
From Product Idea to a Thriving Business
By Marie-Louise Anthonissen
In each episode you’ll get tips for practical templates, step-by-step action plans, and mitigation tactics to overcome the hiccups you encounter when developing new products. You can apply what you learn immediately in your daily business.

From Product Idea to a Thriving Business Oct 01, 2023

When is the Best Time to Invest in Product Samples for Your New Product Idea?
Hello and welcome to a new episode of my show and today I would like to talk to you about when the best time is for you to create samples of your new product idea.
And I've learned in the past 20 years in my roles as a project manager and product manager in new product development projects, that when you decide to spend money too soon in creating product samples, you often throw away that money immediately.
Let's spill the tea on how to avoid this and stay within your development budget. Listen now!
To help you get started in adding efficiency to you business, I have created a FREE Excel Adjustable product development template for you.
You can download it for free here!

Best Practises to Run New Product Development Projects in Small Product-based Businesses?
I'm so happy you're here!
If you are working on a new product idea, you want to make sure that you deliver the correct product on time at the right price to your customer. Taking into account the travel from the manufacturer to the warehouse to your customer. There are a lot of moving parts and a lot of things that need to be taken care of.
Some tips I'm going to share with you today is how I'm managing the development of new products myself when I work for corporate companies. And they can be translate to a smaller product-based businesses as well in a much leaner way.
Follow the same principles and the same way of working but make it practical and easy to do.
I also have a free template for you to get you started. It's a free Excel adjustable product development planning template for you.
Go ahead, download it for free here! It will save you a lot of time!

Why are Systems and Processes Essential for Small Product-based Businesses?
Hey there, and welcome to a new episode of my show. And today, I'd like to talk to you about why it's important to have systems and processes in place in a new product development when you want to scale or grow your business.
And even if you don't have a product business yet, still, it is still wise to have project and management processes and product development systems in place. It will save you a lot of time during development and your processes are professional from the start of your business. Who doesn't want to do spend less money and waste less time if possible?!
I love to help you get started fast. Download my FREE Adjustable product development planning in Excel on my website
Click here for your free download!

Why planning your new product idea from A to Z will bring in more profit?
For those of you who are doubting whether you should start a physical product-based business, keep listening because I’ve got you. I know that it's sometimes scary to start something new and to invest a lot of money in your new business idea or your new product idea.
Because new product development can be complex and has a lot of moving parts, you should always create a project plan. Because when you have a well-thought-out plan, you feel confident and in control. You have a clear overview of all your resources and all the activities that need to be done from product idea, through specification, development, manufacturing, and launch. And this makes the chance of a successful product launch so much higher. And this is what you're looking for, right?
In addition, it's very important that you use tools and templates that help you really master your new product development, be in control and feel certain that you can do a good job in managing the project team working on your new product.
I love to help you get started fast. Download my FREE Adjustable product development planning in Excel on my website
Click here for your free download!
So here we go!

How to Determine the Sales Price of Your New Product ?
When you want to determine the selling price of your new product, you need to consider the production cost, the competition, and the target market.
There are many factors that influence your final selling price and profitability of your new product.
If you want to have a profitable product you need to carefully calculate the total costs to get from product idea, through, development, manufacturing, shipment and launch.
Let’s dive in how you can determine the selling price of your new product.
If you feel you need some help in implementing a step-by-step process to get from product idea to launch in your product-based business, sign-up for the Product-Based Business Hub.
THE membership for entrepreneurs and product-based business owners where you’ll feel supported when developing your own products.
Think of product development blueprints, project & product strategies, masterclasses, templates and Q&A’s that are waiting for you.
Connect with like-minded souls in the membership community. I’m preparing something great for you! More info is coming your way very soon!
Click here to sign-up now and get inspired soon!

How to Develop and Manufacture Your Own Product?
Are you thinking about manufacturing your own product idea? That’s amazing! There are various ways to do this. Outsourcing the manufacturing to a third party or manufacturing it yourself. White labeling your product or private labeling? It depends on objectives and resources which way is the best one for you. Let’s get into more of the details on how to develop and manufacture your own product.
Developing your own product refers to the process of creating a new product or service from scratch. This involves identifying a need or problem in the market, designing a solution, and then bringing that solution to life through research, development, and testing.
Developing your own product can be a lengthy and challenging process, but it can also be incredibly rewarding if the end result is successful. It requires a combination of creativity, technical skills, business acumen, and perseverance to see a product through from concept to launch.
Tune in to grab all the details and get tips to help you make decisions and get started with a new product idea.
If you feel you need some help in implementing a step-by-step process to get from product idea to launch in your product-based business, sign-up for the Product-Based Business Hub.
THE membership for entrepreneurs and product-based business owners where you’ll feel supported when developing your own products.
Think of product development blueprints, project & product strategies, masterclasses, templates and Q&A’s that are waiting for you.
Connect with like-minded souls in the membership community. I’m preparing something great for you! More info is coming your way very soon!
Click here to sign-up now and get inspired soon!

