8 Eyewear: From Idea, to Launch, to Growth (And Quitting the Job)

[Vick]

A lot of people have mentioned to me about raising our prices. I'm def thinking about it.

But I'm conflicted. I keep juggling the thoughts back and forth. Not sure what to do.

Curious to know..

What do you think a fair price point should be?

 

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[Bigguns50]

$229

 

[PeteLife]

Up to this point I have done basically everything, my partner has done very little. He looked into Importing a bit and that's about all he has done. I've worked night and days almost every single day for 8 months on this project.

Also, me and my wife have 100% of the risk. We are the ones who have to pay back the 15,000$ we received as a loan. Which means everything is on us. And nothing on this partner.

we have never really agreed to anything on paper, or vocal.

As of right now I hold all the cards.

Seem like you answered your own concerns. But don't complicate it. Tell him thank you very much for initiating to do some research for me, however, there was a probationary period which you failed to provide value as a "partner". For this reason, I am sorry to inform you that your assistance will no longer be needed.

I don't see this being an issue that goes to court especially since, this "partner" has no investment or risk in this biz. And without any written documentation, this is a lost case. If it does go to court, well the judge will have to be drunk to not rule in your favor.

Sure you "told" him he can call himself co-founder, but at the end of the day, having that title comes with certain requirements and responsibilities which he failed to meet terribly.

Good luck!

 

[Vick]

good points Pete. good points

thanks

 

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[JudoTom]

We aren't good friends if that's what you mean. I've only known him for about a year.

If I do drop him. I'm betting alot of his friends on Facebook that I'm friends with are gonna be hating on me and posting alot of bad shit.

But, again, like you said. That's business. And I'm prepared to handle that shit.

Hey I just went through something similar. I had to part with someone.. Kinda a close friends.. big fall out on social media.. phone calls.. got called a traitor.. a few 4 letter words.. members left me.. people doubted my decision...

But I knew I had to do it. It was very hard. First time for me I had to make that type of choice in business.

Now my only regret is that I didnt do it 13 months ago

 

[Bigguns50]

I agree Pete. And if he gets pissed about it...let HIM take you to court. From what you've told us...he doesn't seem very motivated and doesn't makes things happen...I say no worries.

 

[Mrs. BRKb]

Hope this ends along the lines Pete describes, Vick. You know the guy, so you may have a better feel for how it might play out. Kind of worrisome til it's clearly resolved.
- There are humans involved. Money involved. Greed can be a wild card.
- The guy has the cofounder title, has been mentioned as being cofounder and as working on the project.
- A product has been created.
- The project is ready to take off in a big way ($$$).

 

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[buwatcha]

Vick -

You are smart to deal with the "partner" before these sunglasses really take off.

He's proven that he does not have what you need or want in a partner - absolutely let him go. There's no point to giving him any kind of a trial. He's already had it.

But, speak with an attorney first. It might seem expensive now but it could cost you an unbelievable amount down the road if this guy comes back claiming he owns 33% of the company.

Based on what you've said here I'd wager that he has no case. There no written or verbal agreement. He's contributed zero capital. He's not obligated on any debts. And, he's performed almost no services.

Why does he even think he's entitled to have this conversation with you? Your offer to make him co-founder? Did you guys sit around and discuss the designs? Could he claim he helped designed the glasses? Are there any written communications at all? Emails, texts voicemails?

 

[Vick]

Thanks everyone.

This will be taken care of on the weekend.

 

[liite]

Vick,

I love the glasses, they are awesome! I've read this thread a few times over and think they will be a big hit. Myself and others have all commented on the price, saying you need to charge more. This got me thinking about other car accessories available and I found these:

http://www.chrono24.com/en/jaegerlecoultre/amvox--mod147.htm

Jaeger la Coultre watches designed for Aston Martin. Literally a James Bond watch, some of these will unlock, lock and start your supercar.

