Marketing eSeminar 

Guest lecturer: *Mr Opeyemi Ogungbire (B.Pharm, M.Sc)

Module 2:  Turning Your Ideas into Products and Services 

Let's start by asking, "What is an idea? Why is it important? Are ideas enough? How do these ideas become products and services?

* An idea is "a mental image that reflects reality". 
* It is a concept existing in the mind. 
* It is a thought about a future possibility or event.
* It can also be said to be a brief outline or summary of a plan or project.

Why ideas are important? 
- Ideas are the basis of progress, no ideas, no progress, no profit, no better life. - - All that we see around us were ideas before becoming tangible and physical. 
- Ideas will help you do old things in new ways. 

IDEAS RULE THE WORLD. 

* Ideas are not enough. Ideas are useless if not properly executed and implemented. 
* Please note, ideas don't have a permanent home, they go to wherever they will be used. They don't stay with just one person. Whatever your ideas, someone, somewhere has a similar idea. So prompt execution is key.

What makes a business idea promising? 

Your ideas should:

Fill a need or solve a problem. 
Look around you for a problem to solve, that might be your gold mine, your secret to wealth. 
Be Innovative. 
Find a new and creative way of doing things. Be uncommon. 
Be Unique. 
Let your ideas be special, different from those around you.
Be Clear. 

Your ideas must be easily understood. You need to be distinct, sharp and focused with your ideas. There must be no confusion.
Be profitable in the long-term. Ensure your ideas are not just for short term profits alone. Think sustainability. Think expansion. Think growth.

How do I Turn my Ideas into Products and Services? 

The following steps will be helpful:

Write it down: Put your vision and strategy on paper. What exactly do you want.

Share your ideas only with trusted mentors and friends: Look for people who have gone through the same path. Be selective in choosing who to share your ideas with.

Define the problem your idea will solve: Ask yourself, what problem is my idea going to solve, what need will it satisfy?

Understand your market: Define your target customers by age, gender, location, income level, peculiarities etc. It is important to be clear on who your customers are, so you don't waste time, energy and resources on the wrong people. 

Develop a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and test for Customer acceptance: Design a model of your product and take it out to sell to some of your potential customers, to test if they would pay for it. For a service business, offer a  small part of the service you want to provide, to see if they will pay for it.

Get Feedback: Use your MVP and the test period to get feedback from your potential customers, make adjustments and corrections where necessary. Remember the customer is king

Develop your product or service: Use the information from the feedback to make your product better. Package and brand your product in a unique way
Get to Market with your product or service: Launch your product into the market. Extensively and aggressively promote your product or services to your target customers.

Wishing you the very best in your businesses 😊
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*Mr Opeyemi Ogungbire has extensive work experience in sales and marketing and has worked in couple of international organizations in that capacity.

Excerpts from DHIO's eSeminar series, EARnpreneurs project.

The EARnpreneurs or Project EARn is DHIO's project that addresses Empowerment, Acquisition of skills and Resource linking for deaf entrepreneurs. 

To join DHIO's EARnpreneurs, you must be deaf  and already an entrepreneur or aspiring to be one;

Must NOT be younger than 18 years old. 

To apply, please send your CV or a short biography (note) about yourself to: earnpreneurs@gmail.com