Why New Product Idea Generation is Important for Product-Based Businesses
Product-based businesses can scale and grow through a variety of strategies. One approach is to expand your product offerings to appeal to a broader customer base.
If you want to expand your offerings as product-based business owner you need to come up with new product ideas. New product idea generation is crucial in this phase for various reasons.
Firstly, it helps you stay competitive and relevant in your market by continuously offering innovative and unique products that meets your customers' changing needs and preferences.
Secondly, it allows you to expand your product line and cater to a larger customer base, which can increase your revenue and profit margins.
Additionally, new product ideas can also help you differentiate from your competitors and establish a distinct brand identity. Therefore, investing in new product idea generation is essential for the long-term success and growth of your product-based business.
Tune in this episode to get more tips and strategies.
STEP-BY-STEP PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PROCESS IMPLEMENTATION
If you feel you need a step-by-step process to implement a product development process in your product-based business, sign-up for the Product-Based Business Hub.
THE membership for entrepreneurs and product-based business owners where you’ll feel supported when developing your own products.
Think of product development blueprints, project & product strategies, masterclasses, templates and Q&A’s that are waiting for you.
Connect with like-minded souls in the membership community. I’m preparing something great for you! More info is coming your way very soon!
Click here to sign-up now and get inspired soon!

How to Set up Your New Product Development Team for Success
Setting your new product development team up for success requires careful planning and execution.
First, you need to establish clear goals and expectations for your team. Whether your team consists of your own staff or external hires or contractors, clarity here is key.
This includes defining the product vision, target market, and desired outcomes. let’s dive into the details on how to set your new product development team up for success.
Do you like to get the show notes of this episode? Click the link below and head over to my blog article with all the nuggets.
https://bureauflo.com/2023/07/03/how-to-set-your-new-product-development-team-up-for-success/

Why You Need Systems To Scale Your Business
Having systems in place is crucial for scaling your product business. Without them, you may face various challenges such as inefficiencies, inconsistencies, and errors. This can hinder your growth.
Systems help automate processes, standardize procedures, and establish clear workflows. They provide structure and organization. And enable you to increase productivity, reduce costs, and improve customer satisfaction.
Additionally, systems allow you to delegate tasks, freeing up your time to focus on strategic initiatives. This is why you need systems to scale your product business.
Ultimately, having systems in place can help you achieve sustainable growth and success in your product business.
Tune in to learn more!
If you like to get the show notes of this episode, head over to my blog for the full article by clicking the link below.
https://bureauflo.com/2023/07/10/why-you-need-systems-to-scale-your-product-business/

What Different Product Samples do You Need toGet from Prototype to Final Product?
The specific product samples required to move from prototype to final product will depend on the type of product being developed.
However, some common samples that may be needed include materials samples to test for durability and quality, prototypes to test for functionality and design, packaging samples to test for protection and presentation, and user testing samples to gather feedback on the product.
It is important to identify the necessary samples early in the development process to ensure a smooth transition to the final product.
Tune into to this episode to learn more!
Free guide for you!
IF YOU WANT TO GET MORE INSIGHT IN THE 10 DECISIONS YOU NEED TO MAKE BEFORE YOU START DEVELOPING YOUR OWN PRODUCT, CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A FREE PDF THAT WILL GUIDE YOU THROUGH THESE 10 STEPS.

What Resources Do You Need to consider in New Product Development
When you are developing a new product, it’s important to consider various resources that can help ensure its success.
Some of the resources to include in new product development include customer insights, market research, product design and development teams, funding, and manufacturing capabilities. It’s also important to consider the availability of raw materials and the potential for intellectual property protection.
By carefully considering these resources, you can increase the likelihood of developing a successful new product.
Tune into this episode to learn more.
FREE GUIDE FOR YOU!
IF YOU WANT TO GET MORE INSIGHT IN THE 10 DECISIONS YOU NEED TO MAKE BEFORE YOU START DEVELOPING YOUR OWN PRODUCT, CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A FREE PDF THAT WILL GUIDE YOU THROUGH THESE 10 STEPS.

How to Organise Your Product-based Business and Run Your Daily Activities Efficiently
When you’ve got a great new product idea in mind and you’re ready to start with the development and manufacturing, there are a few important actions to do first before jumping full in. I like to share 4 tips with you how to organise your product-based business.
You want to make sure you can always find the documents relating to your new product idea quickly. Spending minutes searching for documents or for the latest version of a document is not how you want spend time. Especially in the beginning of your product development, documents will be shared, reviewed, and updated multiple times. This process should be done efficient and in a structured way, so everyone is working with the latest data.
Tune in to this episode to learn more.
Looking for more information on how to do this? Join me in my free monthly project management training for product-based business owners.
Click here link to sign-up.

How to Apply Project Management as a Product-based Business Owner
When I worked as product manager and project manager for large organizations, I was often wearing the ‘product creation hat’ and at the same time the ‘project management hat’ during a new product development project.
When you’re a business owner of a product-based business, you’re probably wearing these two hats as well. Here are some tips on how to apply project management as a product-based business owner when you’re developing new products.
If you’re looking for a great template to capture your meeting action points, click here to download my free template.
If you feel you can use a little help creating project management templates, coming up with a logical project structure for your product-based business, sign up for my weekly project management tips for product-based business owners by clicking here.

