Cracking the Money Market

Investors are interested in profit potential (the chance to make money). So, you’ll have to convince them there’s a market for your innovation. If you’ve ever watched the TV programme Dragon’s Den^®, you’ll see how reluctant investors are to part with their money, so be prepared.

The price of your product

Finding investment may be some way off, but you should still keep an eye on the figures. For example, if your innovation were to make it as a product, how much should you charge for it?

Pricing is a delicate balance of making a sale (making the price attractive enough) and making a profit (earning enough money through sales).

Luckily, the competition will have done the ‘research’ for you. Between them, they will be charging a range of prices for their competing products and your price should be somewhere in the same range. So take a look.

A word of warning

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that your innovation will succeed simply because it’s the best.

If a big competitor is able to spend thousands of pounds promoting an inferior product they will be able to grab a big fat share of the market before your better innovation makes it out of the shed. And once people are in the habit of buying a certain product, it’s hard (and expensive) to change their minds. So be aware; business is tough.

A word of encouragement

The whole money side of things may seem scary now, but don’t give up on your ambition. Approach each problem and challenge step-by-step and somewhere down the line your great ideas may be recognised – and rewarded.

So keep going. And good luck.