Bringing 2 new products to market! Join the journey!

[Lone Wolf]

Hey everyone!

I'm in the midst of bringing 2 new (and completely separate products) to market.

I decided to make a progress threads for a few reasons:-

• I lurk on the forum a lot, and have learnt so much. So I want to add some value back into the forum.
• I keep notebooks for a wide variety of things (all my current ventures, daily & long terms tasks/goals, business ideas / models etc.), but I've never kept a notebook for 'lessons learned' - so I thought why not make this thread my personal notebook instead?!
• To get input and advice from you guys for the numerous speed bumps ahead.

A little background about me:-

• I'm 19, and I guess I'm what you'd call a 'serial' entrepreneur. My aim is to set up product based companies (not set on this, but it's what I've focused on so far) & pass the majority of the workload onto capable teams. I don't want to be a permanent 'serial' entrepreneur, jumping from business to business. I'm looking to create a large & long-lasting company in the near future, but I'm currently doing this for for the valuable learning experience, and in order to get a steady income, in order to fund future ventures.
  
• I've been living in China for just over a year now. I originally came for an internship, and was offered a full time job at the end of it. I continued to work there for a little while, while I continued to setup my business in the evenings. It took off shortly after, so I quit (on good terms with the CEO - who offered to invest in my venture), and I'm now purely focused on my own businesses full time, and I'm really loving life.
• I didn't go to University & have no plans to.

P.S. Would love to meet up with any forum member(s) in the China / HK / Macau area.

------------------------------

So, now down to business. The 2 products are completely separate from each other, and in entirely different markets.

Because I'll be talking about them both in various posts, I'll call them 'Project A' and 'Project B'.

Both products stemmed from ideas I came up with, and are v. unique. I have greatly different plans for both products.

As I mentioned, I've already done quite a lot of work on both projects already, so the progress thread is jumping in the middle. I'll list some key points about each project below (from memory, so likely missed points - also just writing them down as I would in a notebook), so you can catch up somewhat.

Project A

- Figured out proponents of the product. Drew some mock ups, and listed the expected utility of the final product.

- Prototyped the product, and got feedback (via Skype) from family and friends (lesson learnt: always take family & friends feedback with a grain of salt; apart from dads - he will be brutally honest as always!) regarding the mocked-up design and utility of the product.

- Made numerous adjustments to the design & utility based off the feedback received.

- Finally got to a design & functionality that I'm v. happy about, and the feedback suggests the same.

- Figured out company name & branding. Registered various domains & registered as a Ltd. business.

- Hired a design team (have contacts from internship), went to visit them and got the designs created within a day.

- Began sourcing via Alibaba (have done countless times in the past), and began sampling with a number of factories, after getting them to sign an NDA that I drafted with a lawyer (family contact). They're pretty useless in China, but it shows commitment from the factories at the very least.

- Received two v. poor quality samples from different factories (lesson learnt: communicate in excruciating detail (use pictures), be clear about exactly what you expect of the final sample, or they will cut corners. Also don't negotiate so ruthlessly; always leave something on the table. Learn more about Chinese business culture. Spend more time sourcing, don't rush it and really put effort into comparing the various factories. Take all factors into consideration, their enthusiasm, response time, knowledge. Finish reading Walters thread on sourcing).

- Spent a lot longer sourcing, with a much stricter criteria for who to work with. Finally found a fantastic factory today, about 2hrs away from me. Paid sample fee, expect to receive in 7-9 days.

Aim: This will work best as a retail product. Will be running a Kickstarter initially as it's great to prove consumer interest before pitching it to retailers, and it's also a product I'm certain the people on Kickstarter will love.

To do:

- Get designs from factory.
- Visit the factory.
- Decide which domain name to go with (have a few versions of the company name, trying to figure which is the catchiest - perhaps get feedback from people).
- Hire design team for product packaging.
- Look into patenting.
- Research the path to retail stores for this type of product, in more detail.
- Get a landing page up, to start building an email list.
- Learn more about Kickstarter.
- Hire a web designer for the website (have contacts from internship nearby).
- Create a HQ video for the Kickstarter.
- Start marketing to drive hype & to continue collecting emails before Kickstarter launch.
- Launch Kickstarter (potentially find a trusted US partner, as it will likely be much more successful on the US Kickstarter platform).

Project B

- Very big project.
- Loads of work done so far trying to nail down the concept of this. Big potential, but seems to be 'one step forward two steps back' currently.
- Prototyped & feedback received again. Agreed that there's potential, but definitely not there.
- Keep tweaking. Spending a lot of time on figuring out the concept, getting much closer to the final product utility.
- Also designed with the team. Really love the design of this product too.
- Domain already registered. Have offered to buy it from the current owner - waiting on a response.
- Still have some features I want to implement - however, not too far from being able to begin sourcing.
- Tested the product for an extremely long time with others - still needs work.
- Have some concerns about the potential cost of the finished product, may not meet the price point I hope to provide for customers. Not willing to sacrifice quality.
- Currently implementing features & improving the utility.
- Waiting on domain owner to respond, as have submitted an official bid via a domain broker.

Aim: Will be selling via my own website & Amazon. Also plan to initially launch via Kickstarter, as I know it's launched well (with a good video & well detailed description), they will love it.

To do:
- Get utility of the product nailed down 100%.
- TEST TEST TEST
- Secure domain name.
- Register as a Ltd. business.
- Look into patenting.
- Set up a landing page.
- Hire web design team.
- Create a HQ video (highly important for the success of this product).
- Launch Kickstarter (also potentially look for a trusted US partner for this product, as I'm certain it will be much more successful on the US Kickstarter platform).

More than happy to answer any questions too.