How to Start a Project in an Area that's Completely New to You
When you start new projects, you often can carry out your activities based on routine and experience. You know very well how to start a new project, how to create overview and how to organize your daily project activities and the ones of your project team.
But when you’re starting something completely new, it can feel a bit vague at the beginning. I’ll give you some tips on how to start a project in an area that’s completely new to you to create structure and overview form the beginning.
WHEN YOU CAN’T RUN ON YOUR EXPERIENCEIt’s easier to have a smooth project start when you can rely on your experience in managing projects. But if you start with something completely new, it can be helpful to create a high-level overview of what you think should be set-up and structure of this new challenge.
Tune in to learn more!
I have a FREE Excel template for you to get started with your project action list.
Click here to get your free download.

3 Strategies to Make Sure You Keep Overview on all Project Actions
When you’re managing multiple projects, your to-do list can be overwhelming long. To make sure you don’t overlook an important action point, I have 3 strategies to make sure you keep overview on all your project actions.
Tune in to hear the details!
Hope these strategies to make sure you keep overview on all your project actions, are helpful to you!
Go get organized!
I have a FREE Excel template for you to get started with your project action list.
Click here to get your free download.

3 mistakes to avoid when starting a new product idea
When you have a great new product idea, you probably can't wait to get started with the development and introduce it to your customers.
Before you go full speed ahead, it's wise to spend some time writing a project briefing. In this briefing you define how you're going to execute this project from start to finish. How much time it takes, how much budget you need, but also which disciplines you need to make this project a success.
In this episode I'll share some tips on what to include in your project briefing, so you'll be better prepared and equipped with the right resources when you start developing your product.
Tune in to learn more and get some hands-on tips!
To make your project management activities more efficient and easy, I've created a FREE template for you to help you manage multiple projects. By using this template you can see in once glance which project is behind schedule or over budget.
Click the link below to get your free copy!

Why Project Management is Important in Product-based Businesses
There are lots of moving parts in going through the product development process of a new product. It can be very complex in going from product idea through defining your product specifications, getting your product developed, manufactured and in stock.
Having a solid, hands-on and practical project management system in place, will help you reach your project goals and contribute to the overall business goals.
Tune in to learn more and get some hands-on tips!
To make your project management activities more efficient and easy, I've created a FREE template for you to help you manage multiple projects. By using this template you can see in once glance which project is behind schedule or over budget.
Click the link below to get your free copy!

3 Strategies to Teach Your team how to Work on Your Projects
Are you growing your business by developing multiple products and expanding your product range but you don’t know where to begin?
Maybe you need to hire some people in your business to make sure that you go from idea through definition, development, manufacturing, and launch in an efficient way.
And if you've always done everything on your own, it can be difficult to get your new team members to operate in a similar manner.
Here are the 3 Strategies To Teach Your Team How You Want Them To Work In Your Product-Based Business.
I'm doing a FREE training on Project Management for Product-based businesses. Click here to register:
While you're here, grab my free PDF guide '10 Hack on how to Successfully Develop New Products'.
And sign up for weekly Product Business Inspo by clicking here.

5 Tips on Who to involve in the Product Requirement Process
In this episode, we're going to talk about five tips on who to involve in the product requirements process.
First, let's start with some explanation of why it's so important to have a product requirements process in place. First of all, if you do not have this process in place, you run the risk that during development, product requirements keep on changing, because you didn't involve the right people on time when you were specifying your new product requirements.
And of course, this disrupts the development process and is causing cost increases and delays of your product launch. And this is not what we want. So, therefore, it's important at the beginning of a new project to involve the right disciplines and the right experts in defining your new product requirements.
For the show notes, head over to my blog by clicking here.
While you're here, grab my free PDF guide '10 Hack on how to Successfully Develop New Products'.
And sign up for weekly Product Business Inspo by clicking here.
Tune in for the tips on who to involve!

All the Intel You need to Define, Market and Scale your Product-based Business
In this episode, we're going to talk about all the Intel you need to define, market and scale your product based business in a professional way. So you can expand your product portfolio and grow your business. To start with, I have some keywords words for you. And these keywords are:
- Processes.
- Structure.
- Overview.
- Control.
Tune in to learn more and apply directly in your daily activities.
For the show notes, head over to my blog by clicking here.
While you're here, grab my free PDF guide '10 Hack on how to Successfully Develop New Products'.
And sign up for weekly Product Business Inspo by clicking here.

So, You want to Start a Product-based Business?
This episode is for those who want to start a product based business. And of course, it's so exciting if you have a new product idea in your mind and just starting out or you already have been developing and selling products for a while. It's a very exciting beginning of a new product journey. And the main question I often get is where do I begin? I have a great idea, I want to start a product based business. But how do I start in a proper way?
For the show notes, head over to my blog by clicking here.
While you're here, grab my free PDF guide '10 Hack on how to Successfully Develop New Products'.
And sign up for weekly Product Business Inspo by clicking here.

How to go from Idea to a Successful Launch
In this episode we're going to talk about how to go from Ideation to a successful product launch. And as you know, there are a lot of things to do from the moment you have a new product idea until you can finally launch it to the market and introduce it to your customers. So today, I'm going to guide you through 10 steps to develop your product idea into a successful product.
For the show notes, head over to my blog by clicking here.
While you're here, grab my free PDF guide '10 Hack on how to Successfully Develop New Products'.
And sign up for weekly Product Business Inspo by clicking here.

