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Created perfect prototype, need to find manufacturer...

Daytraderz

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Hi Day, That is great advice about talking about details of my invention. There's no need to and plenty of risk. Aren't you worried that someone will copy-cat your invention before you get it fully patented? I know someone might still rip off my invention but I will do everything humanly possible to deter/prevent that.
Did you come up w/ a name for your product yet? I'm struggling w/ that. You said "playing around with the field of business". That's another thing I'm struggling w/. Maybe I'm just dumb but it's hard for me to plan, and set goals and landmarks. Do you know of a book or something that can help? I'll call it a "Roadmap for Retards like Me".
Thanks for listening, Greg

I have thought about this and decided it didn't really matter. My product won't be overly priced which will bring down the problem with copy cats stealing my consumers. Another way I have thought about diverting this issue is by ensuring I use the golden circle to centralize my business around. Starting with the Why we are doing what we are doing and going into the how and then the what (This is a Ted Talks that inspired me a few years back that I use today). I plan on running the business as a movement rather than a company. I will try to brand it well with those who will give me the best reps and I will have a blog for traveling and doing X with my product. I have came up with a name, and I will let you guys know once I file the provisional patent just to be safe :) not that I don't trust you guys!

The name kind of just came to me, I looked at the product and it looked like this known thing but was used in an entirely different aspect so I capitalized on it. As for planning, I have made about 6 full length business proposals and I suggest you don't plan too much and just jump in. If you are young like I am we have time to learn and make mistakes, but too much planning a lot of the time will lead to anxiety and stress. I broke up what I needed to accomplish in three categories to focus on in order to be able to get the business up and running - product, business, and legal. The product category is everything involved in getting a tangible product to the market (prototypes, manufacturers, etc...). The business category is everything I need to run a business (website, logos, short business plan for start-up, etc...). The last category, legal, is everything I need to do in order to protect myself and my idea. I don't know if that will help but it works for me!

Make sure you're truly passionate about the business you're doing and that it appears to lead you to the kind of life you want to live. My problem with past businesses is that I just wanted to be an entrepreneur and tried to force it. Another thought on the book thing, a lot of people who seem like they know what they are talking about don't always know what they are talking about. Keep in mind that your past experiences in life is what has led you to where you are and it is completely different than anyone else's path. What might work for another person with the same business might not work for you because of the different lives and thoughts you two have. Hope this somewhat helps!
 
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Daytraderz

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My 20 year long manufacturing and exporting business that I sold 30 years ago was totally unrelated to the industry being discussed in this thread, but a general observation on the three main subjects raised might help.

Making prototypes and production models.
I started with almost zero cash, and initially re-labeled and resold products made by others but for which I had a much better use that they didn't know about. When I started making my own superior products I had to improvise, both when experimenting and finally for full scale production.

The experiments were repeated ad nauseum, over and over again, on a very small scale, but when I got it right, I was able to use the techniques that I had learned in my experiments.

Maybe making small versions of the products being designed by participants in this thread might be a low cost way to iron out any problems? This is where the grannies might shine.

Even using low cost materials for those trial production models might help. In that case, testing for durability would have to wait.

Patents.
I didn’t patent any of my products because patents are too easy to bypass in the chemical industry with minor changes. Are you all sure that your product can’t be slightly modified to bypass your patent? Maybe someone else can make an improvement that you haven’t thought of. Beware of your patent being over-specific. For example if you specify a particular fabric, you might leave the way open for someone to use a different fabric. (Just an example to show that a Patent Attorney might be a good investment.)

Labels.
There was one thing on which I didn't skimp - labeling. I was competing against multi-national giants, so the labels had to look professional. I designed my own and shopped around until I found the best sources. Likewise, in my B2B importing business I didn't stint on labeling and the outcome was that supplying labels became a substantial part of the business when I franchised it in 4 countries.

Choose your brand name and logo early and devise a marketing plan that is consistent in style, fonts, color schemes etc. Most people have a tendency to leave that all too late and they finish up with something that doesn't flow like a brand should.

If you have carefully thought about what your logo should be, you should not have to spend a lot on logo design. Leaving it to an expensive designer without retaining control of the process is not a good idea. If you really know what you want you can hire a Fiverr gig with multiple changes so that they make a great logo that embodies your intentions.

Walter

Question, for the trademark, did you file a separate one for the logo and brand name, or did you file it together? I am trying to figure out if I need to trademark each one individually or together. I want to use them separately because the logo has the brand name in it but the business name, I do not want anyone else to be able to use. Thanks in advance!
 

Daytraderz

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Yup! We currently work with a local college that retrains new immigrants and at-risk youth for jobs in the fashion industry. They're partly funded by government grants and act as a not for profit incubator for those starting their own label. They help them obtain reasonable piecework rates until they are able to scale to a point where larger manufacturing is more profitable.

