Hello from the Northwest!

[Captain Swuey]

Longtime lurker checking in!

I read The Millionaire Fastlane a few years ago and it really helped shape my thought process and create more value for my customers.

I'm currently working on building my second business in the water treatment industry which is proving to be a challenging but rewarding experience. It's a service business with growth potential in other areas.

Before this newer business endeavor I owned an e-commerce business retailing car care products for boutique brands. I was also a master distributor for some well known brands. After a year I began manufacturing my own line of car care products and that's when things got fun.

I hope to learn and contribute whatever I can.

 

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[million$$$smile]

Welcome, and thanks for coming out of the dark.

I grew up in the Pacific NW and still own a bit of property there.

It sounds like you have had some great experiences that might benefit others, especially in the realm of creating your own brand.

Would you care to elucidate a bit more in general terms about the process of creating a brand? I for one would really like to know a bit more without exposing the brand itself.

Are you still marketing it?

 

[Captain Swuey]

Welcome, and thanks for coming out of the dark.

I grew up in the Pacific NW and still own a bit of property there.

It sounds like you have had some great experiences that might benefit others, especially in the realm of creating your own brand.

Would you care to elucidate a bit more in general terms about the process of creating a brand? I for one would really like to know a bit more without exposing the brand itself.

Are you still marketing it?

Thanks for the welcome.

I can only speak from my personal experience as a retailer and distributor in the car care industry which was really just product creation that I simply added under my existing brand/business name.

For me, it started with a formula for a unique car care product that I tested over the course of a year and brought to the market through existing sales channels such as my website, forum, fellow online retailers and Amazon. The product itself was unique in that it solved a few common problems in its category and it was what we call "Bubba proof" in the industry. It looked amazing as it was a gloss enhancing product similar to a wax or sealant, although it was technically neither of those, and not marketed as such. It was a niche"tweener" product.

Once I had my formula dialed in I outsourced my production to an out of state company who could formulate it, bottle it and label it for me. I had no way to do this things myself getting started so outsourcing was the only option. With that came non-disclosure agreements, non-compete agreements, etc. so I could protect my formula as it was unique and solely mine. My attorney helped through this process as well as the initial patent issues.

Once production was in full swing all I had to do was store my pallets and market it. Discussion forums proved to be a valuable marketing resource as people did reviews and discussed the product.

I no longer market it as I took an offer from a much larger company who now markets it under a different name.