Has anyone produced a backpack?

[markK]

Thank you! looks like I have some work to do

Another option to possibly consider:
If after you do the research and realize that the market may not be large enough to build a business around your design features, you might consider reaching out to the established companies and see if they look at new design ideas. If they do, and you can establish a licensing agreement, you get to see your idea come to the market and make passive income.

The up-side is they already have manufacturing, marketing, and distribution established. You would just be adding to their product line. Check to see where they would sell your backpack design...REI, Bass Pro, etc.

The down-side is that you lose some Control, but you do gain Time because they do all the work. You make less money per unit sold, but don't have all the overhead depending to what Scale you would build the business.
Your Scale would then be limited to their distribution (i.e. how many stores they are in or online sales potential)

You could possibly protect your ideas with a "design" patent, which is pretty inexpensive. I'm not sure if you could get a "utility" patent on your design features. The "utility" patents cost a lot more.

This might be worth considering, depending on your research.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[MakeMoreMoves]

That is completely false. There are pages of sewing contractors and designers who do bags.

I was assuming OP knew that Makers Row is a platform. I was stating that the specific company i work with only does clothing. That is what the OP asked for.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Woodsman81]

I am not so great at drawing. So got out the scissors and duct tape. Cut up a few old backpacks and started making a demo to bring to a manufacturer. This was helpful for me I quickly ran into some function problems. Hopefully the manufacturer will be able to make it function better than me cutting up old 5 gallon buckets and bending them into place with a butane torch.
I also signed up for makers row. I search for backpacks in Colorado. There are four companies that came up none of them have any reviews. One says they manufacture military backpacks. Think I will hit them up first.
How many manufactures should I be getting a prototype/sample from?
Should I bring a non disclosure agreement?
I was hoping to start with something small like 20 bags and prove there is a market. Is this feasible?
What questions should I ask?

 

[Woodsman81]

Research.
Formulate a plan.
Get to work.

You have been at it for 10 days.

Some threads on the inside have gone years.

What are your next steps?

Start talking to manufactures and getting samples made?

 

[Woodsman81]

Possibly, but I can't answer definitively since I don't know what's involved in going from prototype to retail-ready electronic product.

And I'd prefer to just license it, since my hunch is that getting it retail-ready, manufacturing, marketing, distribution, etc. may be a lot of effort for relatively small return.

Start a thread (if you haven't already). There are lots of guys here the help you. When I first started here I was running around posting on other people's threads and didn't get very far until I started my own thread. I was nervous to start my own. Not sure if you are in the same boat.

 

[NMdad]

Start a thread (if you haven't already). There are lots of guys here the help you. When I first started here I was running around posting on other people's threads and didn't get very far until I started my own thread. I was nervous to start my own. Not sure if you are in the same boat.

Done:
From prototype to ...?

Thanks for the nudge.

Also, a few others have mentioned Stephen Key's book on licensing: One Simple Idea. Got it & read it last weekend, highly recommended. It's got actionable steps to move this kind of thing forward, and emphasizes having a bunch of ideas in your pipeline.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Woodsman81]

What progress have you made since we last talked?

Our next phone call may not go so nicely if you haven't put the gas on yet.

Thanks for the push!
I think I have the protype as close as I can get it. I want to write down in detail the way I want everything to function this weekend. Then next week start contacting manufacturers.
I have been cheating a little. It is easy to get discuraged when your protype is not working perfectly.

 

[GoGetter24]

Hit up the NRA

Dude, that is money. Build a backpack that you can comfortably strap 3 guns to ('tactically' of course), market it to them, and you've just landed in a pile of cash. If they can afford those $1k plus guns, they can afford a backpack for them

 

[GoGetter24]

It is easy to get discuraged when your protype is not working perfectly.

GET . IT . DONE

The only time an action ceases to be an action fake is when someone puts money in your account for it. 95% is fine. What you think is imperfect the customer probably doesn't even care about in the first place.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Woodsman81]

Sorry for the slow or non responses sometimes I only have so much time and energy and am trying to focus on my quest.

...
I want you to go to Fiverr or Upwork today. Find someone to sketch your bag design. Nothing too fancy. Tell them exactly what you want, give them inspiration photos to work off of.

Then I want you to contact five bag manufacturers from Maker's Row with your new design sketch to get quotes.

Then I want you to find five bag manufactures over seas and do the same thing.

Two weeks from today, I will be back here and want to see some results.

I'm doing an artist a favor right now maybe she can help me out. That would probably be better than upwork face-to-face consultations always seem better.

@Woodsman81 is at one of those great crossroads in a fastlane journey ...... step out into the deep water and potentially drown ..... or go back to the 'safety' of shore and talk about what could have happened......

Man up and start getting sh*t done.

