When starting a small business or bringing a product to market, these techniques can dramatically impact success
For those starting or running a small business, product development can be intimidating - it is often the defining factor determining whether the company is successful or not. Though there is no one path to successful product development, a number of characteristics can help, reported the McKinsey Quarterly.
In a survey of companies across North America and Europe, the Quarterly found that three characteristics of best product development practices emerged: a focused, clear sense of project goals from the beginning, the nurturing of a strong project culture in the company, and the maintenance of close communications with customers during the process.
These techniques are nothing to scoff at - the study found that companies who pursued these three business tools were 17 times more likely to finish projects on time, five times more likely to stay on budget, and twice as likely to meet return-on-investment goals.
Specifically, these companies planned their goals well in advance and clearly defined what they wanted. This includes choosing the right employees for the project - nearly half of best-performing companies researched employees' skill sets before the project kick-off.
"The teams with a clear understanding of project requirements appeared better able to make trade-offs between product performance and things like cost, time to market, and project risk," the report added.
To nurture a strong project culture, the top performing companies prioritized their project development over other aspects of the company's operations. For example, 39 percent of high-performing companies - versus 12 percent of low-performing companies - made an effort to staff projects adequately and to minimize staffing disruptions due to external demands.
Similarly, two-thirds of top performers said their project development team members focused more on the project than on their own typical job function when those interests competed, compared to 39 percent of poor performers.
Finally, there is no use for timely product development if the finished product is not met with sufficient customer demand. Therefore, the top performers ensured that throughout the product development process, they continually validated that they were on track with their audience.
Specifically, more than 80 percent of high-performing companies periodically tested and validated customer preferences during the project, compared with 43 percent of low-performing companies.
One final step of successful product development has been demonstrated by the recent news of Canadian small businesses Groovle and i4i, which both defeated technology giants - Google and Microsoft, respectively - in court in intellectual property cases. Businesses should therefore ensure that they patent or copyright their products accordingly, to protect their hard work.
