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Hello! This is my story on bringing my invention to life....

Leecha14

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Hello everyone!

My name is Lisa and I live just outside of Toronto, Canada. Here is my story, still in progress. ;)

I've always had an entrepreneurial mindset and while I worked in a bank for many years, was obsessed with my master plan and getting the &^%^! out of there. Just over 8 years ago I left and started my own mortgage company with a team of agents and it's been the best move I have ever made.

However, it will not make me a multimillionaire and I am very much in production trading my time for money. And I'm tired of it, I would like to hire a manager to run it while I make millions.

A couple of years ago, I created a solution to a problem, something put together that would keep my dogs from running away while I was walking them. Both dogs are rescues and if they ever got loose from me, I would not be able to call them back. Yes, they could use some training.

Anyhow, after a year of using the makeshift product, I thought perhaps I have something here? I called a couple of patent lawyers who were very discouraging and I left it alone for another 6 months. I had not worked on myself or mindset yet.

Being obsessed with becoming a multimillionaire and enjoying a life of complete freedom, I started working on myself. One of the first books I read was The Millionaire Fastlane .

That was it, I knew I had a product which is not even available in the market today, it solves a problem and will provide value to millions of pet owners.

This was last August, here is where I'm at now:
  • Secured patent lawyer and patent has been filed in US
  • Hired design company
  • Prototype has been made
  • Corporation in place
  • Trademark filed
  • Logo design in progress

There are over 72M people in the US that own a dog and for that reason, my primary market is the US and Canada second.

Here are my next steps and would appreciate your thoughts:
  • Securing US manufacturing company
  • Selling on Amazon plus FBA or not?
  • Outsourcing research team, admin
  • Understanding packaging design and preparation
  • Understanding insurance options for product liability
  • Outsourcing marketing, video creation and site photos
This product is going to launch this year even though the world is in crisis, I can't wait.

I'm all in. My marriage ended this year, we were not compatible and he could not handle my entrepreneurial passion so I'm ready to devote all of my time and get this going!
My biggest challenge is my full time day business which is very demanding of my time, I would otherwise spend every hour on this.

Any help, tips, advice, recommendations, virtual hugs, anything is appreciated and this is all new to me.

I would LOVE to hear from those too who have successfully brought their own product to market but am grateful for all help.

Thank you Lisa
 
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Odysseus M Jones

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Welcome, & wow! You've made great progress.
I can't help you personally, but @Walter Hay may be able to suggest ideas for manufacturing, packaging & lots more, he's quite the expert on many things.
Maybe @biophase on Amazon.
And last but not least @Andy Black on marketing and more.

If they don't reply you could always search the forum, you should be able to find what you need.

There's another member @G2TS-Man who's developing a dog product. He might be able to shed some light although he's in Europe. I hope your products don't compete lol

Good luck!
 

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Walter Hay

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  1. Securing US manufacturing company
  2. Selling on Amazon plus FBA or not?
  3. Outsourcing research team, admin
  4. Understanding packaging design and preparation
  5. Understanding insurance options for product liability
  6. Outsourcing marketing, video creation and site photos
Hi Lisa,

Well it looks as though you have entered the race with a head start. Welcome to the forum. You will find us helpful and friendly.

I have changed your list of next steps to a numbered list in order to make sure I am answering the right one.

1. As a general observation I would suggest you go to Thomasnet® - Product Sourcing and Supplier Discovery Platform - Find North American Manufacturers, Suppliers and Industrial Companies If I am to help you in narrowing down your search on that site I would need to know what the product is. You can PM me for privacy, and you may rest assured that I am privy to the secrets of many Fastlane members and I would never give even a hint to anyone regarding your product. I don't sell anything except my books.

2. Although there have been many people unhappy with Amazon, partly due to their charges, sales of non-essentials are currently increasing at a great rate, and FBA is worth considering. If you do manufacture in the US it would simplify the logistics as well as giving you the prized "Made in the USA" symbol. If you do start selling on Amazon, you should also have your own eCommerce site. You can avoid infringing Amazon's TOS regarding contacting your (their :rage:) customers by incorporating your URL in your labeling or embedded in the product.

3. "Outsourcing" suggests that you are already considering expanding your product range. While this would be a good course of action, I would suggest that it would be better to concentrate on the first product rather than try to handle more than one at a time. Appointing an admin team will not doubt follow when business gets under way. That might not be long, and when your HR sourcing need is nearer, I suggest asking for help specifically on that subject. There are a number of members who could help.

4. Packaging design and preparation should be part of a wider consideration of branding. That is one of my specialties, and I would first direct you to my thread: Getting Started in Private Labeling. You could choose to put questions there, but feel free to contact me direct if any issue is confidential.

5. Product liability insurance is a must and there are numerous posts on the forum regarding that subject. I suggest using the search box in the far right corner of the screen. My action on the issue, after paying a top lawyer for advice, was to protect my assets. Any search would have concluded that I was a pauper, so there would have been no point in suing me.

6. You will find lots of help available from posts on the forum. Most of it for free, but some members have marketplace offers that you might consider.

