Hey, everyone. In this video, I'd like to give you an overview of my planning process when I make a product. It's made up of a lot of different planning stages. But I want to break it down so that you can get an understanding of where to start. When you're looking to create something unique and customized, you probably can't find the exact product on sites like Alibaba. The key to making a custom product is to break it down into its most basic form.
Say, for instance, I want to create a new brand of vacuum-insulated water bottles like the popular brand Hydro Flask, but my unique angle is that the bottle will keep water cool for longer than 36 hours, doesn't build up condensation on the bottom, and has a rubber grip, and comes in unique colors that other brands don't have. So the first step is to find the closest thing to what I'm trying to make. Chances are, the product that you have in mind isn't something that is commonly out there, because otherwise, your unique value proposition for this product will be weak.
The key is to strip this product down to its core. And for the product that you have in mind, its most basic form is a thermal insulated bottle. So our first approach is to find our supplier that will be able to manufacture something that's already making thermal insulated bottles. The reason behind this is that factories in China typically specialize in one niche, whether it is glassware, electronics, camera chips, or drinking bottles.
These factories are able to customize their core offerings to the specifications that you want with just a few tweaks to their existing products rather than trying to create something from scratch. Next, you'll want to visualize what your end product will look like. Think of your product like seeing it in a commercial in different angles, colors, and all the different ways that people will be using your product. During this process, it's key to think about whether the new features that you add in will elevate or depress the user experience.
Once this checks out, it's time to sketch the product on paper or digitally. On the same sheet, list out the features, and note down why each feature is there. Sometimes as creators we get too excited about our own products that we don't stop to think about why we're making it. So make sure that you note down the why when you think about adding the special features to your product. Sometimes, less is more.
When people think of products, they only thing about it as a singular object. In reality, all the products are made up of individual components that come together as one object. For instance, a pair of shoes is made up of the shoe laces, the leather exterior, the rubber sides, the soles, and more. Every product that you can think of is made up of a different piece that could be customized. We can change the size of the laces, the types of leather, and the color of the shoes.
Once you figure out all the different components that make up your product, it will be so much easier to think about how you can make this product truly unique to your brand.