Best Way to Start when End Goal is Manufacturing

[phlgirl]

Trying to understand the best practice when launching a new business online. I am going to use a hypothetical scenario to see what folks think is the best approach and why?

Let's say you were planning to develop a new line of luggage - your end goal is to manufacture this line, brand it, and sell it online/ in stores, etc. The product developement will obviously take some time. Would it make sense, in the meantime, to launch a site for distribution of other luggage brands? This way, you might be able to build a following, start marketing the site, in preparation for the launch of a brand new line?

Or, would it make more sense to wait and dedicate a site solely to your new product line?

Hope that makes sense.

Pros/Cons?

Thanks!

 

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[andviv]

This topic immediately makes me think of biophase's business... maybe he can provide some comments about your idea...

 

[JEdwards]

I think it would be better to wait, cause what you are proposing is actually starting two different businesses.

Do you really want to do that? Or just build your brand?

I say spend the time and money building your brand.

 

[phlgirl]

I see your point, Jack. Thanks for the feedback.

 

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[smith360]

Manufacturing will always be the lifeblood of any market place. The manufacturing industry is one that has been around for hundreds of years and will continue to be around for many years to come.

 

[UncommonWay]

phlgirl,

I just finished reading Stephen Key's One Simple Idea, which talks about his experience with starting a manufacturing company. In his experience, it was 10x more difficult and expensive to start a manufacturing company than to come up with a useful idea and license it to an established brand/company.

His example was when he came up with a novel idea for guitar picks - putting custom printing on them, like Taylor Swift or Carlos Santana's signature. So, he and a friend started a manufacturing company, and it cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Instead, he could have approached an established business with the idea, and licensed it to them for a percentage of the profits. Out of pocket cost would have been less than $1,000.

I recommend Stephen Key's book. I read it all the way through in a couple days, and it is definitely Fastlane material based on renting your ideas out. The Kindle version is only $9.99.

 

[Darkside]

phlgirl,

I just finished reading Stephen Key's One Simple Idea, which talks about his experience with starting a manufacturing company. In his experience, it was 10x more difficult and expensive to start a manufacturing company than to come up with a useful idea and license it to an established brand/company.

His example was when he came up with a novel idea for guitar picks - putting custom printing on them, like Taylor Swift or Carlos Santana's signature. So, he and a friend started a manufacturing company, and it cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Instead, he could have approached an established business with the idea, and licensed it to them for a percentage of the profits. Out of pocket cost would have been less than $1,000.

I recommend Stephen Key's book. I read it all the way through in a couple days, and it is definitely Fastlane material based on renting your ideas out. The Kindle version is only $9.99.

The guy who made the super soaker also did the same thing. He went to Hasbro and had them manufacture it for him, and he'd get a percentage of the profits. Since he wasn't producing, marketing, or selling the products he had $0 in costs but through his partnership with Hasbro he made over 20 million dollars. It's definitely the smarter way to go. The only reason to manufacture is if you have many different types of products and you're starting your own brand. If it's just one product, it's not worth it.

 

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[Likwid24]

phlgirl,

I just finished reading Stephen Key's One Simple Idea, which talks about his experience with starting a manufacturing company. In his experience, it was 10x more difficult and expensive to start a manufacturing company than to come up with a useful idea and license it to an established brand/company.

That's the thing about the times we live in now. You wouldn't need to start your own manufacturing company unless you had millions of dollars to put into and some experience in the industry. It's very easy and cheap to get it outsourced in the U.S. or even an overseas manufacturer. I am currently working on a deal with a broker from the U.S. who deals with manufacturers in China. It's way cheaper than the U.S. and if you find a guy like mine you can trust, it makes it that much easier. phlgirl, if you want his info PM me.

Let's say you were planning to develop a new line of luggage - your end goal is to manufacture this line, brand it, and sell it online/ in stores, etc. The product developement will obviously take some time. Would it make sense, in the meantime, to launch a site for distribution of other luggage brands? This way, you might be able to build a following, start marketing the site, in preparation for the launch of a brand new line?

Or, would it make more sense to wait and dedicate a site solely to your new product line?

I'm dedicating a site solely to my product. I'm trying to create a Brand and I think by selling other products first, you will take away from that. I'm also purchasing an email mailing list that targets my market and will send out emails when my site is ready. I hope this helps. Good Luck!

 

[biophase]

Trying to understand the best practice when launching a new business online. I am going to use a hypothetical scenario to see what folks think is the best approach and why?

Let's say you were planning to develop a new line of luggage - your end goal is to manufacture this line, brand it, and sell it online/ in stores, etc. The product developement will obviously take some time. Would it make sense, in the meantime, to launch a site for distribution of other luggage brands? This way, you might be able to build a following, start marketing the site, in preparation for the launch of a brand new line?

Or, would it make more sense to wait and dedicate a site solely to your new product line?

Hope that makes sense.

Pros/Cons?

Thanks!

I didn't see this thread until today.

Do you also want to get into ecommerce? If not, then you may not enjoy running a luggage store.

The question is that if you started your own line of luggage, how would you get it into the stores? Isn't that the hard part of launching any new brand? Owning an online store that sells all types of luggage may help, but it really depends on the industry.

For example, if you had a SHOESRUS and your brand OOGO shoes was in their with Nike and Reebok, I don't think it would help you that much. You would ultimately need to get it into Footlocker, Sports Authority, etc... to get brand recognition. But if you were in a niche where there aren't big established brands, you could slide your brand into the store and the public wouldn't know which brand was new because all the brands are new to them.