Digital or Paper Planner to Manage new Product Development?
In this episode we're going to talk about using a digital or a paper planner for managing your new product development projects. And I can imagine everybody has his own preference in this.
I use a digital planner to really plan my new product development project in detail. I use Excel or Microsoft Projects for this because then I can easily adjust when we're going to deviate from the schedule.
I use the digital planning tool Asana to allocate tasks to different team members with a deadline. It allows me to manage people in my team, and manage deliverables as well.
In my paper planner I note down per project what are my weekly goals on a high level? What's my to-do list, who should I call, who should I email.
Are you a project manager and working on new product development project? get my project planner via Amazon and work structured, with focus and efficient on your projects.
Click here to discover more on the paper planner.
To learn more on how to combine the various planning tools, tune into this podcast episode.
For the show notes, head over to my blog by clicking here.
While you're here, grab my free PDF guide '10 Hack on how to Successfully Develop New Products'.
And sign up for weekly Product Business Inspo by clicking here.
Do you like to read more on creating new products, check my blog page for more interesting tips!

How to Create a Price Positioning Overview for Your New Product?
Defining a new price for your new product or for an upgrade of your product can be a tricky one. You have to do some research, of course, to see what your competitors are asking for a comparable product. And you also want to check at what price point your current product portfolio is positioned so you can determine the correct price point for your new product. And to do this in an objective way, it's best to use a spreadsheet.
Tune into this episode to learn more!
Like to read more on creating new products?
Head over to my blog to soak up more useful tips!

How to Create a Competitive Benchmark Overview for Your New Product?
First, let's talk about why you should create a competitive benchmark of view for your new product. The first reason is you need a clear overview in order to be able to position your products correctly compared to your competition in the market and also compared to your current product portfolio. And second, it helps you also define the benefits and your value proposition. So two important reasons why you should do this, you get a better insight into:
- your product positioning
- positioning of your features, and the benefits of your new product compared to competition and within your current portfolio.
Tune into this episode to learn more.
Like to read? Check out my blog for interesting topics on product & project management.

How to Lead Your Project Team Without having Authority
We're going to talk about how you can lead your project team without having authority.
As a project manager, you often are not the boss of the members in your project team. So that means you don't have authority over them and cannot tell them what to do. The only thing you can do is work with them together as a team and try to motivate them as much as possible to contribute to your projects.
And this can be a challenge, especially if project team members are overloaded. It becomes a problem if they are too busy and don’t have time to work on your project deliverables.
But you can do a few things to make sure your project stays on track, and you don't lose time along the way.

How to Collect and Evaluate New Product Ideas
Let’s talk about an efficient way on how to collect and evaluate new product ideas.
For all business owners and product managers, who like to get some tips on how to do this in a fun but efficient way, keep reading!
When you are creating a new product idea most of the time, this list is based on product ideas that you get under the shower or while driving to work or while working out or whatever activity you're doing.
Or sometimes maybe even in a meeting you think of something really exciting and new you'd like to create, the best thing to have is one place where you can write down these new ideas.

Why Evaluating Your New Product Development Process benefits Your Projects
Let’s talk about why Evaluating Your New Product Development Process will benefit Your Projects
When your new product development process is not organized efficiently, you will lose time and money along the way when developing new products.
For example, you are always going back and forth in adjusting product specifications, not meeting the quality standards you require or not being able to make your product technically feasible. If this is the case, you end up with a longer lead time and higher development costs in developing your new product. This will cost you money and loss of sales along the way.
When you have a critical look on your complete product development process, from product idea through specification, development, manufacturing and launch, you probably can identify some hurdles. These hurdles can hamper your project's progress, if this is true it's worthwhile improving them.

How to Bring Structure and Processes in Your Projects?
Bringing structure and processes in your projects and your business, maybe that doesn't seem like a very sexy topic to you. But it's still very important if you want to run your projects smoothly and efficiently. So let’s talk about a few steps you can take right now in your current daily activities to make your work in your project much more easy and much more structured so you feel confident and in control.
If you want to read more details, please visit my blog
Sign up for my free masterclass Practical and Efficient Project Management here.

#23 3 Tips for Product Managers on How to Define their Product Specifications
One of the most important input files in new product development is the Product Specifications Overview.
You know the saying “garbage in, is garbage out”. If you don’t have your product specification clear, validated and aligned, chances are your end-product does not meet your customer requirements or isn’t technically feasible.
I have 3 tips for product managers on how to define their product specifications, so they can develop products their customers are thrilled about.
A few basic principles to start with when defining your product specifications comes down to knowing your customer requirements well, having a good insight in market and technology developments and documenting your product requirements and signing off on them with your team.
Tune into this episode to learn about my 3 tips Product Managers on How to Define their Product Specifications.
If you like to get my free download on 3 Tips How to Boost Your Project management skills click on the link below. You’ll also receive my free weekly newsletter with tips on Product & Project management directly in your inbox.
For the show notes, head over to my blog by clicking here.
While you're here, grab my free PDF guide '10 Hack on how to Successfully Develop New Products'.
And sign up for weekly Product Business Inspo by clicking here.

