Have a brilliant new product idea in mind? Has it been in your head for several months, maybe years? You would love to see this product developed and produced, but just the thought of going through the design and development process gives you a headache. That’s understandable. Think about all the effort, time, and money you will have to invest in bringing your idea to life.
Ben Kaufman, a 24-year-old entrepreneur, looked at this situation and saw an opportunity. That is why, in 2009, he build a website that has changed the way new products are developed. Today a global community works with his team of product design experts to realize two new consumer products every week.
Kaufman’s website, Quirky.com, is an online platform for designers, innovators, and anyone interested in participating in the conversation. It is free to join and anyone with a genius idea can submit it for an additional fee of $99. Thousands of website members vote on ideas based on different criteria. Two winners each week are given to the professional product design team for further development. Team of designers work in collaboration with network community to help shape the idea into a product that is ready to be produced and shipped to store shelves. After new product is manufactured and sold, Quirky shares revenue directly with the inventor.
Since users participate in decision making along the way, they are rewarded for their help creating a successful product. Participants get “influence rate” scores based on their input on every project and then they are paid based on that rate. Quirky.com gets up to 100 ideas submitted every week. Not all ideas survive “the community jury.” The inventor can keep all communication and crowd-sourced information gathered during evaluations and use it for future development.
If you have a genius product idea, it might be time to try it out. It doesn’t get much easier than Quirky.
