If your sales force is still stellar but customers are dwindling and new competitors keep cropping up, it's a sure sign you need to bring something new to the table. Follow these steps to introduce new products and/or services, and turn your interesting ideas into a better bottom line:

1. Generate new concepts.
2. Protect what you develop.
3. Promote it for maximum profit.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Turn good into better

Going a few steps beyond expectations is a sure way to please buyers. Reinvent existing products by listening to your customers. What tweaks to your current offerings do they suggest? Tune in to employees, too. The best ideas often come from front-line personnel.

I recommend: Turn weaknesses into strengths by conducting a "best practices assessment." Talk to a Small Business Development Center for targeted guidance.

Invent the next wheel

Consider using elements of existing products to create something totally different, or try to forecast your industry's future.

I recommend: For a software nudge with brainstorming, try IdeaCue. Hire a trend forecaster or keep up with journals like the Trend Research Institute's. Once you have ideas in place, use GreenBook.org to find focus groups, and follow guidelines for productive focus groups.

Protect your ideas

If you don't officially call it your own, you can't profit from it.

I recommend: Familiarize yourself with intellectual property basics online at the Franklin Pierce Law Center or FreeAdvice. Determine what type of patent you need, then apply for a patent. Ensure your efforts are legal by choosing a specialized lawyer in your area through AttorneyPages.com.

Make marketing a priority

Customers won't have a clue if you don't fill them in. Tell them how your new product works and why they can't live without it.

I recommend: Try software like NamePro or Headliner to get your marketing off on the right foot. For direct-mail campaigns, software like ResponseDoubler can yield success. Finally, follow the Product Development & Management Association's 15 Principles of Successful New Product Marketing.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Take what's not working off the menu to make room — and time — for something new.
• •  Don't dismiss any idea too quickly. What seems quirky at first (a laptop computer? a fuel alternative?) can become a must-have overnight.
• •  Stay away from prototype or invention development companies, which tend to be rip-offs, and stick with established product development firms.
• •  Choose development companies that state their fees up-front.
• •  Investigate new distribution methods if your product is radically different from your old offerings.