How to find new applications for your product

Many manufacturers have a strong product. Well developed, technically thought through, proven in the market. For further growth you still ask yourself whether there are other markets or applications where your product could mean something.

That question is easier asked than answered. Because how do you go about it? Where do you start? And how do you avoid putting time and money into a market that turns out to have no potential?

1. Functionalities as the starting point

A common mistake is starting from the market you know. You know your current customers, you know what they expect from your product, and you go looking for more of the same. That is understandable, but it narrows your field of view.

A better approach is to start from the functionalities of your product. What does your product actually do? What properties does the material or the component you make have? Which problems does it solve, apart from the context in which you sell it today?

A maker of technical textiles who describes his product as "protective fabric for workwear in a food plant" has a narrower field of view than one who describes it as "clothing that withstands heat, cutting and chemicals". That second description opens doors to applications in the medical sector, in construction or in defence.

The exercise sounds simple but takes discipline. It means uncoupling your product from the context in which you sell it today, and reasoning purely from what it can do.

2. Build a longlist

Once the functionalities of your product are clear, you can start mapping possible applications and markets. The aim at this stage is to think as broadly as possible. No application is too far-fetched to write down.

You build that list through desk research in literature, patents and scientific papers, conversations with people inside the company who know the product well, and outsiders with a broad view of the industry. An LLM can widen the list too, provided you feed it the functionalities and not your product. Enter your product name and you get variations on the market you already serve.

The longlist is not an end point. It is the starting point for the next step: filtering.

3. Filter quickly

A longlist of fifteen markets cannot all be researched in depth. That would take too much time. The next step is a quick test of every market against a limited set of criteria.

Is there a need in that market your product can fill? Is that market large enough to be interesting? Are there players already offering something comparable, and if so, what is the competitive position? And does that market fit your company's business model, in sales channel, price level and account management?

That quick test does not have to be exhaustive. The aim is to bring the longlist back to a shortlist of three to five markets worth researching thoroughly.

4. Thorough market research

For the markets on the shortlist you research in more depth. This is no longer a quick scan but concrete answers to concrete questions.

Is there a proven need in that market, or are you only assuming one? Are there potential customers who confirm it? What are they willing to pay, and does that fit your margin targets? How do they buy: through distributors, directly, through tenders? And does that match how you sell or want to sell?

The way to answer those questions is not desk research alone. The most valuable insights come from conversations with people in that market: potential customers, experts, people who know the sector. That takes preparation, but it produces information you will not find anywhere else.

A conversation with five to ten people in a target market usually gives you a reasonable picture of the potential. You hear quickly whether there is a real need, whether your product is relevant and whether people are prepared to pay for it.

No guarantees, but certainty

Market research gives no guarantees. It may show that a market which looked promising has no potential for your product after all. That is unwelcome information, but valuable information. Because it stops you investing in a market launch that costs a great deal and returns little.

The other way round, positive market research gives you the confidence to invest. You know there is a need, that potential customers are prepared to pay and that your product is relevant. That is a far stronger starting point than a decision on gut feel.

Start early

One last practical note: start the market research early in the product development process. Many companies wait until the product is entirely finished before they think about the market. That is understandable, but it costs time and increases the risk.

Start early and you use the market insights to tune your product more closely to what the market asks. You know which functionalities really matter to potential customers and which do not. That makes your product development more focused and your market launch more likely to succeed.