#22 3 tips for Organizing Your Projects and How to Become a Master
Do you ever feel stressed when you can’t find the document you’re looking for on your computer? Or do your hands get sweaty when you see various planning files but can’t tell which one of them is the latest version of the project you’re working on?
In this case you might like to learn more on Organizing Your Projects and How to Become a Master.
Tune into this episode and let me take you through this step-by-step so you can implement what you learn right now and never feel stressed around organizing your projects.
If you like to get my free download on 3 Tips How to Boost Your Project management skills click on the link below. You’ll also receive my free weekly newsletter with tips on Product & Project management directly in your inbox.

3 Great Systems to use when Creating New Products
We're going to talk about three great systems to use when you are creating new products. Do you carry the hat of product manager or project manager in your new product development projects? It's a challenge to be responsible for creating and maintaining a product portfolio and managing the development and manufacturing of your new product idea.
I have three great systems for you to use when you're creating new products in the manufacturing industry, and need to efficiently manage their development. Let's talk about how to realize new profitable product ideas. This is easier said than done. You've got a lot of tasks on your plate in your roles. You are a product manager, a project manager, maybe you are even the business owner, and you need to work efficient to realize new profitable products. Having systems in place to support you in all your roles is essential to keep up with all your responsibilities and be in control.
Tune in this episode to learn about the 3 system
If you'd like to learn more on project management skills, you can download my free guide. Three ways to boost your project management skills by clicking here. Thanks for listening, and I wish you fun in transforming your new product ideas in a thriving business.

5 Habits for Project Managers and Business Owners in Product-based Businesses
In this episode, we are going to dive into five practical habits for product managers in the manufacturing industry. Or if you have a product based business, and you want to hire a project manager, then this is episode is something for you. Have you ever thought about a career in project management? But then your inner critic whispered to you away? No, no, no, you'll fail? What if you don't know where to start? But what if you give it a try? What if you have that incredible job and grow into the position you want to achieve?
Let me share with you some insights in the life of a project manager in the manufacturing industry and some practical habits to develop right now. If you have a product based business and you want to hire a project manager, pay attention because what I'm sharing with you can be beneficial for you too. So new product development can be a lengthy process. It starts with idea generation followed by product development, manufacturing, and finally product launch.
A lot of different disciplines, internal and external departments, and suppliers are involved in every part of this process. And like in all professions, days can be hectic for project managers. They work with people from different departments, different countries and different nationalities, not to speak of the expectations of many stakeholders that need to be managed carefully.
So tune in if you would like to learn more on the five practical habits for project managers or business owners with a product-based business.

Is Christmas causing delay in your projects?
There are a few things you can do to mitigate the unexpected Christmas delay. At the beginning of the fourth quarter of the year, your project planning still looks reliable.
Your project is on schedule and you’ve nothing to worry about. You’ve taken the Christmas period into account in your planning and there’s no reason to worry.
By November things start to change, your project is not running smooth anymore and one issue after the other pops-up.
And suddenly, there it is…standing in your way, the Christmas holidays.
It seems like the whole world is taking two weeks of vacation and nobody is working on your new product development anymore.
Is Christmas often causing delay in your projects?Does this resonate with you?
It suddenly seems that almost two weeks are eaten out of your project planning due to Christmas. Not to mention that you also need to revise your planning regarding Chinese New Year. At least, if you’re dealing with the Far East.
You probably feel your stress level rising and you desperately need to change things around.
There are a few things you can do to mitigate the unexpected Christmas delay.Tune in to this podcast episode to learn more.
If you like to receive my free weekly project management tips directly in your inbox, sign-up by clicking in the link below. You'll receive a free guide on how to boost your project management skills as well!
https://boostprojectskills.bureauflo.com/

3 Important Tasks Every Project Manager should Schedule in her Calendar
Feeling like your head is exploding with all kinds of small project tasks, issues that you need to solve, team members that need to be motivated and some firefighting to keep your project on track? Keep scrolling and check out the 3 Important tasks every project manager should schedule in her calendar.
I hear you; it can be overwhelming and tiring to ‘run’ all day, handling lots of different tasks but not feeling fulfilled when close your laptop at the end of the day.
Smooth running processesDo you wish you would feel confident and in control when managing your projects? I know I love that feeling and thrive on smooth running systems and processes.
Just like you I need to have some systems in place, to comfortably manage new product development projects.
To move fluently through my working days and feel fulfilled at the end of the day, I have 3 important tasks that I’ve scheduled in my calendar. I believe these 3 Important Tasks Every Project Manager should Schedule in her Calendar.
Tune in to find out what these tasks are.
If you like to receive a free guide on how to Boost Your Project Management Skills, click here.

3 Daily Hacks to Combine the Role of Product & Project Manager
Often have I carried the ‘product management hat’ and at the same time the ‘project management hat’ during a new product development project. Was this difficult to do? No, not really, as the responsibility of both roles was very clear and I had a lot of experience in both roles. Was there ever a friction in time management between both roles? Did one role sometimes get priority over the other? Yes, definitely. That’s why I want to share the 3 daily hacks to combine the role of product manager and project manager.
Tune in to this episode to learn more or visit my blog at bureauflo.com to read the full blog article.
If you like to receive 7 project management tips that bring efficiency in your day, sign-up for my free weekly tips via this link.

