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Hello! First post here after some lurking. What a great forum! Also, on the last few chapters TMF ...
Just a warning, this is going to be sort of a stream of consciousness/brain dump kind of post.
Anyway, I wanted to put some ideas out into the world so that I could get some feedback, but more than anything I figured that publicly posting some thoughts would help motivate me to execute my idea.
I am interested in developing a product that fits into the category of soft goods/personal accessories. More specifically, it is something that nearly everyone already owns, and I intend to add a set of features to it that I have never seen implemented before. The set of features that I've come up with solve several problems that I have encountered with these types of products. It's also important that the feature set that I'm developing can be implemented into a whole line of products instead of just one. I have shared my idea with some people that are close to me and the general response has been "why has nobody done this before?" I know, consulting friends and family is not a good way to do market research, but it has been encouraging nonetheless.
Right now I am working on a prototype. Since I have the skills and resources to build these kind of items myself, I am not currently using a professional prototype builder to help me. All of the work is being done with my own two hands, and every day my prototype gets a little bit closer to completion. Luckily I have a job that allows me to have long stretches of time off which allows me to sink a lot of uninterrupted time into working on this project.
Once I have a finished prototype, I will start some market research. One thing that I think represents a major barrier to people bringing their inventions to market is that it is hard to know whether anyone will buy your product after dropping some major cash on a professionally manufactured factory run. Right now I have two ideas for gauging demand. My first idea is to make a small batch of my product myself and selling on Etsy. I have a weekly open air market near my home and my second idea would be to sell at the market.
If I'm able to sell out my inventory quickly then I think I will start moving into a bigger production and distribution capacity. I am lucky to have a nearby factory that is able to do both large and small batch manufacturing. I like the idea of keeping things made in the USA, but I'm open to going overseas if there is enough value in it. For distribution, I plan on doing a website (shopify/bigcommerce/etc.) as well as contacting brick and mortar retailers to sell stuff the old fashioned way.
One thing that I'm still trying to figure out is how to manage inventory and distribution for what I intend to be essentially a one man operation. Does anybody have their own invention dropshipped by a wholesaler? Any advice from forum would be amazing.
I also have some ideas rattling around in my head about advertising and viral marketing, but this post is getting long so I think I'll wrap things up here.
Please if you have any input, I am eager to hear it. Thank you for reading this far!
Just a warning, this is going to be sort of a stream of consciousness/brain dump kind of post.
Anyway, I wanted to put some ideas out into the world so that I could get some feedback, but more than anything I figured that publicly posting some thoughts would help motivate me to execute my idea.
I am interested in developing a product that fits into the category of soft goods/personal accessories. More specifically, it is something that nearly everyone already owns, and I intend to add a set of features to it that I have never seen implemented before. The set of features that I've come up with solve several problems that I have encountered with these types of products. It's also important that the feature set that I'm developing can be implemented into a whole line of products instead of just one. I have shared my idea with some people that are close to me and the general response has been "why has nobody done this before?" I know, consulting friends and family is not a good way to do market research, but it has been encouraging nonetheless.
Right now I am working on a prototype. Since I have the skills and resources to build these kind of items myself, I am not currently using a professional prototype builder to help me. All of the work is being done with my own two hands, and every day my prototype gets a little bit closer to completion. Luckily I have a job that allows me to have long stretches of time off which allows me to sink a lot of uninterrupted time into working on this project.
Once I have a finished prototype, I will start some market research. One thing that I think represents a major barrier to people bringing their inventions to market is that it is hard to know whether anyone will buy your product after dropping some major cash on a professionally manufactured factory run. Right now I have two ideas for gauging demand. My first idea is to make a small batch of my product myself and selling on Etsy. I have a weekly open air market near my home and my second idea would be to sell at the market.
If I'm able to sell out my inventory quickly then I think I will start moving into a bigger production and distribution capacity. I am lucky to have a nearby factory that is able to do both large and small batch manufacturing. I like the idea of keeping things made in the USA, but I'm open to going overseas if there is enough value in it. For distribution, I plan on doing a website (shopify/bigcommerce/etc.) as well as contacting brick and mortar retailers to sell stuff the old fashioned way.
One thing that I'm still trying to figure out is how to manage inventory and distribution for what I intend to be essentially a one man operation. Does anybody have their own invention dropshipped by a wholesaler? Any advice from forum would be amazing.
I also have some ideas rattling around in my head about advertising and viral marketing, but this post is getting long so I think I'll wrap things up here.
Please if you have any input, I am eager to hear it. Thank you for reading this far!
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