Survey
I am looking to expand my services by offering affordable product options. Please complete this anonymous survey. It will only take 60 seconds! Thank you.
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Background
Lately, I have been thinking of how to expand my business to attract new customers while helping my current clients. Then, it hit me! I should create products. Next, I was wondering ‘what’ kind of products I should offer. Although, I have brain-stormed, searched the internet, made a list, and consulted with mentors, I want to elicit input from my current and prospective customers. If you are reading this post (I mean you), please take the survey!
Products
Yes, I am looking to develop different types of products to attract new customers. As a consultant, my fees can be quite expensive for many laboratories, especially smaller, private-owned businesses. However, I do not want to neglect their needs or access to information and solutions. Also, I wish to create a new revenue stream for me and my company. This is why I am seeking to develop products.
I am looking to create affordable products, at different levels of value and pricing, that will attract new clients and satisfy their needs. So, I created and distributed a survey to see what type of products people are interested in. Some of my thoughts have leaned towards information products and software, but I do not want to invest the capital and time into software development if that is not something that people want to buy.
I know there are laboratories struggling with uncertainty analysis. I get phone calls all the time and I hear (at conferences) about the problems some laboratories are having; but, they cannot afford my time. These are the prospective customers that I want to target. So, if this is you, keep reading to get an idea on my prospective products. Then, take the survey and tell me what products you would be interested in.
Information Products
There is a ton of FREE information of measurement uncertainty (HINT: just visit my documents page), but there is not a lot of great information products available on the topic. Many of the information products available are documents, guides, and text books which are great for engineers and PhD’s, but not for technicians. Therefore, I think it would be a great idea to share my knowledge via guides, videos, and possibly an ebook that would convey information at the technician or training level. Furthermore, most documents and guides currently available only cover the framework of the uncertainty estimation process and not the tasks required to complete the process as a whole. So, I would like to create a series of products that show customers how to complete the process themselves start to finish from Calibration Measurement Capability (CMC) estimation to Calibration uncertainty calculation. Later on, I could develop guides that are measurement discipline specific for each unique measurement type.
Software
When it comes to measurement uncertainty calculation software, there is no shortage. There are several products currently available on the market for purchase. Additionally, there are two (that I can instantly think of) that are completely free. However, most of the options available are dated and do not comply with recent accreditation requirements. So, developing measurement uncertainty calculation software is an option that I am entertaining for possible future product development.
The goal for me would be to develop an affordable product that is either web or client (on your computer) based and yields the client the ability to maintain records, generate reports, and track changes. Furthermore, I think it would be nice to have the ability to store, track, and trend Type A measurement data from R&R experiments. However, this is just my brainstorming. Should there be an interest in software, I will certainly follow up with more surveys and client research.
Calculators
Most people (that I know) use Microsoft Excel to perform uncertainty analysis. There is nothing wrong with this approach; I have been using Excel for years to do the same thing. Therefore, I see potential to create a powerful uncertainty calculator that is Microsoft Excel based. I think that this would be the most scalable and adaptable format for most clients. Furthermore, I could develop several options from basic uncertainty calculator to customized templates for various measurement and calibration types.
I believe this is a viable option because most people use Microsoft Excel, its scalable, and would be the most affordable option for most.
Conclusion
Take the survey! I have shared my ideas and thoughts with you to give some insight into my thoughts for future product develop. I would like to know what options you are interested in so I may focus my efforts into developing products that you want to buy. So, take the survey and feel free to call or email me with any additional thoughts.
