For Subscribers

Want Some of This? A good product is nothing without a customer who wants to buy it.

By Don Debelak

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Last year, 32,025 new domestic products wereintroduced-more than twice the amount in 1991, according toresearch from Market Intelligence Service. The sheer volume of newproducts coming out creates problems for inventors; retailers andcustomers can only buy so much. But this obstacle is notinsurmountable, as evidenced by the many inventors who succeed allthe time.

The secret to raising your odds of success is to carefullyresearch your market ahead of time to determine whether potentialcustomers are really interested in spending their hard-earneddollars on your product. The right strategy requires three keysteps, each of which can be done inexpensively: 1) find out aboutsimilar products that already exist on the market; 2) ask userswhether they see the same problems you do with current productsavailable; and 3) get real-life input from actual users willing totry out prototypes or models of your product. Neglect any one ofthese steps, and you're looking at a challenging roadahead.

Research Rules

Thorough research helped Stephanie Kellar, 45, successfullylaunch her innovative eyelash curler, which features a new take onan old design dating back to 1928. She got inspired after literallypinching her face with the casing (the part that allows the metalparts to curl the lashes) on a traditional model.

With dreams of inventing a better eyelash curler, Kellar set outin 1995 to make two specific improvements: 1) move the casing awayfrom the face so it's not a pinch hazard; and 2) design alarger, rounder curling surface that minimizes the possibility ofover-curling lashes. That same year, she launched her ChestnutHill, Massachusetts, business, Corionne Consulting Co. Inc.

Kellar decided to start by finding out whether other potentialusers had the same complaints about eyelash curlers she did. Sheused a Usenet newsgroup called alt.fashion to gather information.According to Kellar, "I didn't want to tell people exactlywhat I was doing, so I would pose questions on the Usenet like,'Has anyone had problems pinching their face with an eyelashcurler?' " Over a few months, by continually posingquestions on the Usenet, Kellar was able to get input from morethan 100 people. The overall consensus was that the eyelash curlerscurrently on the market clearly had problems. Kellar was sure thiswas her great opportunity.

Next, Kellar decided to make a pilot run of products so shecould ensure the product was just right. "The biggest errorpeople make is to put a product on the market before it'sready," she explains. So in 1996, Kellar produced a small runof eyelash curlers and gave test units to about 50 of the users shehad met through the Usenet to see if they felt the product actuallydelivered the results Kellar promised. The product testerssuggested a few adjustments, which she made.

With close to 5 million eyelash curlers purchased every year,Kellar was confident her new and improved eyelash curler would havean adequate user base. She visited Boston Public Library'sPatent Depository section to research past patents on eyelashcurlers. (You can also do an online search at www.uspto.gov.) "Iwanted to do the patent research myself so I could see all theimprovements people had proposed, just as much as I wanted to seeif anyone had already patented my idea," Kellar says. Afterfinding that other inventors hadn't really pursued her approachto the problem before, Kellar decided to apply for a patent, whichwas eventually granted in 1999.

As her experience suggests, Kellar's research paid off. Shelaunched her innovative eyelash curler-the Lashpro, whichretails for $19-in 2000 and reached $100,000 in sales in 2001selling primarily to high-end retailers like Henri Bendel andNordstrom. Today, 50 stores carry Kellar's product, and shehopes to double the number of high-end outlets by the end of theyear. Kellar is also approaching mass-merchant accounts and beautysupply shops and hopes to land a major account by the end of theyear. Not bad for an innovation based on a product first patentedmore than 60 years ago.

SMART AS A POST
Entrepreneur StephanieKellar used a fashion-related newsgroup on the Usenet not only toconduct initial research, but also to find people willing to testout an early version of her innovative eyelash curler. The Usenet,an online bulletin board system that lets users post what they haveto say in ongoing discussions about specific topics, is a greatmarket research tool if you can find a newsgroup that fits yourproduct category. To access Google's extensive Usenetdirectory, log on to www.google.com and enter"Usenet" as a search term. Another site that you can useto find the right newsgroup is www.ii.com/internet/messaging/newsgroups;click here to search through 18,000 newsgroups.

Getting Results

Despite what you might think, success is not based on how muchpeople like your product. Instead, according to Shelia Mello, amarket research expert in Boston, "The crux of the problem ishow strongly people feel about solving their problem." ToMello, the most important point to learn is what percentage ofpotential users feel the new product is essential rather than justnice to have. "The classification of how much someone likessomething is not really relevant," Mello explains. "It isa matter of how much they value solving the problem, so that theywill spend money to get it solved or spend money to switch how theysolve it."

In Kellar's case, she knew from her research that 25 percentof mascara users use eyelash curlers. When she was using thealt.fashion Usenet, she concentrated on how anxious people were toswitch to a new product. She was trying to answer the same questionMello recommends asking: "Is there a significant number ofpeople motivated to buy your product?"

Inventors often get so caught up with their ideas, whichthey've often worked on for years, that they start to believethey're true experts. This is a big mistake, as inventorsusually don't have the same buying motivation as mostconsumers. So if you want to make sure you're spending yourmoney and time wisely, take time to find out what potential buyersthink of your idea. That small step will stop you from makingcostly mistakes, and it will give you the best shot at successfullyintroducing the best possible product.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
  • Customer-Centric Product Definition:The Key to Great Product Development (Amacon Books) by Shelia Melloexplains the ins and outs of how to find out what customers wantand then give it to them. Although the book draws on marketresearch techniques from experts at MIT and the University ofChicago as well as experiences at large companies, its advice willhelp inventors and growing businesses produce the rightproduct.
  • The Market Research Tool Box: AConcise Guide for Beginners (Sage Publications) by Edward F.McQuarrie, a great resource for both inventors and new marketers,explains the differences between various research phases such asmarket assessment, final go or no-go decisions, and how toformulate a research plan and assess the results for eachphase.
  • Small Biz 911 (www.ndsu.nodak.edu/smallbiz911/main) is auseful site that explains the main steps inventors need to take toget their product to market. Areas covered include idea evaluation,idea assessment, product design based on market research and earlystages of product development.

Don Debelak is a new-business marketing consultant and authorof Think Big: Make Millions From Your Ideas. Send him yourquestions at dondebelak34@msn.com.

Contact Sources

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Business Ideas

70 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2025

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2025.

Science & Technology

Build a Profitable One-Person Business That Runs Itself — with These 7 AI Tools

Discover seven tools to automate content, leads and sales so you scale solo.

Business News

Investment Firm CEO Tells Thousands in Conference Audience That 60% of Them Will Be 'Looking for Work' Next Year

There were over 5,500 people at SuperReturn International 2025, making it the largest private equity event in the world.

Business Solutions

Send Your Productivity Skyrocketing for Only $15 With Windows 11 Pro

Get advanced security and productivity features, plus game-changing AI assistant.

Business News

The Fastest-Growing Startup Ever Just Surpassed $500 Million in Annual Revenue. Here's Why It Keeps Growing, According to Its CEO.

Anysphere is the startup behind Cursor, a popular AI coding assistant now used by more than half of Fortune 500 companies.