In the first half of this series of articles encouraging engineers to become entrepreneurs, I concentrated on such basics as developing a business plan, forming a team, and finding startup money. This article deals with the critical step of developing and shipping your first product. Successful product development requires identifying a product people want to buy, designing it, devising an efficient manufacturing process, then producing it. Your ultimate goals are to make better products for the customer and more profits for your company. People make it work.
Miracles can happen if capable people are excited about their work.
All we have to do is provide a supportive work environment and adequate resources. In this article, I emphasize people and organizational strategies as much as productivity tools and methodologies. Identifying the right product Most engineers don't start companies because they can't seem to identify the right product. They're accustomed to thinking of product opportunities that are right for the companies they work for, and these ideas are usually too complicated for a small company to tackle. So you ought to begin with simple products you can complete and introduce quickly.