That said our products are small enough and simple enough that they can be made at scale by this group. Working with them cut our costs by 20%. Lead times are a bit longer but the quality is top notch.
Could you tell me how to even begin trying to find something like this in my area?
 

Wolfman

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Hi Greg,

Your two questions:
USP = Unique Selling Point.
Fiverr Gig = service provided by freelancers operating on Fiverr.com. Basic service might cost $5 but you will often pay a lot more to get just what you want. Read the freelancer's reviews.

The logo should convey a real message, just as the brand name should. To work out what that message should be you need to put yourself in your potential customers' shoes and think what would attract them to your product. Sometimes a logo will only be a stylized version of the brand name. See this post that mentions a miserable logo failure When should I private label?

You might learn a bit from my labeling book introduction: Forum Members and Their Books!?
and you can see the contents list here: Should I use Teespring or a manufacturer?

Walter
Thanks Walter, I checked out the Fiverr site. It was a great suggestion. At $5 I won't feel bad if I mess up a few times. Greg
 
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Carol Jones

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Don't sell the old ladies short. See the thread GOLD I Built A Worldwide Business From Broke.

@Carol Jones has built a great business with high volume production using such workers and also ones with disabilities. I have done likewise. Your supply chain will be secure and you are less likely to encounter copycats working for a manufacturer, whether in the USA or not.

Walter
Thank you @Walter Hay. This is true. I just did an interview on Radio 2UE in Sydney. And focussed on 'Made with love and care in rural Australia by men and women who have a disability'.

Our sewing company has made well over a million items. I have only had one returned because of a manufacturing fault.

To a maker - me - who guarantees their product against wear and tear for 12 months. No returns are a financial godsend.

I highly recommend using non-traditional manufacturing sources to make a product.

Thank you for the mention, Walter. Appreciated. ~Carol❤
 

Walter Hay

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This is somewhat a joke, somewhat serious, but out of all the ideas I have had my eldest sister is the biggest devils advocate and she hasn't had anything bad to say about this one so far (except for my logo idea haha).

It's hard for an individual to step back and look at their own designs, inventions, copy writing etc., with an unbiased critical eye. A strong critic is a blessing in disguise.

Your eldest sister can be a great asset if she is critical and you can take it on the chin. My son and I collaborated in preparing all advertising material ourselves, and our agreement was that I would criticize what he wrote and he would criticize what I wrote - NO HOLDS BARRED. The result was way higher than industry average conversions with direct mail, and according to a Yellow Pages survey in which they monitored our phone, a call rate that exceeded all our competitors at rates by 4X to 11X. And yes we had a high conversion rate. That was in the days when print YP ruled.

Question, for the trademark, did you file a separate one for the logo and brand name, or did you file it together? I am trying to figure out if I need to trademark each one individually or together. I want to use them separately because the logo has the brand name in it but the business name, I do not want anyone else to be able to use. Thanks in advance!

I never filed for trademark protection, but used the symbol which is supposed to only indicate that an application has been lodged. I used that symbol for well over 20 years and never had anyone attempt to copy the brand name or logo. Regarding the name, it was a registered Limited Company name so copying was far less of a risk for that anyway.

Walter
 

Daytraderz

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Thank you @Walter Hay. This is true. I just did an interview on Radio 2UE in Sydney. And focussed on 'Made with love and care in rural Australia by men and women who have a disability'.

Our sewing company has made well over a million items. I have only had one returned because of a manufacturing fault.

To a maker - me - who guarantees their product against wear and tear for 12 months. No returns are a financial godsend.

I highly recommend using non-traditional manufacturing sources to make a product.

Thank you for the mention, Walter. Appreciated. ~Carol❤

Thank you so much. My mom was a teacher at a local high school for special need students. Maybe this can be where I start. It would be amazing to be able to work with them and provide this kind of business, thanks again.
 
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Daytraderz

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It's hard for an individual to step back and look at their own designs, inventions, copy writing etc., with an unbiased critical eye. A strong critic is a blessing in disguise.

Your eldest sister can be a great asset if she is critical and you can take it on the chin. My son and I collaborated in preparing all advertising material ourselves, and our agreement was that I would criticize what he wrote and he would criticize what I wrote - NO HOLDS BARRED. The result was way higher than industry average conversions with direct mail, and according to a Yellow Pages survey in which they monitored our phone, a call rate that exceeded all our competitors at rates by 4X to 11X. And yes we had a high conversion rate. That was in the days when print YP ruled.



I never filed for trademark protection, but used the symbol which is supposed to only indicate that an application has been lodged. I used that symbol for well over 20 years and never had anyone attempt to copy the brand name or logo. Regarding the name, it was a registered Limited Company name so copying was far less of a risk for that anyway.

Walter

I love it, thank you.
 

Carol Jones

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Thank you so much. My mom was a teacher at a local high school for special need students. Maybe this can be where I start. It would be amazing to be able to work with them and provide this kind of business, thanks again.


