Posts Tagged ‘Invention’

NewsDay:

Small businesses are always looking for ways to innovate and bring new products to market that can help expand their reach and boost sales.

But expansion of any kind in a down economy is risky, so if you’re looking to add new products, you need to make sure you’re not overextending or undercutting your core brand or resources.

“You want to make sure that whatever you’re doing to expand on your core product line doesn’t contradict it or hurt it in some way,” says Ed Geiselhart, director of product development and planning at Insight Product Development in Chicago.

New product lines, particularly product enhancements, can cannibalize sales of existing products and divert valuable resources into products that may or may not reap any return, he notes.

On the other hand, your existing product line may be past its prime and a product extension may be just what your company needs to boost profits.

In any event, you won’t be able to assess whether a new product line makes sense without doing careful market research, notes Ken Morrelly, president of the Long Island Forum for Technology in Bay Shore, which assists local manufacturers in their growth and development.

“You need a good understanding of the market,” he explains. “You need to assess your strengths and take a look at cost and viability.”

Continue Reading: “Do The Homework On New Products”

Photo by erkinsahin .

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

The Press-Enterprise:

Even if Trevor Schultz weren’t the inventor of the Swing Heeler, he’d likely be a fan.

And he certainly would’ve tried the product that looks like a sci-fi cross between a spatula and a bee stinger and is designed to provide golfers weight resistance on their hind leg, so they stay planted and produce more power during their swings.

“I have tried just about everything,” said Schultz, who played at UC Riverside. “So I guess that would be a reason why I’ve come to the conclusion about the lower body being so important. The fact that I’ve done just about everything is why I’ve really honed in on what’s really important with the proper golf swing: If the lower body works properly, the rest follows along.”

“He was going through a tough time, trying to figure out what he wanted to do with his life,” friend Paul Rothchild, who helped develop the Swing Heeler, said by phone. “We were brainstorming, and he showed me this idea he had, and I said, ‘Well, this is something tangible, this is something you could really make a go of.’ ”

Schultz and Rothchild, who as a prosthetist makes a living developing prosthetics, hunkered down in Rothchild’s Pasadena garage to build one crude prototype after another. Eventually, they brought a model to another prosthetist, Kevin Mohlman. A golfer and biomechanics expert, Mohlman developed the final prototype for the Swing Heeler that Schultz is busy exhibiting at free demos at courses and ranges around the Inland area.

Photo by Swing Heeler.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.

Inventors Digest:

When you walk into Joe Casale’s design studio, one of the first things you notice is a bulletin board filled with sketches.

“When I get an idea for a new product, I do a concept sketch and post it on my bulletin board,” he says, “so I can think about it and let it stew.”

A consummate problem solver, Casale recalls one holiday several years ago when his parents, siblings and their families gathered at his home.

“We all love to cook,” he says, “and we were in the kitchen preparing a big meal. As I watched my brother chop vegetables, I thought there should be a way to get skins and peelings out of the way of the vegetables. The idea stuck with me.”

A few days later, still thinking about the problem, he drew up a cutting board concept that featured hideaway measuring trays, and posted it on the bulletin board. Intrigued by the possibilities, he did some preliminary market research at kitchen stores.

In late 2005, Casale learned about a casting call for a new TV show, “Everyday Edisons.” The Charlotte-produced PBS series chronicles the development of new products and the stories of their mom-and-pop inventors. He had missed the local tryouts. But one was coming up in Nashville, Tenn.

Casale’s cutting board made the final cut, and it was one of 14 inventions featured on the first season of “Everyday Edisons.”

“It was the easiest concept I’ve ever licensed,” he laughs. “I didn’t have to present it to anyone else, and I didn’t have to do any redesigns. They did everything: patent work, engineering, prototypes, market research, packaging.

I felt comfortable working with them because they were affiliated with PBS, and they required many documents that had to be submitted in order to be able to present your idea.”

Photo by KokuBoard.

From Business Opportunities Weblog.