A Quick Way to Declutter Your Business and Personal Administration and Feel in Control
Do you feel overwhelmed by all the small administrative tasks you need to do for your business and your personal life? Declutter your business and personal administration is the way to feeling in control again.
These administrative tasks vary from paying taxes, updating business or personal insurances, paying dentist bills and business subscriptions and keeping your business and personal administration up to date. Often the mail keeps piling up on your desk and you totally forget to take action.
You also need to manage your business calendar with appointments with team members, customers, suppliers, travel and plan out chunks in your day to get some work done. In addition to your business calendar, your personal calendar also needs to be managed with medical appointments, dinners with friends and your work-out schedule. If you have kids, you get a lot of extra sport and school activities on your plate as well.
When all these tasks and announcements pop in your email or mail box, you can feel overwhelmed and don’t see when you have time to take care of all these small tasks.
I found a quick way to declutter my business and personal administration and feel in control again and want you to benefit from my strategy as well. It will help you eliminate the feeling of overwhelm and you’ll feel completely in control.
You can implement the steps I'm going to talk about in this episode immediately in your business and personal life. Let’s get started!

5-step Guide to Move Successfully from Product Concept to Prototype
It can be so exiting when a very important package arrives at your desk containing your first prototype! When you open the box and take out ‘your baby’, you’re thrilled, happy and proud of the result of hard work and putting all your energy in this new product.
But it can also be a big disappointment…….
Your prototype looks far from your amazing product concept drawing. The plastic or metal parts don’t have the right dimensions, the construction is weak and the graphics on your product are not positioned correctly. The electronics do not function properly, and the colors are totally off the color scheme.
If you’re in the cosmetic industry you may have experienced that your product smells bad and the composition doesn’t feel nice. The cream feels too solid or too light, the products look weird, and the sample is not even a little bit close to what you had in mind.
It’s a flop.
Now, there are ways to avoid this unclarity and disappointment around prototyping.
I have 5 proven steps you can take to move successfully from product concept to prototype.
Tune into this podcast episode to learn more, or read all about it on my blog by clicking here.

7 product development tips that bring efficiency and speed
Whether you’ve been developing products for some time or start your business from scratch, there are some actions you can take at the start of your new product development that bring efficiency and speed in your process.
You probably experienced it yourself or heard stories from others about new product development projects that costed a lot of money but were put on hold or completely stopped because the new product was going to be unsaleable or not profitable.
There are many factors that can cause projects to be put on hold. From specifications that cannot be met, product costs that are too high, difficulties in transferring the product concept into a working prototype, successfully moving into mass production, to end customers not buying your product.
By implementing some practical process steps, the above hurdles can be overcome, and your new product can be successfully developed, manufactured, and launched into the market.
If you feel you can make some improvements in your new product development or this topic is new to you, please continue reading this article. I hope you can benefit from the tips I share with you the same way I do. Before pouring tons of money in your new product idea, check out the tips below.
Tip 1: Product Idea Evaluation With Your Team
Tip 2: Perform Customer Research on Your Product Concept
Tip 3: Request for a Product Cost Price and a quote for Development Costs
Tip 4: Appoint A Project Manager To manage Your New Product Development Project
Tip 5: Create A Clear Project Briefing Right From The Start
Tip 6: Implement A Weekly Core Project Team Meeting Structure Including Project Checklist And Action Plan.
Tip 7: Implement a supplier selection process in your business
With the above 7 tips, you’ll be well prepared when developing new products for your business.
If you like to read more about this topic, head to my blog article by clicking here.
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5 Tips to Efficiently Review Marketing Materials
It’s quite a challenge to keep the review process of these materials smooth and efficient.
When reviewing marketing materials for your new product, usually there are a lot of opinions involved…..because who doesn’t have an opinion on a commercial or ad?
Team members from different disciplines review and give comments in multiple review rounds. And often new comments pop-up all the time, because of new insights, changes in the technical specifications of the product during development or because team members did not really review thoroughly enough during the first review round.
It is wise to start involving your marketing communication expert early in the development of your new products. Parallel with the development of your new product, you’re also working on your product launch to make sure that all deliverables for your product launch are ready when your final product is on stock and ready to be sold.
One aspect of a product launch are the marketing materials like brochures, leaflets, movies, teasers, social media campaigns.
There are usually lots of moving parts here and a lot of opinions involved. Because anyone has an opinion on marketing, right? There a so many elements that are combined in the marketing strategy. For example, the branding, the colors used in the materials, the images, the copy, the look and feel. And mostly anyone has a slightly different opinion.
Even in the same team, people tend to express their personal taste, even when it comes to professionally created materials. And their opinion might change during the review process. Resulting in going back and forth in adjusting copy and imagery.
Lessons learned the hard way; I can now share a review strategy with you that worked for me and hopefully you can benefit from it too.
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Weekly Product Development Tips.
If you like to read the article with this episode, click here and head over to my blog for the full article.