Good morning @Daytraderz from Oz,

The best business decision we made was to have our products made with love and care in rural Australia by men and women who have a disability.

These are men and women who LOVE to work. They really do put their heart and soul into everything they do. And it always shows.

Give it a go! ~Carol❤
 

WebMedic

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Walter Hay

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The link provided by Webmedic points to a service that appears to cost a minimum of $299 every time someone wants to source a product in China. That's 3X the price of my book that has been used successfully by thousands of newbie importers and not so new importers for years and which gives them many more options, teaching all the ins and outs of safe sourcing and easy importing. With free updates every year it keeps readers up to date.

For $299 the sourcing service offers to deal on your behalf with 3 "manufacturers" that they claim to have "vetted."

His post seems to be promoting a somewhat anonymous sourcing service. There are no contact details, and no address. The only way to contact them is to sign up.

The big question is: How do you know if you can trust the sourcing service? Are the limited number of "manufacturers" they have "vetted" paying them a commission as well as them charging you for their service? Do they own any of the businesses they offer to you as vetted? Do their cousins own them? (Everyone in business in China has a cousin whose business they recommend.) How can you be sure you are getting the best price, or is the price loaded? How can you be sure you are really buying from a manufacturer?

I suggest members have a look at my earliest post about Sourcing Agents Sharing my lifetime experience in export/import. Product sourcing specialist. I have posted 23 times on the subject, mostly in answer to questions. so readers might like to search for some of those posts also.

Walter
 

Daytraderz

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I have created something that I plan on building a business around. I have registered the domain name, applied for a trademark, and am currently waiting to discuss the costs of having a patent attorney file my non-provisional patent vs. me doing it myself. I have figured my next step is to find someone who will be able to manufacture the product itself. I will order/send the items being used in the product and just need someone to assemble it. My question is do I need to use a manufacturing rep. to help me find this company or can anyone think of a more simple (and cost efficient) approach? I'm thinking I could go to the local fabric store and see if I can just get a few of the older ladies there to sew it for me for $x/item. It doesn't take too long to sew and isn't relatively large.

Any ideas and productive feedback would be much appreciated!

Thanks everyone for the discussion and thoughts being bounced around in here. I am glad some other members of the forums have been able to benefit from this post as well as me. I ended up hitting it off real well with a professor of mine who is an entrepreneur as well so hopefully I will be able to pick his brain more before the semester is over.

As for the business, here is an update for anyone interested. As for progress, I am building the website, the provisional patent application, have the final prototype done, working on the tech pack, and have bounced around ideas for who I will have manufacture it. As for the website, when it is done I will put it in here to get feedback from you all, since I truly value all of yours opinion. The provisional patent will be done by Wednesday, I will have a patent attorney who will review it for me (I told them when I file the non-provisional I will use them for their service right now), then I will send it off and begin opening up marketing.

As for marketing, I have made instagram, and twitter accounts, and a facebook page. I am also thinking about looking into Reddit (if anyone has any ideas for this i'd love to hear it). I am going to open up the social media accounts once I have the tech packages done. I leave for my trip to California December 14th-January 5th and will be marketing the product and networking with the local surfers and surf shops along my way south to Baja. I will have the social media accounts posting things during this entire trip of my friends and I using the product. The ecommerce store will be holding a "pre-sale" with "20-30%" off the product during the period. I haven't finishing planning this but while I am gone I need the product to be for sale so will probably have some cool package deal for pre-sale orders. When I return, I will handle this stuff and let the game begin.

As for manufacturing the product, if time permits, I will give local seamstress and sewing shops a copy of the tech pack along with a picture or physical copy of the product. While I am gone, they can make a prototype and give me bids on quantities of 10/25/50 to begin with and it will move up with demand from there (is what I tell them because who knows what will happen haha). When I get back, I will evaluate these bids and then pick the best one and use it for the time being.

I know that things might go completely opposite of what I am thinking, but I am going with this because it feels too right. All the other business ideas i've had, there was passion involved, but this idea has more than passion. I was listening to a podcast and they said passion isn't the only important thing, you have to obsess over whatever it is you're doing. I think this is right in a sense (moderation is always good), but I take it as whatever you're doing business in, it needs to lead you to the life you want to live. I think it was Einstein who said you just need to get on the frequency of the life you want to live (or something along those lines), and I think this is what he was referring to. I want to invest, travel, and surf in my life. I know that I must have an income to support this goal, and my abilities align with this business venture. It will bring me to areas that I will get to travel to, surf, and possibly invest at a given time in the future (although i count it as investing in the business). I envision this brand being able to have a lot more than this single product built around it. Because of that, I decided to make my logo something that can be universally put on many products rather than just this one product.

For feedback, if anyone has any comments at all, I look forward to hearing from you! If you see something that could seem like a flaw or have helpful tips when I do certain things, that would be very helpful on this journey. I wish the best to you guys and hope to continue evolving the business with you all.
 

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