Product feasibility is really important at D2M

At D2M we are passionate about helping you to develop your idea into a profitable product. Assessing the feasibility of an idea from the early stages helps to provide a sense check on the project and whether it will be successful. Our team are here to ensure that through thorough research, design and employing our network of expert external suppliers, we can minimise your risk and maximise your chance of success.

What is a Feasibility Assessment?

A feasibility study/assessment is research into existing technologies, costings, patentable elements and likely overall manufacturing and shipping costs.  It is important to get answers to these questions as early in the development process as possible assess the project feasibility and propose a sensible route forward.  The answers to these questions will ensure that your financial investment is minimised Having this information informs the design process and results in a more viable product. 

How will a commercial viability report help me get investment?

It is often the case that a start-up has the funds to get a product to the point where it is ready for manufacture, but investment is usually needed in order to put the product into production.  A robust commercial feasibility report will reassure potential investors in the project that their invested funds will reap reward! On the other hand, it might let everyone know that, in it’s current form, the product isn’t viable. This doesn’t always mean the end of the road.  It might mean a redesign is required to reduce tooling costs or it may be that a different material needs to be used to keep the unit cost lower.  Sometimes it’s a simple as changing the packaging so that more units will fit in a container and thereby reducing the shipping costs.  In a nutshell, the costs involved in manufacture, packaging, shipping and duty fees need to add up to less than the cost of the product once it’s on the shelf to make economic sense. 

Feasibility assessments are also great for Crowdfunding campaigns. When creating your live fundraising campaign on Kickstarter, a commercial viability assessment gives you the facts you need to be able to get your pricing structure right on Kickstarter and run a successful campaign.  One of our clients has a live crowdfunding campaign running right now! Check it our here: Can Off.  D2M and our agent in Hong Kong have worked alongside the client to develop a commercially viable product that has required some redesigns along the way in order to keep the production costs feasible.  We’re hopeful that we will get to see Can Off going into production soon!

Why is commercial viability important for businesses?

As a business looking to develop new or existing products, it is of course vital that the commercial feasibility is assessed to ensure that the project is viable before investing hard-won profits into the production process. Commercial feasibility analysis is a key step in ensuring a business can budget for all the costs involved and that have the funds available to get the product onto the shelf.  Much like the start-up, if a business require investment in order to generate the required funds, investors will want to know the answers to the questions that a feasibility assessment will provide.

Increase Your Chances of Success

All idea development is inherently risky but at D2M we use our extensive experience to develop a bespoke idea development plan for your project that seeks to minimise the risk whilst analysing the project from a commercial perspective. This hugely increases your chances of success with your project.

At D2M, we offer specific stages of work within your overall project plan that clarify the best route forward and highlight areas of concern in:

• market positioning
• messaging
• route to market
• regulations and compliance
• production costs and sourcing

We use the results of these stages to inform decision making. This is always communicated in an honest and transparent way with our clients, so you are in control of your project’s direction and fully informed as to the level of risk you’re taking. This includes advising if we believe that stopping the project is necessary as it is likely to not be viable for any reason.

If you would like to find out if you have a commercially viable product, please do get in touch. 

Call us today on 01242 787996 we are open Monday – Friday 9am – 5pm.

Or drop us an email to [email protected] We endeavour to answer all enquiries within 24 hours on business days.