I'm not suggesting you charge $40,000 per pair but this is a possible avenue you could look at (apologise if you are already) make your sunglasses a luxury brand, something everyone wants and has to save up for. Then see if you can design a pair for a super car company that will retail for thousands so that the next time Jay Z or whoever buys a Lambo they purchase a pair, gets photographed in there new lambo wearing your glasses people go nuts for them and buy your "cheaper" mass market avaliable ones.

Ok going slighty over the top now but I hope you get the idea. People are suggesting you charge more but perhaps a reason as to why might add something to the pile.

 

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[Vick]

lol. well, I have a plan for the way I want to run the product.

Creating something that only the rich can afford is not really what I envisioned or wanted.

I'm thinking about raising the price still. It's not an easy decision.

It's nice to hear my friends on the forum say they would pay the price.

But it's another thing to someone I don't know.

I guess the real question is.

How many people out there between the ages of 18-50 would spend over 200$ on a pair of sunglasses, from a company they never heard of?

On the other hand. Maybe this attracts people, because they might think, "huh these look pretty cool, never heard of this company before, and there over 200$ they must be really good".... OR Maybe because there 'new' and 'rare' people will like that... Who knows.

All I know is, I've reserved a shit load of them at 120$ and raising the price kinda scares me.

If I do raise the price, it will be between 189$ - 229$

 

[PeteLife]

How about setting up a poll in a new thread to get a better feedback on price ... I think this will produce some interesting results.

$159?
$169?
$179?
$189?
$199?
$209?
$219?
$229?

 

[Bigguns50]

They just LOOK expensive. Ever since you posted the pics of the Lambo's, I associate the glasses with them. When you post a pic of one particular pare on FB, I see next to it (in my head) a Lambo pic that resembles the glasses. I keep thinking since the cars were an inspiration for design, you should run with that in some marketing.

 

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[Vick]

ya I'm gonna see if some super car owners will help me out with some pics in the future. Send them some free pairs.

 

[nevergiveup]

Not only super cars... Just think about a pair of matte black and lime green on all of these people sponsored by Monster Energy!

 

[Vick]

some images I did tonight. trying to make some really nice AD images for Facebook posts.

 

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[PSK]

Oh boy, things are about to get messy.

What to do. What to do.

Looks like I made a huge mistake about 6-7 months ago.

At the time, I thought that I would need help with this project.

So I found someone I thought would be a great partner.

Up to this point I have done basically everything, my partner has done very little. He looked into Importing a bit and that's about all he has done. I've worked night and days almost every single day for 8 months on this project.

I've come to the conclusion, that I don't really need this person, as of yet anyway. In fact, I don't plan on hiring anyone for a long time now. This is a project I fell that my wife and I can handle on our own for awhile.

Also, me and my wife have 100% of the risk. We are the ones who have to pay back the 15,000$ we received as a loan. Which means everything is on us. And nothing on this partner.

What really peeved me is that, I asked him months and months ago for an equity percentage he thought was fair. He finally gave me his quote the other day. And said he wants 33% of my company.

Seriously!?! 33% of my company. For what? Doing research on importing.

I made a huge mistake taking this guy on.

Seems to me like he's just hitching a ride to success on my back.

Thankfully, we have never really agreed to anything on paper, or vocal. Except for some stupid reason 5-6 months back, I told him he can use the Co-founder as a title. I have no idea why I said that to him, he hasn't even done anything.

Jeez what was I thinking back then? Why and the hell did I go looking for someone when I didn't even need someone? Stupid, stupid.

Now I'm at a cross roads.

How do I handle this situation?

As of right now I hold all the cards.

My wife suggested that I give him an offer that he will not agree to. Technically, forcing him to move on. But, If he agrees, he'll have to prove himself with sales before any equity is determined.

OR

Just let him go. I'm leaning towards this, because I have a new plan for the way I would like to run my business. By that I mean, no employees.

Anyone know how I should handle this? I feel pretty bad for what's about to happen and by no means was planning on this to happen. I just made a mistake and asked someone to help me to early.

