Hiring people to create a product

[mrski]

Say I've got a physical product in mind (electronics cleaner) and a short budget, is it smart to hire someone to create it? I can't make it myself as I have no knowledge on chemical engineering, but i think it's also inconvenient if choosing that path means I have to spend nearly all of my money for only a small stage in the process. Or would it be better to create income after learning a skill, and then investing it into my business after? If it's the latter, is web design a good idea?

 

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[Jobless]

Your budget is what? And the cost is?
If the budget is low when hiring, do you think this will attract quality talent?

i think it's also inconvenient if choosing that path means I have to spend nearly all of my money for only a small stage in the process

Yes, it's not wise to do something where you risk almost everything for an unknown outcome. Figure out if there is a need first, try to get a pre-order, etc.

In general, if you lack money, the first recommendation is to work a job until you have some money to spare. Then, it's often cheaper, lower risk and faster to start a service business. A product business requires more time and capital but has higher upside.

 

[RightyTighty]

Most here subscribe to bootstrapping. Besides accommodating a tight budget, doing at least the initial technical and logistical legwork will help lead to the product you have in mind (do you even know what instructions to give to a chemist at this time?) and will definitely make you better qualified to deal with all other aspects of your business. It’s not at all unrealistic to educate yourself and completely develop your product, including writing your own Provisional Patent Application. It takes a lot of work, but much of the knowledge is foundational and will serve you well in future endeavors.

 

[mrski]

Your budget is what? And the cost is?
If the budget is low when hiring, do you think this will attract quality talent?


Yes, it's not wise to do something where you risk almost everything for an unknown outcome. Figure out if there is a need first, try to get a pre-order, etc.

In general, if you lack money, the first recommendation is to work a job until you have some money to spare. Then, it's often cheaper, lower risk and faster to start a service business. A product business requires more time and capital but has higher upside.

but what if I can't work at a job? Then is learning a skill for income still a good idea (for example coding, web design etc) or would it be better to wait until I can get a job?

 

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[mrski]

Most here subscribe to bootstrapping. Besides accommodating a tight budget, doing at least the initial technical and logistical legwork will help lead to the product you have in mind (do you even know what instructions to give to a chemist at this time?) and will definitely make you better qualified to deal with all other aspects of your business. It’s not at all unrealistic to educate yourself and completely develop your product, including writing your own Provisional Patent Application. It takes a lot of work, but much of the knowledge is foundational and will serve you well in future endeavors.

But there are no resources online that I can use to educate myself to that would make me create something superior from competitors. There's no "best ingredients" list or anything

 

[RightyTighty]

So you have an “idea” but have no idea how to implement it or if it is even feasible. Sounds like you don’t actually have an idea for a product yet; you’ve just identified a problem that you think you would like to solve. Do you have domain experience (it doesn’t sound like it but I may be misunderstanding your perspective)?

You’re not ready to pay money to anyone for anything yet. First you need a concrete idea of what it is you want to do. You need to know what the current competitive products and processes are. You need to know what the TAM is and how the supply chain works - industrial supply is an INSIDERS’s game. And lastly, when you do come up with a finite product, you will need to confirm marketability before you throw money at it. Much of this information is at your fingertips on Google, chatGPT, Youtube, and Reddit. But no one is going to spoon feed you; it can take many hours of digging to decide if an idea is worth pursuing, and many more to bring like to your product. My advice is to strap on your kevlar and get busy - the FastLane isn’t Easy Street. Good Luck!