bring the property industry into the digital age.”— David Green, director of CDML Converge — convrg.ca

“You should do lots of research. You want to know that your product will sell, otherwise why put in the effort to develop something new? Check the competition and see how you compare. It’s definitely worth your time and money to make the time and do this homework.”— Gail Hall, owner and chef at Seasoned Solutions — seasonedsolutions.ca

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Entrepreneurs discuss what goes into expanding their offerings

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How much research should you do when developing new products?

CAPITAL QUESTION:

These answers are in response to a question posed by Wellington Holbrook, executive vice-president of ATB Business. Here’s his take:“How much research? That’s a very tricky question because the truth is, it depends. The textbook answer is that you should understand the customer well, their demographics, their behaviours, their wants, etc. Some of this information is available through various sources, but much you will need to create through your own data-gathering. From there, a product might be born. Practically speaking, there is more to this equation. I have come to know literally thousands of business owners over the years, and many of the most successful mix the research with their gut and use their instincts to know when to press go on a new product.”

The more you know, the more likely you are to succeed. That’s what motivates the people be-hind AccelerateAB, the annual celebration of technology startups in Alberta. Capital Ideas is motivated by that, too, which is why we invited The A100, which co-produces the conference, to ask this week’s question:

What’s the most effective way for an entrepreneur to find a mentor?

You can answer the question in two ways:• Open today’s Capital Ideas email if you’re a member, or• Visit capitalideasedmonton.comWe’ll publish the best answers, along with your busi-

ness name and website address, on March 18.AccelerateAB, produced by the A100, the C100 and

local community partners, brings together 450+ of the most innovative entrepreneurs and leaders from across the province and Silicon Valley. It takes place in Calgary on April 29. For details and to sign up, visit accelerateab.com.

COMMUNITY QUESTION:

What’s the most effective way for an entrepreneur to find a mentor?