Vick

Just be very careful in relation to any potential PR damage he can do leading up to launch. If for example, he has access to your company's social media (or even his own).

I've seen it numerous times where disgruntled ex-employees/directors start going on a massive tirade and accusing companies of stealing their ideas when in fact they never contributed anything in the first place.

 

[Vick]

Vick

Just be very careful in relation to any potential PR damage he can do leading up to launch. If for example, he has access to your company's social media (or even his own).

I've seen it numerous times where disgruntled ex-employees/directors start going on a massive tirade and accusing companies of stealing their ideas when in fact they never contributed anything in the first place.

Thanks for the response

I've dealt with this matter.

I'm flying solo now. The partner has left this venture, due to non agreements in the clause I set forth to him.

As for the future. I don't expect to hear from him again.

But, I guess only time will tell.

 

[Vick]

guess I should give a little update as well.

As of today. I have $14,400 in reservations (at special price of $120 pair). Whether or not how much people will commit is the real question.

Due to money constraints (manufacturing set me back a bit), I'm not able to advertise on Facebook as much as I'd like while I'm waiting for 5 more months.

But, every 2 weeks I Boost a Post on my Facebook Fan page. I usually boost it for about 110$ to run all day.

Boosted posts have been working great for me.

My last Boosted a couple weeks ago earned me about 20 email subscribers from my website, 11 reservations, some of which were 2 pairs, and about 100+ Likes. As we speak I'm running another Boosted post today, cause I got paid . Anyway, so far it's showing predictable results. 4 reservations already, a few email subs, and about 60+ Likes. I've noticed that after 5pm - 11pm EST is when a lot of the orders come in. 7pm - 9pm is usually really good.

So in my mind the 'reservations' are'aren't really orders, because it's easy for people to just say "yup, reserve me one". However, with pretty much every reservation, I get a quetion of "Where can I buy these?" Which to me means there willing to open there pocket.

So, that's just say there sales for now.

On average by boosting 1 sales Post. I can make roughly this...

170$ x 13(2 orders were 2 pairs) = $2210
100+ Likes (which grows more and more every post)
Email subs, usually around 10-20. The number is low cause my website is kinda crappy for email conversions. Working on a updated website.

Total cost of all this was 110$ just from 1 boosted post.

Selling 1 product will pay for my 1 boosted Ad for the day. So I imagine I can run a couple of Boosted Posts If I like. playing around with images and such.

When I launch, I'll be able to do a Boosted Posts daily. But right now, I cant, cause I don't have anything to sell to make the money back.

I'll also be using there Ad service, which I haven't really used to much yet.

I through 100$ at there Ad service awhile back. But that money went CRAZY fast, and nothing really developed from it.

I have insanely better results from Boosted posts that last all day for only a 100$. Maybe it's because my product is very image based, it's an 'eye-candy' product. Which is probably why it does well for Boosts.

After listening to JasonR's Facebook call, I'll attack there Ad service again later when I have the product to sell. But right now, it's doesn't make sense to use it, it drains my account with no results.

All the other reservations, are from me posting stuff on Facebook randomly, on either my personal page or my fan page.

Friending people who Like interests related to Oakley, Volcom, Lamborghini, Beach Life, Snowboarding, Wakeboarding, Surfing, etc.

I just search for Friends who like those Niches, send them a request, sometimes a little message if I saw something cool on there page. It's normal for everyone, that before you accept a Friend request, you go and check them out quickly to see who they are and what there about, by going to there personal page. Soooo, on my personal page I always make sure there's a beautiful image of our sunglasses in the Banner, which is the 1st thing they see, with my website address. I'd say about 90% accept the friend request, and usually I get a few messages about the sunglasses, which usually converts to a sale(reservation right now). I haven't done this daily for too long, because I just discovered a work flow couple days ago, and fine tuned it. It's important to approach people with the intent on being there friends, not just to sell that stuff. People know when there being sold too. So I choose people I will enjoy seeing posts from or talking too. Anyway, this method is working great for now, and is very helpful for getting early adapters to get the product out there. And.. it's FREE.

