33 COMMUNICATION ISSUE In parallel with the R&D project, the sales team can further develop outside customer interest and gain feedback. There maybe external insights that are important to the team, not earlier considered, or even highlight unknown concerns that could prohibit a desired market launch. This communication is an excellent resource that needs to be given as constant feedback to the team. Of course, it should be stated that if the new R&D is so unique, and possibly patentable, this may prevent too much detail to be readily announced in a straight away fashion. To be sure, patents can be the larger part of an R&D expenses, provisions can be filed, but this process from start to patent can take years. The development of the core idea needs to be carefully documented, and circulated to the company design, manufacturing, engineering, and management. The accounting department should provide monthly cost reviews and break out not only the materials to date, but the human factor of hours of development. As with most project estimates, it is just that, an educated guess based up front with some slight conservative buffer. But in most cases, the hours estimated will Continued on next page
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