Turn that GREAT IDEA into REALITY in 6 steps

Belinda Carli

To turn a great idea into reality, there is a long road ahead. A successful cosmetic development will normally take 12 months to go from concept to launch. Rarely does everything go right, so projects may run over 12 months. There are many moving parts to any projects, and it takes effective project management to succeed in delivering your product at the right time. Let’s look at the 6 key steps you will need to go through to develop your great idea into reality.

 

This flowchart gives you a guide as to how to take that great new idea you have and turn it into a successful reality.

 

STEP 1: Concept Stage:

• Conduct desk and market research (including competitor analysis) to determine feasibility and prepare detailed brief
• Prepare detailed brief: what do you want the product to do? To look like, feel like, smell like? What do you want to say about the product in the marketplace? What key actives and/or ingredients do you want to specifically add or avoid?

STEP 2: Preliminary Development Discussions:

• Formulating Chemist: is what you want to do chemically possible? Will it yield a chemically stable product?
• Regulatory checks: can those ingredients be used in amounts required specific to your region? Can those claims be made?

STEP 3: Revisit your concept/market feasibility

with necessary chemistry and/or regulatory changes made.

STEP 4: Development Starts:

• Formulating Chemist: order raw materials, create samples, send samples for feedback. Repeat process until sample accepted by developer.
• Regulatory checks: re-check compliance (ingredients and claims)

STEP 5: Evaluation & Preliminary Stability:

• Formulating Chemist: preparation of lab batch for market evaluation and stability
• Regulatory: prepare label text and claims

STEP 6: Manufacture:

• Once evaluations and lab batch passed 3-month stability, prepare pilot batch then full scale production
• Ongoing stability testing
• Launch after 3 months pilot batch stability results passed