In the stage of building your first product or service

[Ntsikelelo Nyezi]

Building your first product can be very challenging especially if you don't have the necessary skills.you just have the idea,vision and imagination of how the product should be.What do you do if you don't have the technical skills to make the idea tangible and get it running.

 

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[jesseissorude]

What do you do if you don't have the technical skills to make the idea tangible and get it running.

You go to someone who does!

In most cases, what you are looking for is an Industrial Designer. Check LinkedIn to see if you have any Engineers or Industrial Designers in your friends group, then take them out to coffee and pepper them with questions. I guarantee you know someone who knows someone who can point you in the right direction.

If you really can't find someone, but you know what your widget is made out of, try reaching out to possible suppliers. They'll be glad to get on the phone with you because they want your product to succeed since that's business for them.

Basically you just google and make calls until someone picks up the phone and talks through your problem with you.

Example:

If your product is made out of sheet metal, then reach out to someone like Hamilton Metalcraft, Inc. based in Southern California (I think) ---> Hamilton Metalcraft Inc. | Precision Sheetmetal Fabrication – Los Angeles

If your product is thicker metal, but you also need UV printing or graphics or something, try Metalphoto of Cincinati ---> Metalphoto Of Cincinnati - Custom Nameplates, Panels & More

Or if you have the shape of the widget, and you just want someone to cut holes in it or paint it, a quick Google revealed that there's one right in my town! ---> Nashville Powder Coating and Sandblasting

(I met those top two at a tradeshow. That can be a great way to meet reps from every level of the manufacturing process in your industry. HMI especially was really eager to hop on the phone and just tell me if I was barking up the wrong tree or not, and if they couldn't help me, they knew another company that they are friends with that could.)

Once you talk to someone and know exactly what you are looking for, googling a solution to your problem becomes a lot easier (since you'll know the right industry jargon to be searching).

What is it specifically that you are looking for?