Philip Bourgeois is an industrial designer and founder and CEO of Studio RED, a design consultancy that opened in 1983 and has managed more than 5,000 product development projects for a wide range of organizations, including entrepreneurs. In 2000, his company designed the TheraSense, Inc. Freestyle Tracker Diabetes Management System—the first glucose monitoring device to require only a small amount of blood from less painful parts of the body, such as the arms or legs.

“The meter acceptance was significant,” Bourgeois says. “It captured a 15 percent share of a 20-year-old market dominated by [competitor] LifeScan, and in its fourth year it was purchased for $1.2 billion by Abbott [Laboratories] and became the beginning of their diabetes division.”

Not For The Faint Of Heart

While the payoffs and rewards are potentially substantial when your ahead-of-its-time concept hits the big-time, the process of selling cutting-edge products is challenging, says Vinay Tannan, a U.S. patent agent and founder and CEO of Taan Consulting, an intellectual property strategy and business development agency.

“Revolutionary ideas and products are essentially disruptive innovation,” says Tannan. “Such concepts are not incremental or expected by the market, but rather something that changes the way the game is played. The prospect of selling disruptive innovation is fraught with challenges, including establishing a market demand for something that people often don’t yet know they need and developing a competitive edge around your innovation that positions your company for long-term growth and success.”

Key Tips for Selling a Disruptive Innovation

Do Your Homework

Before pitching your idea to potential investors, retailers, or manufacturers, conduct thorough research to ensure your product is truly innovative and has a large enough market. Tannan advises:

• Conduct a freedom-to-operate analysis of the patent landscape to avoid infringing on existing patents.
• Survey potential customers to ensure your innovation addresses real pain points.
• Estimate market size and your product’s potential share through detailed R&D.

“To create a unique product requires a visionary management team with an appetite for innovation and the willingness to pay for the development it takes to achieve new, breakthrough solutions,” says Bourgeois.

“This development may take the form of deep design research to find new product opportunities, multiple engineering mock-ups and test cycles to overcome initial approaches which don’t hit the mark—all the way to investments in manufacturing methods that have never been applied to this new product category.”

Highlight Your Market

Bourgeois emphasizes the importance of presenting your product within the context of its competitive environment:

• Don’t pitch your concept in a vacuum.
• Demonstrate how your product fits into a specific market niche or demographic.
• Show alignment with the company’s vision and branding strategy.

Educate, Educate, Educate

John Scherer, founder of the Video Professor and now CEO of Canless Air System, advises entrepreneurs to focus on educating their audience:

“In selling this revolutionary product, we inform the consumer that the O2 Hurricane is safe for the environment, as it replaces dangerous canned air and offers new cleaning options,” Scherer says. “Explain exactly how your product can help the intended user live an easier, more enjoyable life.”

Trust Your Gut

“When an idea is right, you’ll know and feel it,” says Scherer. “If your presentation flows from the heart, then consumers are likely to buy your product.”

Building a business around a disruptive innovation takes confidence and persistence. Tannan adds:

“Be prepared for people to tell you that your product is stupid, that it won’t work and that nobody will buy it. Stay focused and believe in yourself, and you will succeed.”