Onboarding Overview

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The Product Development Process

Every new concept must move through a defined product development process before it is ready for manufacturing. At MADE, development is organized into a series of clearly defined steps, outlined on our How It Works page. Each estimate covers one development step. Once an estimate is accepted and onboarding is complete, that step becomes an active project. From that point forward, the project moves through the following workflow.


Process Overview

  • Estimate Accepted - A services agreement and deposit invoice are sent.

  • Onboarding Complete - Your Intake Session is scheduled.

  • Project Work Begins - Development work is completed.

  • Review Session - Deliverables are reviewed and the next step begins.

Because each development step builds on the work completed before it, projects move forward in sequence. If earlier development work has already been completed with another provider, we can often begin where they left off.

Estimate Accepted

When you accept an estimate, a services agreement is automatically sent by email within a few minutes. Once the agreement is signed, a second email will be sent with your deposit invoice. The required deposit is 50% of the project total or $500, whichever is greater. Projects under $500 require payment in full.

Onboarding Complete

Once the deposit is received, your Intake Session is scheduled. The Intake Session is a 30-minute video call, typically scheduled within one week of onboarding. During this session we confirm the project scope, review goals, assign any required tasks, and address any final questions before work begins.

Project Work Begins

Most projects begin within one week of the intake session and are completed during the following week. In most cases, each development step takes approximately two weeks from intake to completion.

Review Session

When your project is complete, you will receive a completion notification along with your final invoice. A 30-minute video review session will also be scheduled within the following week. During this call, we walk through the completed work and answer any questions. After the review session, you will receive an estimate for the next development step if you wish to continue.

If you have any questions about this process, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Thank you for considering MADE for your product development needs.