 

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[Lone Wolf]

Update:

Project A

Not much that can be done on this until I get the samples from the factory in a week or so.

Going to be reading more about bringing this type of product to retail. Already have a small list of big retailers (UK based), where it would fit in nicely.


Project B

Going to be testing the product vigorously today for a few hours with a friend, however, I'm heading to Macau in the evening - so don't have too long to work on it unfortunately.

My goal is to have a watertight concept, with all the features I want added by next week. I hope to have at least began sourcing before April 10th.

General

Also doing general reading on Kickstarter. I've already done 1 course on Kickstarter so far, which I learnt some incredibly valuable information.

My aim for both the Kickstarters isn't necessarily to make money - it will ultimately act as POC (have attempted to prove this amongst small groups already - overwhelming positive response) and especially for Project A, as it will help when approaching retailers, to prove market interest.

 

[Lone Wolf]

Project A

No updates.

Project B

Unfortunately the domain name offer got declined with a somewhat rude comment left by the owner. I had done a reverse search on the owner (via WhoIS) before I submitted my bid, and in an attempt to contact him myself. The guy who owns it is ~65 and owns over 300 domains that he registered in in the late 90s.

Seems as though he's expecting a million dollar offer, which he's certainly never going to get - the domain I was offering to buy is not at all a valuable domain name, and has an Estibot valuation of $200.

Trying to come up with solutions of how to proceed from here.

 

[Willy]

Where'd you get your ideas? Were you searching for these things, or did you just see them in your life? Truly some awesome work, I'm looking to do something similar with my life.

 

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[Lone Wolf]

Where'd you get your ideas? Were you searching for these things, or did you just see them in your life? Truly some awesome work, I'm looking to do something similar with my life.

Good question.

I wasn't necessarily searching for these things, as much as I happened to stumbled upon them and had an 'Ah-ha!' moment both times.

Here's my advice:

Firstly, you should write down a list of markets & business models in a notebook, based on existing companies (I.e. Apple = premium products => status symbol). Just write as many as you can think, and read them over once a week or so.

Secondly, just get out there and experience as much as possible. Ideas can stem from the most unlikely scenarios. I'd estimate I have 10-20 'Ah-ha!' moments a week. Then I look into the feasibility of each idea, and try and fit the idea in with any of the business models you wrote in the notebook.

Finally, keep an idea book. Write down every idea you can think of. I have some incredibly weird and wonderful ideas in my book - some that would literally never be possible. But they can spur on new ideas in the future, or be combined with existing ideas.

 

[OVOvince]

good luck OP

Where'd you get your ideas? Were you searching for these things, or did you just see them in your life? Truly some awesome work, I'm looking to do something similar with my life.

http://paulgraham.com/startupideas.html

 

[Lone Wolf]

Project A

Got an update from the factory today, stating that they have started sampling.

Project B

- Seemed to have figured out the domain name situation - not ideal, but making the best of the situation.

- Worked on the concept today, very nearly sorted. Confident the concept will be 100% nailed down by next Wednesday. Also optimistic that I can begin sourcing by the 1st April.

 

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[Lone Wolf]

Been unfortunately MIA for the past 4-5 days or so, facing some annoying issues (laptop broke, took to a repair shop and waited a couple of days - no luck so had to go to Macau to buy a new English one. Also internet stopped working - which is harder to get fixed in China than you'd expect). Lesson learnt: Back-up your files (had already done this, so no issues from my end, but may help save someone in the future).

Project A

Received two samples (the exact same), and very impressed with it. This factory is far better all round (better quality, better communication & more common sense - taking initiative to do small things). Although almost perfect, it still needs a few small revisions due to the manufacturing process used - so will be sampling again.

Also going to arrange a visit to the factory.

Project B

Only got my new laptop & internet up and running yesterday, so haven't had much of a chance to work on it, although I did go over the concept for an hour or so last night.

Today's tasks

Going to go back to the designers and make the necessary revisions to project A.

Going to spend a good chunk of today working on the concept of project B.

 

[Lone Wolf]

Project A

First designs have been revised (based off corrections of the first sample). Have other designs currently being finalized - will be sampling all designs at once (it's a range of different products).

Project B

Concept is very close to complete - purely just a grind of putting in the work - not much else that can be done / is worth doing until the concept is figured out.

Still keeping an eye out for US partner (have eye on one, but quite an influencer in the market - not hard to contact & will be doing so when ready to proceed), but not a priority until the concept is finalized.

 

[Lone Wolf]

Haven't posted here in a while. Things are moving full steam ahead, but it's primarily a waiting game now (on other people).

Project A

• All products designed & configurations made. In sampling and should be getting the final samples in 5 days.
• Factory wants to wait before sampling is 100% finished before providing me with the dimensions of the packaging (to ensure it's optimal) - so will have to delay getting the packaging sampled until then - no issue as it will be a quick sample & I'm in China, so will be delivered within days.
  
• Decided which domain name I'll be proceeding with & soon to get the website designed (can do myself, but would rather get it done professionally)
• I'm making a list of big & small retailers that my product will fit into well & will approach when ready.
• Not going to patent this product, as I feel as though it can't be (it's unique, but not sure it meets the requirements).
• I only plan to proceed with the Kickstarter & e-commerce route if the retail route fails.

Project B

• Concept is figured out - took WAY longer than expected, but I'm very proud of it & believe my customers will love it!
  
• Got a variety of different potential domains (have some already registered earlier, that I'd be happier to go with, but trying to figure out if there's any better ones), as the owner of the perfect one won't accept any offer I provide.
  
• Also, as mentioned earlier, the primary designs have been completed, but there's still a lot of design work to do (web, video & some product design left).
• Prepare for Kickstarter (continue my search for the best US partner).

 

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