7 tips to be more efficient in your business & personal life every day
Do you regularly think that you’re going crazy with all the things that need to be organized around your business and your personal life?
You probably have a family to take care of or you have other obligations to loved ones and need to help them out.
Sometimes you wish you could wave your magical wand and fly smoothly through your day, while being super-efficient at work and get all the things done in your personal life.
That would be amazing! Unfortunately, the magical wand is a fairy tale, but there are certainly actions your can take to make a smooth day become a reality for you.
I hear you; I tried my best to juggle all the things I needed to do as well. After many years of experience, a demanding job and a family that grew bigger and bigger, I adopted a structure that integrates my business and personal life and that works very well for me.
I’ll share my tips below, hopefully you can benefit from it as well.
Tip 1 Close your day and set Priorities for the next day.
Always close your workday, with a list of actions that you need to do the next day. This is your priority list. Whatever happens, the actions that are on this list are important, therefore they need your attention.
Tip 2 Prepare everything for your Morning Routine the evening in advance
With everything, I mean everything!
Before going to bed you can do several small tasks that save you time in the morning. You want to start your day without stress and keep in a relaxed mood as long as possible.
Tip 3 Use as much as handy tools in your business as possible
If you want to work efficient and accomplish a lot in your business, you have a lot of handy tools that can help you with your tasks.
For planning tasks, you might like Asana, Trello or Monday. These are web applications that allow you to plan and schedule all your activities in a simple and visual tool. The user interface is very intuitive and help you organize your projects with ease.
There are many more tools available that do the same. They also have an app so you can check-in and follow-up on your phone.
Tip 4 After business-day activities
When your business day is over, check with your family members if there are any new topics or activities. Sometimes your kid’s school want to unexpectedly launch new activities. These new activities need to be planned in your calendar.
Tip 5 The Five-minute Tidy-up Challenge
You can do a lot in 5 minutes. If you have 5 minutes left here and there, try to do some activities that don’t need you to concentrate a lot. For example, fold the laundry, empty the dishwasher, put clean laundry in the closet, start your washing machine, do some quick toilet cleaning, tidy up the living room or your bedroom. There are so many small tasks that can be done quickly instead of piling up at the end of the week.
Tip 6 Weekend Meal Cooking
If you have a busy schedule ahead of you, you might feel a lot more relaxed if you know you don’t have to cook that day because you prepared your meals in the weekend. It will only take you a few minutes to warm up your meals in the oven or microwave. This saves so much stress at the end of your day.
Tip 7 Meal planning for 7 days
When you have time once a week, to sit down and plan your meals for seven days ahead, you have a huge win!
Deciding on what you are going to eat in the next seven days, making a list of the ingredients you need and driving to the supermarket to buy everything you need, will save you at least 45 minutes each day compared to doing grocery shopping every day after work.
Check my website bureauflo.com for more tips.