You are right! I get really motivated when I am designing and thinking about it, but when it comes to actually picking up the phone in diving in I am slacking. My design keeps getting better. Yet i am hesitant because I am hoping that other people will see the value in it.
As far as the NRA goes maybe a small donation goes to them off every bag sale. May be a good selling point. Especially if it's American-made bag. Yet i would want my money to go to firearm education and i am not sure if that's how it works. It doesn't matter right now getting functioning prototype / samples right now is my only focus.

 

[Woodsman81]

Booked online went to my second place for a prototype nobody there! Had a phone consolation with them today. He said 8 to 10 thousand for a prototype. Comes with material list sketches etc. He said I would need those to go over seas, but I am trying to stay usa.
The first guy is building a prototype for 4 to 6 hundred and can manufacturer in house. He is also willing to do small batch sample runs as small as 10 units. Which seems great to get hard validation before doing a massive manufacturing run . Seems fair!
I think I should keep pursuing multiple manufacturers in the $500 range.
What are your thoughts...?

 

[Scot]

Booked online went to my second place for a prototype nobody there! Had a phone consolation with them today. He said 8 to 10 thousand for a prototype. Comes with material list sketches etc. He said I would need those to go over seas, but I am trying to stay usa.
The first guy is building a prototype for 4 to 6 hundred and can manufacturer in house. He is also willing to do small batch sample runs as small as 10 units. Which seems great to get hard validation before doing a massive manufacturing run . Seems fair!
I think I should keep pursuing multiple manufacturers in the $500 range.
What are your thoughts...?

The first guy sounds similar to what my copacker has set up. They're great for small through medium demand.

Keep in mind, they may not be the most cost efficient once you reach larger scale though. Good job so far! Actual progress! Rep ++

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[sparechange]

Following this thread as Im doing something similar, pet supplies mind you.... wish you luck and success!

Its a **** sourcing but get it done bud, rooting for you.

Why is someone asking for royalties? Hell no stay away from that.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[sparechange]

Personally I've tried Alibaba to find manufacturers to make a product with me at 0 success, cant really recommend it for what you need (I may be wrong though)

 

[Woodsman81]

Why is someone asking for royalties? Hell no stay away from that.[/QUOTE/]

Give me royalties for the use of my idea and patient.
I guess the way I wrote that could be confusing because he could be helping me get this to market and I could be giving him royalties.

Personally I've tried Alibaba to find manufacturers to make a product with me at 0 success, cant really recommend it for what you need (I may be wrong though)

I posted it on Alibaba with no luck. I just ended up getting a lot of emails on stuff to drop ship. Maybe I did it wrong. I really wanted to work in the USA.
Pet supplies is accually were I was trying to solve my first problem, but could never get my protype to work properly. I think it is a great industry to be in people will do anything for their pets!
@sparechange thank you for the rep!

 

[sparechange]

Sample would have to be under a hundred bucks no? Retail I'm paying under that for a hiking bag, material cant be that expensive.

Could be totally wrong though, some bags go for $500+ so.....

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Woodsman81]

Can you learn how to stitch? Make a sample yourself maybe, could be a fun project...get a bunch of cheap backpacks / rip them

I already did this.

 

[sparechange]

Keep us updated, would like to see the progress of this

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Woodsman81]

Thank you @markK and @Rearden that is exactly what I was asking.
Honestly I was hoping it would be the retail price.

 

[Woodsman81]

It would be far better to find a backpack factory that produces backpacks for many different brands, and then discuss customization and exclusivity of your features with them

That is what I thought but didn't know if there was a good way to approach them.
I think it may be good to have a prototype before finding a factory because I am going to be pretty specific on the way I want this bag to function. Does anyone have have any suggestion on getting a prototype made? I was thinking it would be best to work with someone local so it's a hands-on experience for making changes.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Woodsman81]

I have created a gym yoga bag before.

Here are some simple steps.

1. Find a factory in China. There are many.
2. Request a catalog and look for the back packs that resembles your idea but with your added features.
3. Request a sample. Choose a few factory. You will know which one are good quality. I usually look for the ones that can deliver on time and ships me in a well packaged product.
4. From there, you can take the back pack and start sketching your features on it. You can have them change the zipper, the style, the inner layers, inner pockets...etc. If you are a bad artist, hire someone from upwork. When I designed mine, I hired a textile designer. She made me 10 different textile designs in AI or EPS format. The factory can use these textile design and print it onto the fabric.

When I was in HK, there was a apparel expo that I attended where there was many many factories that sell their backpacks. A lot of them were great quality and that is how I landed my manufacture.

There are a few high-quality hunting backpack companies out there. Is there a way to find out who manufactures their stuff so that I could have the same factory make mine?

 

[Woodsman81]

Thank you! looks like I have some work to do

 

[Woodsman81]

You could possibly protect your ideas with a "design" patent, which is pretty inexpensive. I'm not sure

That might work with my concealed carry backpack idea.

