Innovator's first step

If innovator's idea is about providing a better drill to dentists, then their step number one should not be designing a new drill, patenting it, sourcing, manufacturing, and then trying to find dentists to buy it.

No, their step number one is figuring out the following:

• How do dentists use drills?
• What are their frustrations with the drills they use?
• What do they enjoy about the drills they use?
• What criteria do they look at?
• What does the buying process look like?
• Is the dentist doing the buying, or is it some procurement doing the buying, or is it the head of the office doing the buying?

That’s it.

That’s everything an innovator needs to do, starting out.

Skipping this critical first step makes later failure much, much more expensive.