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How do you choose what markets to develop product for? To guide us, we have defined four “Pillars” as the foundation of the business. These pillars are Food, Water, Sanitation and Waste. We’ll do things outside the pillars, but the pillars are the first area of judgment. Does an idea fit something where we already have expertise, where we already have a defined market, where we have knowledge and expertise, or where we already have people that fit within those categories? The obvious assumption might be that we develop products for the food services industry, given our background. However, it takes little imagination to see the crossover of products that can serve the food services market also serving many other markets. Will you elaborate on your “Pillars?” Our first pillar is food. This incorporates all things associated with food. How many things are connected to food? Our whole lives are connected to food. Life and survival is connected to food, so it’s the founding pillar. The “food” part of “food service” is the connecting thread in our background to where the business started. We have over 50 years of combined experience working in the food services business, consulting, designing, creating, and all the challenges that go with it. Water is a second pillar. There are huge opportunities involving water. Most of our food is made up of water, and sanitation is tied to water. We are running out of water in the world; drinking water and potable water. It’s going to be a major issue. It’s huge! A third pillar is Sanitation. We call it sanitation, but it also encompasses human safety, and food safety. Sanitation is a process in a kitchen that cleans dishes or heats the water that washes the food off the dishes, and so many other things. It all ties together. Waste is our fourth pillar. How do you deal with food waste? How do you deal with paper waste, medical waste, industrial waste, wasted heat, wastde water, and wasted energy, etc. We can call it conservation or efficiency, but it's really about eliminating waste. What makes you different from other product development and innovation firms? First, it’s the specialization in the areas of the pillars, particularly the food pillar. Even in firms that do specialize (and many of them don’t), our specialized knowledge makes us different. Another distinguishing feature is that we are independent. Our independence, creating products of our own choosing, gives us some freedom. There are no barriers or structure or systems to overcome. We can be as creative as we want. We come from a different background. Most of the other product design firms of the world come from a design background. Ideas Well Done comes from a background involved in design, and a background in the food service industry. I also think that a difference lies in our ability to connect things others don’t. I think that there is a lot of talent and skill in the industry, but in most manufacturing businesses people are focused on getting something specific done: get the product produced, get the sales in the door, meet the plan, etc, All of this is important of course, but our independence allows us to focus differently. If you can harness the skill of seeing things from a different focus, great products can happen.
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