This article introduces our concept of the ‘Commercialisation Bridge’ from Patents to Profits. This illustrates five key elements for starting a successful technology business:
- Customers – Who will be interested in your product?
- Needs – Why will they want to buy from you?
- Benefits – How will your product fulfil your customers’ needs?
- Features – Which product features will deliver these benefits?
- Product Value – How will your design match customer needs with product benefits?
It’s easy to talk about potential markets for our product, but it’s far better to talk to prospective customers. Discovering their ‘Jobs To Be Done’ is key to knowing where your product might fit in. Once we’ve defined their needs, we can assess if these reflect a larger market opportunity.
Before designing a product, we should consider the benefits it could deliver to our customers. The features which enable these benefits are the most important to develop. Our patents’ job is to protect the features which add the most value to our customers.
Finally, our product is the keystone of the Commercialisation Bridge. This must balance our ‘Commercial Pull’ with the ‘Technical Push’. Matching our customer’s needs with our product’s benefits is the best way to turn Patents into Profits!
Please get in touch if you’d like help with identifying and explaining how your product can meet customers’ needs!