There's a little trick to finding the exact people who would want to see your product. Facebook kinda hides stuff, obvious stuff, but if you look right, the results are insane.

If anyone likes. I can make a quick vid on how I search for potentials on Facebook.

So far, I've used no other Social service yet to product sales.

I will in the future, but right now Facebook is crazy awesome for selling.

1 billion people are at your finger tips, if you know where to look.

AS for the product itself. Everything is going great, and on schedule.

It looks as though my pickiness to finding the right manufacturer is paying off.

They are doing fantastic.

Very excited to see our sample in Feb.

Also, working on some videos. 3D rendered videos.

Cheers

 

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[Bigguns50]

My last Boosted a couple weeks ago earned me about 20 email subscribers from my website, 11 reservations

Damn...even if 75% don't order....you're still making $ !

I would love to see a video regarding your search potentials on FB.
If no one's said it..this will be Legendary.
Keep at it Vick !

 

[AllenCrawley]

If anyone likes. I can make a quick vid on how I search for potentials on Facebook.

Yes please.

 

[Vick]

Thanks guys, I'll make a quick video next week.

As of today, I'm officially on retirement for 3 weeks from the grind

 

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[LeungJan]

I've got a bad feeling about not taking the credit card details. Can't you run a small test - another boost, where you ask for the CC and see the conversion rate? should give you a real idea of how much you will convert.

 

[Vick]

ya possibly.

but when someone tells me they want to buy them now. that's usually a good indicator too

 

[Bowden]

Vick - this is one of my favorite threads to follow on here. Love the look of those glasses.

$120 reserved locked in. Good to go. Definitely don't want to raise the price.

But you could - Have a LIMITED EDITION premiere version (maybe different color scheme/type) for $249 - $300. I'm talking this thing gets a nice a$$ box, little numbered certificate card, whatever. Just make it limited and push that. Could just be a one time color scheme. Once it's gone, it's gone.

Either way good luck!

 

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[Vick]

Progress from China on CAD drawings.

I've finally signed off the CAD drawings today. We went through only 3 revisions. I'm very happy so far with the progress. They did a fantastic job in getting all the shapes and angles right. Unfortunately somethings had to change slightly, but as I said before, I expected that. But for the most part, everything looks great. Better then I expected, which is always good.

Nest step is tooling the molds. The metal pieces will be done by CNC.

Here are the final CAD drawings for the molds. Proceeded by the 2nd revision and 1st revision. As you can see the first revision was pretty bad, they got all the big shapes and forms correct for the most part, but messed up a lot of the important stuff, like our Logo. Was not too impressed when I saw that version, but it was the 1st pass, so I just told them to fix it, and they did. The second revision was much better, almost perfect, except for the inside hinge. And then the 3rd revision was perfect.

So it should be about 2 months until I receive my 8 samples, one of every color.

Can't believe I'm making my own sunglasses, crazy stuff. It seems surreal at times.

Anyway, next big update should be 'real' images of these bad boys.

One last HUGE hurdle to pass, and that is, do they fit nicely. If I can pass that step, I should be ok, as far as the product is concerned.

1st 2 images are revision 3 (the final)
next 2 images are revision 2
and the last image is the first revision

 

[MJ DeMarco]

I edited the thread title as "new project" is a little misleading now -- added a little more info.

 

[Vick]

Cool

 

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[GravyBoat]

As of today. I have $14,400 in reservations (at special price of $120 pair). Whether or not how much people will commit is the real question.

God damn this is such a kick-a$$ thread. Anxiously awaiting my pair, I placed my email on the order list a while ago. Wearing them will represent more than simple glasses for anyone that's viewed this thread.

SPEED +++

 

[PopEmersen]

F*cking sweet