Every product or service has a purpose. One of the reasons why customers buy a product or service is because of its benefits. Either it solves their problem or meet their needs. Features can also be a valuable factor but only if it can provide benefits. By highlighting your product benefits and features,  you can […]

Goals are achieved through effort. Each of us have our own goals in life. But who among us have thought about writing them down? Analysts tracked down that 90% of us never set goals. Of the 10% who really do, only about 3% have really thought of writing them down. Believe it or not, but

Use Creativity To Explore Opportunities As long as consumers have problems, they will always search for solutions. They will consistently search for better, quicker and more intelligent approaches to achieve everyday tasks. Fortunately for entrepreneurs, there are still plenty of room for upgrades in existing products. The greatest challenge for most innovators however, is tracking down

Are you struggling with what to prioritize in your business (or life)? With a thousand things any one of us can do in any given moment, how do you prioritize what to do next? Being able to set priorities is the key to getting organized and making the most of your time.  Just like when you

If you want to start a new business, you’ll need to devote some time to refining your idea. Becoming able to work on something that interests you and that you are enthusiastic about is one of the most appealing aspects of being an entrepreneur. Unfortunately, this enthusiasm does not necessarily equate to success. To be

When you’re starting your own business, there’s no guarantee that it is going to survive, especially in today’s fast-paced business world. Nearly half of all small businesses fail within the first two years of operation. There can only be two reasons for business failure: first is inadequate planning and secondly, under-capitalization. So before you go

New products, whether or not they take the shape of new applications, new innovations, or entirely new goods, are critical factors to the success of a business. The concept of new product development process is to provide new value to the customer.  It’s what keeps the company growing.  Your business needs to engage in the

Terms like Lean, Six Sigma, and Continuous Improvement have become normal everyday jargon in the world of manufacturing, but yet they remain far less adopted in the world of product development. Is this because of a lack of understanding? Or perhaps a lack of focus on new product development? Or maybe just a reality of

Mental Habits Lead To Innovation Some of the greatest inventions came out of problems and challenges the inventors were having in their lives. These investors decided to focus on the solution instead of giving all their energy and thought to the problem. Dr. Scholl’s foot medications for example would not have been around if people

Opportunity counts for so much in the business world. Strong entrepreneurs aren’t afraid to look for openings in the market which means actively looking and going after ideas that can be turned into opportunities. But how do you find new opportunities to take your business to new markets and growth levels? Well, everything can be considered

What’s up, Innovators? One question that I constantly get from people that I talked to is — “What is your expertise?” When I say Product Development, people would just say “okay” and then ask more about “what industry, what market and what product types”. Well, this is what differentiates us because product development is not

Welcome back, Innovators! This week, we will deep dive into the topic of starting on your Product Specification. Also called Product Specs, it is  a document with a set of requirements that provides product teams the information they need to build out new features or functionality. How To Begin: Find Out What Your Competition Is

What’s up Innovators? Today, we’ll take a deep dive into one of the first and most important step in the Product Development which is the Identify Stage. What does it really mean to identify? Again, we are using a very simple framework at Hill Innovative Solutions. It has an acronym I-D-E-A: Minimizing The Risks We

Today, I want to talk about something that is actually near and dear to my heart. And this is something that I had heard off and on throughout my career. I’ve heard it off and on throughout my life but never knew a lot about and nor really partaking in, until about a year ago.

Follow along as I breakdown the process of New Product Development. An overview of the process that Big Rocks Engineering uses in our everyday execution of projects. Speaker: Mike Hill Full Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAEA54iBFCM&t=6s Hill Innovative Solutions, now Big Rocks Engineering is a new product development company where we work with inventors, entrepreneurs and small business

The ‘power of innovation’ is a phrase that sounds like a corporate tactic or slogan, a secret talent worthy of only the rich and powerful. Actually, the power of innovation is an innate quality that we all possess. If you tend to marvel at the creativity of others, you may be surprised that you can create and

Everyone wants the next best idea. The organization that fails to continually innovate new products and services will not survive long. But not all innovations produce commercial success. A new business idea must offer customers exceptional utility at an attractive price, while delivering a tidy profit. According to Peter Drucker (Harvard Business Review, 2002), most innovative business ideas emanate from

Every money making opportunity that you see boils down to one common thing: idea. And as we are all aware of, the best and most inventive ideas pay. What is even good about ideas is — it’s free! Anyone can come up with ideas. But to be inventive and creative, you need to have the

Having a competitive advantage over other businesses targeting the same market as yours is a basic, survival must: many choose to develop long-term relationships with their customers, in an attempt to create such competitive advantage. Knowing your customers is crucial, and it is quite a different thing from knowing their buying behavior. It is every