5 Quick Wins for Your Business by Having an Effective Morning Routine
When you start up for the day it is so tempting to quickly check your email. Before you know it, you are drawn by all the urgent topics waiting in your inbox. Your focus is away from the priorities you have set yourself and the day flies by…..
Do you recognize this?
To break with this bad habit, I’ve created a morning routine that works for me. Perhaps you’ll love it as well!
Tune in to this episode and follow the 5 steps I'm teaching your to stay productive during the day and work efficiently on your projects.
I created a blog article with a free guide on this topic as well for you.
Yes! Take me to the blog article!
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3 Tools You Need to Use in a Product-based Business
Are you also looking to optimize your work processes and to work more efficient?
When you are active in a technology-oriented, tangible product-based business, there are a lot of moving parts in new product development.
No matter what stage you’re at in your business, the right tools can:
- Save you dozens of hours per week and a whole lotta stress.
- Automate new product development activities like project planning, product development, and managing your team.
- Save you thousands of dollars or euros or any other currency on firefighting in your product development activities and doing things the hard way.
The trick is knowing the right ones to use.
When managing multi-disciplinary, international product development projects, I love to automate as much as possible in my daily activities.
These kinds of projects often take a lot of time and there are a lot of moving parts that complicate things and need to be managed well.
Do you want to read about this topic as well? I've also written a blog article.
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7 tips to make an impressive product concept drawing for your new product idea
Are you an entrepreneur and do you have a great new product idea? Of course, you have a vivid picture of it in your head. And it does look amazing, right? But a picture can say more than a thousand words. That’s exactly why you need to show your great idea in the form of a picture as well. Lots of people have a visual focus and grab the content better when they can see what you mean instead of only hearing you explain it.
That’s why it is so important to put pen to paper and create a drawing of your product concept. There are agencies who have specialized in this and can help you create astonishing product concept drawings. But when you are tight on your budget, I have a few tips for you to get started. Even when you’re planning to hire and agency to do this for you, you can benefit from these tips as well, as you can use the concept drawing, which you have created yourself, to brief your agency.
Tune in my podcast episode to learn more!
If you like to read about this topic, you can also find it on my blog.
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12 high quality ideas to brief your communication expert on your new product
As it is quite a challenge to brief marketing communications on a project that is still in the first phase of the development process, and a lot of aspects are still unknown or unclear, some guidance might be helpful.
When you are developing a new product, your focus is first on the technical, financial and commercial feasibility of the project. When all those boxes are ticked, and product development is taking of, it is time to involve the marketing communication responsible as well.
The three main benefits are:
1. Marcom people tend to look very critical at your product proposition, which is a good thing!
2. You are challenged by them on the features and benefits compared to your competition, which is also a good thing!
3. They help you identify when product samples and communication materials are needed in the project planning.
I teach you 12 tips that helped me doing this job. Hopefully they will come in handy for you as well.
Listen in!
If you would like to read about this topic, check my blog article.
Yes! Take me to the blog article!
Product development doesn't need to be complicated.
Let me show you how you can transform your new product idea into a thriving business.
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9 Steps to Create a Realistic Project Planning
Do you recognise the sad feeling of having to update your project planning every week? Moving your milestones further and further away because of unexpected time consuming activities? Activities which you might have overlooked? Then you might like this 9 step approach that enables you to include all the important deliverables of your project team and helps you to create a reliable planning for tech-oriented tangible products right from the start.
1. Divide your new product development planning into 5 phases.
2. Add actions & deliverables in every development phase.
3. Add these actions and deliverables in your project planning and set the number of days needed to complete them.
4. Add the name of the responsible team member behind every action.
5. Close every phase with an official ‘move-to-the-next-phase-date’.
6. Find yourself a steady project planning.
7. Built-in experience from previous projects right from the start.
8. Include holiday periods.
9. Verify your planning with your team members on a regular basis.
Listen in for more details and tips per step!
Also find a link to my blog post on this topic if you like to read about it.
Product development doesn't need to be complicated.
Let me show you how you can transform your new product idea into a thriving business.
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Why regular Core Project Team Meetings are a must
I hear you thinking: “my calendar is already fully booked, if I need to add a regular core project team meeting in my busy schedule, I’m going nuts. Why not only meet when there is an issue?”.
And here is the truth…. you’ll prevent going nuts, feeling stressed or overwhelmed if you align with your core project team on a regular basis. That’s why core project team meetings are a must.
By checking in on the status of your new product development on a weekly basis, you’re more in controlbecause you’re on top of things and can quickly intervene when things are moving in the wrong direction. Your team members can more easily indicate if their deliverables seem to go off track and endanger the project budget or timeline.
Adjusting this detour and taking corrective action can be done much faster, instead of needing to do a lot of firefighting
By meeting with your core project team on a weekly basis, you’ll be more in control which gives you peace of mind, even if this weekly meeting takes up thirty minutes or one hour per week in your busy schedule. It’s worth it!
There are a few more habits that will improve your life in managing new product development activities and take your project meetings to the next level.
I’ve three tips for you to use in managing your project meetings. Listen in!
If you like to read about it, you can find this content as well on my blog.
Product development doesn't need to be complicated.
Let me show you how you can transform your new product idea into a thriving business.
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3 tips to define a realistic project budget
When preparing for the selection of new product ideas, one thing you need to know is how big the investment into this new product development is going to be.
Making money on a new product is one of the key parameters in the decision to start a new product development.
The required investment money you need, to realise your new product idea, is needed to calculate the profit and the pay back time.
As nothing is for free in life, there are many items which need to be taken into account when defining the project budget. The risk of forgetting lots of small items is definitely there in the busy lives of business owners, product & project managers :-).
If you recognize yourself, you might want to take a peek at my Project Budget Planner.
I have 3 tips for you to help you define a realistic project budget.
1. Check predecessor products.
2. Organise a brainstorm meeting.
3. Follow-up and adjust the budget.
If you like to read about this topic, you can head over to my blog post.
Yes! Send send me to the blog article!
Product development doesn't need to be complicated.
Let me show you how you can transform your new product idea into a thriving business.
Sign up for tips on how to define, develop, manufacture and introduce your new products and receive updates directly in your inbox.

3 tips business owners with a product-based business should not miss
Running a product-based business comes with lots of moving parts. It can be complex and challenging sometimes. If you want to stay in control, keep overview and be focused on your business goals, you need structure in your new product development.
Structure brings overview, control, and efficiency and that’s exactly what you’ll benefit from when you’re defining, developing, manufacturing, and launching new products. When you implement the three tips that I’m sharing with you, you’ll experience small wins immediately in your daily business.
Tip one: Always make sure to create a solid product concept definition.
Tip two: create a checklist with all deliverables needed for this new product development and assign team members to each task.
Tip three: organise your project documentation in a structured way.
Product development doesn't need to be complicated.
Let me show you how you can transform your new product idea into a thriving business.
Sign up for tips on how to define, develop, manufacture and introduce your new products and receive updates directly in your inbox.

Why you should involve your marcom expert early on in new product development
Have you ever experienced that product samples and communication materials are missing on crucial moments during the development of your new product? That you need to show a sample of your new product online or on a show and that you are empty handed? Or that when your product is ready to sell and people want to know more before they buy, but you have no leaflet or brochure to show them.
That’s is such a pity, and you miss a great opportunity to show off with your new product!
Do you want to know how to prevent this? Involve your communication expert earlier in the development process. In this episode, I am sharing what I have learned from involving the marcom expert very early in my new product development and what the right timing is.
Listen in to learn more about the 3 main benefits of having the marcom people join early in the development process.
Follow along and subscribe to my podcast so you will not miss any tips and tricks in new product creation.
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