Learn to Make Your Goods and Services Better

To succeed in business you need more than just a product or service to sell.

Some people succeed through luck, but more will always succeed because they have developed their product to be better and more appealing than their competition. 

COURSE CONTENT

This course has nine lessons as follows:

1. NATURE AND SCOPE OF PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
What type of product is it?
Who is your customer?
The development process
Research and development
Product planning
Prototypes and testing 
Pre-production phase 
Commercial release 
Product lifecycle 
Importance of customer in product design
What research should be done
Case study

2. VIABILITY ASSESSMENT
Product concept analysis 
Supply and demand 
Product validation 
Competitor analysis
Product differentiation 
SWOT analysis
Case Study - Developing a drinks menu

3. DEFINING THE PRODUCT AND THE PRODUCTION PROCESS
Generating ideas 
Brainstorming 
Product planning 
Production and plant equipment 
Sourcing raw materials and components 
Staffing requirements 
Getting others involved in product planning 
Product planning for lone wolves 
Product roadmap 
Outsourcing 
Focussing on suppliers when developing products
Case study - Disability Aids

4. PRODUCT LEARNABILITY
Learnability factors 
Important considerations 
Learnability for the right audience 
Children and learnability 
Evaluating learnability 
Testing learnability 
Review what you have been learning 

5. COSTING 
Cost of development 
Cost of packaging design 
Cost of certifications 
Cost of manufacture 
Marketing costs 
Product delivery 
Product pricing 
Pricing strategies 
 
6. PRESENTATION AND PACKAGING 
Packaging design 
Packaging supply 
Spending time on packaging design
Competitor analysis
Research
Understanding your customer

7. TESTING THE PRODUCT
Useability
Reliability
Process of testing
Rapid prototyping 
Ongoing market research 
Role of competitor analysis
Case study: a hospitality business

8. PRODUCT LIFECYCLE 
Development and introduction 
Growth phase 
Maturity phase 
Decline phase 
Rebirth 

9. FUTURE PLANNING AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS 
Success metrics 
Product evolution 
Predictive product development 
Considerations on product marketing 
Online marketing 
Social media 
Search engine optimisation 
Direct marketing via email 
Advantages and disadvantages of being first to market 
Protecting your product 
Case study - a gift shop 
Final assessment 

Course Duration - 20 hours of self paced study

Certificate of Completion awarded on successfully passing a final online assessment

Learn to develop products better.

Don't depend on just luck for business success. Success improves when products are developed properly to be better and more appealing than the competition. 

Know how to evaluate and improve products and services, test a prototype, make improvements, and make better financial, marketing and management decisions.