Keyword searches per month Per. Wordtracker.
Bow hunting backpack 5400
Best hunting pack 1300
Best hunting pack 1000
Wal-Mart hunting backpacks 390
Hunting backpacks Walmart 390
Easton hunting packs 190
Blaze orange hunting packs 90
Shed hunting packs 90
Concealed carry backpack 2900
Concealed carry backpacks 2900
Are these numbers good?
I was going to work on how many hunting backpacks were sold last year next. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to do this?

 

[Woodsman81]

In the process of doing my own entirely sewn product as well. Not a backpack though. Silly me...I thought i could get a fully custom sample in like a month. haha. What I struggle with also is going entirely lean on this. It is easy to get mockups for traditional stuff like T-shirts, hoodies, common jackets, shampoo bottles, books, etc.. But something entirely custom, especially clothing or a backpack for a mockup is hard to find.

I am sure others will find it helpful as well if anyone knows someone that does entirely custom mockups, none of that template crap.

How did you go about finding someone to build your product? If it is a company that you think would be able to help me would you mind disclosing who they are?
I was thinking of putting an ad on Craigslist or trying to find someone local that does Gear Repair and see if they would build me a Frankenstein backpack as a prototype out of some new used packs.
I have no intentions of doing a 3D mock-up because you cannot show functions with it. I think a prototype would much better serve me even though it may cost three times as much.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Greg R]

I was assuming OP knew that Makers Row is a platform. I was stating that the specific company i work with only does clothing. That is what the OP asked for.

My bad. I misunderstood you. +2 For Makers Row.

 

[Woodsman81]

The real question here is... Is your idea actually any better/different? If so, how much?
I would say it needs to be drastically different than whats available now for anyone to take notice.

You are hitting the nail on the head perfectly with one of my main concerns. I keep asking myself is this backpack just for me or will other people like it. You're right there is so many great backpack companies already out there it is a daunting task to try to research them all and can I really compete with them.
As of now I have gotten a little side tracked at the moment. @markK mentioned a design patent and think one of my features that was originally on the back burner has got my main focus right now. I have been doing a lot of research trying to figure out if someone else already has it built into there pack. It may mean building a different pack to start with for a brand name and then following through with the pack of my dreams.
Does anyone have any advice on design patents?
Thank you all for you advice!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Woodsman81]

Yea, stop thinking about patents.

Too much thinking and not enough action here. You don't even need to look at patents until you make a product and you won't need to buy one until you've proven some sales.

If you've got your soft proof already, start calling manufacturers on Makers Row and get this going. You're wasting time at this point.

Should I spend the extra 65 dollars a month on the concierge service?

 

[motivatedesign]

I have created a gym yoga bag before.

Here are some simple steps.

1. Find a factory in China. There are many.
2. Request a catalog and look for the back packs that resembles your idea but with your added features.
3. Request a sample. Choose a few factory. You will know which one are good quality. I usually look for the ones that can deliver on time and ships me in a well packaged product.
4. From there, you can take the back pack and start sketching your features on it. You can have them change the zipper, the style, the inner layers, inner pockets...etc. If you are a bad artist, hire someone from upwork. When I designed mine, I hired a textile designer. She made me 10 different textile designs in AI or EPS format. The factory can use these textile design and print it onto the fabric.

When I was in HK, there was a apparel expo that I attended where there was many many factories that sell their backpacks. A lot of them were great quality and that is how I landed my manufacture.

I appreciate the time you took to write this out. It caught my interest.

If I can ask, you referred to this as something you did in the past, why is it not something that you continued with? Is it because of the saturation? Is it because of the funds needed to get yourself off the ground? I'm just very curious because it sounds like you invested a considerable amount of time to learn all of this, but abandoned it?

 

[NMdad]

I'm in a similar situation: I had an idea for a feature I wanted to have on an existing outdoor product, and hacked together a prototype. (It's an electronics thing, and I'm not really an electronics guy, but the prototype does what I wanted).

Some quick research revealed that one of the main manufacturers for the existing outdoor product created a similar add-on product a few years ago, but it's since been discontinued. The execution of the add-on product didn't work well & got bad reviews--but buyers liked the idea.

Market size is kinda hard to gauge:

• the 2 main manufacturers of the main product have 80-150 employees each
• 1 of the manufacturers of the main product generates ~$150MM annual revenue
• monthly search volume for the main product is ~10,000

So, not sure what my next action should be:

1. contact the 2-3 leading manufacturers about licensing my idea (not sure if I want to go down the road of manufacturing it on my own--licensing would be easier)
2. refine the prototype & get feedback
3. validate / gauge interest with a simple PPC campaign (using a simple demo video or photos), and send would-be buyers to an "out of stock" page

My gut says to try #3 (simple, quick validation).

Thoughts?

 

[Woodsman81]

Some quick research revealed that one of the main manufacturers for the existing outdoor product created a similar add-on product a few years ago, but it's since been discontinued. The execution of the add-on product didn't work well & got bad reviews--but buyers liked the idea.

Sounds like you already have soft validation if you can solve the problems in the bad reviews. Can you do that and still hit the price point people would pay?