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Step 3: Business Analysis

13 May, 2016 - 13:23

After the various product ideas survive their initial screen, very few viable proposals will remain. Before the development of prototypes can be decided upon, however, a further evaluation will be conducted to gather additional information on these remaining ideas in order to justify the enormous costs required. The focus of the business analysis is primarily on profits, but other considerations such as social responsibilities may also be involved.

The first step in the business analysis is to examine the projected demand. This would include two major sources of revenue: the sales of the product and the sales or license of the technology developed for or generated as a by- product of the given product.

A complete cost appraisal is also necessary as part of the business analysis. It is difficult to anticipate all the costs that will be involved in product development, but the following cost items are typical:

  • expected development cost, including both technical and marketing R&D;
  • expected set-up costs (production, equipment, distribution);
  • operating costs that account for possible economies of scale and learning curves;
  • marketing costs, especially promotion and distribution;
  • and management cost.