The Value of a Product is in the Execution

I like doing research and inventing new products is fun. But the job of actually commercializing them is, …well… work. It’s a reality I think most people don’t realize. In fact I can’t tell you how many people I’ve met who think the idea alone is worth the lion’s share of the profit. T’aint true.

Without the knowledge to actually take a vague concept and make it real, the idea is essentially worthless. And more importantly the financial rewards follow the financial risk. And it is a lot of work to actually bring a product to market. Very few ideas start a stampede of marketers and investors.

This is all very real to me as I am now starting to get the first orders for the new forensic products launched last week. John pointed out that we’ve been working on this launch for more or less two years.

Granted we were not doing it full time. We both have had to support ourselves. And we’ve both been working on multiple products. In fact, I’m involved in the launch of thirty-one products this summer. That’s everything from product design, to setting up production, to strategizing marketing and arranging product fulfillment. And this has been while working on six pieces of raw research and running my regular consulting practice.

But all of this brings me up to sales, the piece I enjoy the least. But when I look at everything that has gone into these first sales, I have to say, the “Idea” may have been a good one, but it’s the execution that adds the value.

Until Later
Charles