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HOW TO DEVELOP A PROTOTYPE

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A prototype is an essential phase in the development of your idea. A prototype allows you the opportunity to move your idea to a 3 dimensional product that you can feel and touch. You can feel the size and start to see if there are any other aspects regarding your product that you missed during the idea stage.

Before you do anything, you need to take the idea in your head and you need to get it down on paper.

 

You need to make several sketches of your idea. In the beginning you need to let go of your creativity. Do not worry about the sketch or the beauty or accuracy of the sketch. The first part is to get it down on paper with as many options and views as you require. During this phase, there is no right or wrong. You may even colour the sketch and bring in shades if you want to.

 

Once you have come to a final sketch that you like, you can draw the sketch in scale and with measurements.

 

The next step is where you start to build the first 3D model of your prototype by using inexpensive materials, such as cardboard, paper, wire, glue, PVC pipes, wood, plywood etc. You want to build it as cheap as possible, in order to get the feel and touch of the product.

 

Some designers create products that actual work in terms of functionality to some extent.

 

Here is a link to a YouTube video of a product designer Eric Strebel and the product he sketched and, designed a mock up or prototype. You welcome to view more videos of Eric and subscribe to his YouTube channel.

During the process of making this cardboard model, you will pick up challenges and problems you did not anticipate during the sketching phase.  During this phase you can change and improve it, before you move on to more expensive material, such as metal, stainless steel, Aluminium etc.

 

Your first prototype will then come after your cardboard model, where you will have your product finalised and ready for mass manufacturing. This prototype product works basically as the final product would work, but is not mass produced as yet.

From here you will get a manufacturer to manufacture your product, which will then be shipped to your clients.

 

The Wealth Builder Final Thought: Get your idea on paper and design a model from cardboard which helps you to go through the development process in a cheaper way, instead of starting out with more expensive and difficult materials. Who knows, it could be the beginning of a new start-up business.

 

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WHAT IS BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE

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Business Intelligence is a very interesting subject field. It allows you to use data in your business to measure aspects of your business and make informed management decisions on that information.

 

In our business, on a daily basis, there is data available. We simply need to collect it. Analyse it and then design a dashboard to visually show us what the information tells us. From there we can set up KPI’s to measure against our stated goals.

 

There are different methods you can use to collect the data. From complex and sophisticated systems to a simple excel sheet.  The important thing is, your data must be correct and reliable. In other words garbage in, garbage out. Also the collection of your data needs to be consistent. If you collect the data daily, you need to stick to the schedule, otherwise it will not provide you with the correct information. If you collect monthly, you need to set aside some time on a monthly basis to collect it.

 

I would recommend you start with Microsoft Excel and collect data on something specific in your business. Set a specific KPI (Key performance indicator) and analyse your data to see if it matches your KPI.

 

Your KPI could be anything, like the number of units you want to sell on a daily basis. How many units are produced on a daily basis. How many kilometres do my drivers drive daily. Anything you want to measure.

 

As you can see there are a number of things you can do with data. You need to collect daily and measure it consistently.

 

The Wealth Builder Final Thought: Start to add business intelligence capabilities to your business in a small way and make informed business decisions form your data.