Best wishes,
Walter
 
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Last edited:

Leecha14

Contributor
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Jul 29, 2019
43
24
Welcome, & wow! You've made great progress.
I can't help you personally, but @Walter Hay may be able to suggest ideas for manufacturing, packaging & lots more, he's quite the expert on many things.
Maybe @biophase on Amazon.
And last but not least @Andy Black on marketing and more.

If they don't reply you could always search the forum, you should be able to find what you need.

There's another member @G2TS-Man who's developing a dog product. He might be able to shed some light although he's in Europe. I hope your products don't compete lol

Good luck!
Thank you very much! This is great!
 

Leecha14

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Jul 29, 2019
43
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Might be worth also following @Sanj Modha and his new thread here (he's in the dog space too):
> EXECUTION - [MEGA THREAD] How To Build A Successful E-commerce Brand During A Global Pandemic. Step By Step Guide...


I know it's not what you've asked, but I'm curious about your current mortgage company. Are you able to scale that and "grow what you know"?
Thank you very much! With my current company, I will keep it as passive income as I could hire a manager and more agents however, to really scale you would open several branches/offices, I do not have a desire for that and to be honest, I've been in finance for so long that I'm ready for a change. Someone new could scale it that way though.
 

Leecha14

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User Power
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Jul 29, 2019
43
24
Hi Lisa,

Well it looks as though you have entered the race with a head start. Welcome to the forum. You will find us helpful and friendly.

I have changed your list of next steps to a numbered list in order to make sure I am answering the right one.

1. As a general observation I would suggest you got to Thomasnet® - Product Sourcing and Supplier Discovery Platform - Find North American Manufacturers, Suppliers and Industrial Companies If I am to help you in narrowing down your search on that site I would need to know what the product is. You can PM me for privacy, and you may rest assured that I am privy to the secrets of many Fastlane members and I would never give even a hint to anyone regarding your product. I don't sell anything except my books.

2. Although there have been many people unhappy with Amazon, partly due to their charges, sales of non-essentials are currently increasing at a great rate, and FBA is worth considering. If you do manufacture in the US it would simplify the logistics as well as giving you the prized "Made in the USA" symbol. If you do start selling on Amazon, you should also have your own eCommerce site. You can avoid infringing Amazon's TOS regarding contacting your (their :rage:) customers by incorporating your URL in your labeling or embedded in the product.

3. "Outsourcing" suggests that you are already considering expanding your product range. While this would be a good course of action, I would suggest that it would be better to concentrate on the first product rather than try to handle more than one at a time. Appointing an admin team will not doubt follow when business gets under way. That might not be long, and when your HR sourcing need is nearer, I suggest asking for help specifically on that subject. There are a number of members who could help.

4. Packaging design and preparation should be part of a wider consideration of branding. That is one of my specialties, and I would first direct you to my thread: Getting Started in Private Labeling. You could choose to put questions there, but feel free to contact me direct if any issue is confidential.

5. Product liability insurance is a must and there are numerous posts on the forum regarding that subject. I suggest using the search box in the far right corner of the screen. My action on the issue, after paying a top lawyer for advice, was to protect my assets. Any search would have concluded that I was a pauper, so there would have been no point in suing me.

6. You will find lots of help available from posts on the forum. Most of it for free, but some members have marketplace offers that you might consider.

Best wishes,
Walter
Thank you so much Walter, I will review everything you have noted and will be in touch. Greatly appreciated.
 
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G2TS-Man

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Welcome, & wow! You've made great progress.
I can't help you personally, but @Walter Hay may be able to suggest ideas for manufacturing, packaging & lots more, he's quite the expert on many things.
Maybe @biophase on Amazon.
And last but not least @Andy Black on marketing and more.

If they don't reply you could always search the forum, you should be able to find what you need.

There's another member @G2TS-Man who's developing a dog product. He might be able to shed some light although he's in Europe. I hope your products don't compete lol

Good luck!

Hey @Odysseus M Jones :)

Thanks for make me discover this thread !

Visibly, we not compete with both our inventions... I will follow this thread and wish success for LEENA :) seems a real mindset and a real need fill for yout invention because if it's can keep dogs without escape, you help dog owners with one of their first fear : loose dogs.....

So, KEEP GOING and let's launch this year !! I will launch mine between september and november 2020.
 

Leecha14

Contributor
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
56%
Jul 29, 2019
43
24
Hey @Odysseus M Jones :)

Thanks for make me discover this thread !

Visibly, we not compete with both our inventions... I will follow this thread and wish success for LEENA :) seems a real mindset and a real need fill for yout invention because if it's can keep dogs without escape, you help dog owners product one of their first fear : loose dogs.....

So, KEEP GOING and let's launch this year !! I will launch mine between september and november 2020.
Hello @G2TS-Man I’m back, I’ve been working away at getting my product ready. Did you launch yours? Would love to hear more about and how it’s going?!
 

Walter Hay

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Hi Lisa,

I am delighted to inform you that I have found for you a company that to best of my knowledge so far is the only genuine US manufacturer of the product you want.

See your message inbox. Let me know if you need more help.

Walter
P.S. There is one more US manufacturer but they have an extremely limited product range and are far more interested in industrial applications. Your product is way beyond their capability.
 
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