After my introduction post, I decided to listen to unscripted . A lot of valuable information there, I learned my biggest issues holding me back right now are execution and shiny object syndrome. I don’t like making empty promises, actions and results are the only things that prove growth to me, but this is something I will consciously work on starting now. More research is needed on what exhausting a business idea actually looks like. But until that research is done I will not move on from my current project.
Moving on to the post title. I have decided to move forward with my PC GPU stands as in my experience with selling them they seem like a stronger “productocracy” candidate (I’ve noticed more people rave about the product in reviews). I am currently in a small “product development” mode while I focus on increasing relative value of the stand. Bestsellers in the category are commonly metal. While the plastic is more than strong enough to handle the forces, I feel the metal looks and feels like a more premium product. In order to incorporate metal in my design, I have embedded nuts and bolts into my plastic GPU stands. This is something that, to my knowledge, can only be done with 3d printing technology. So far I am loving the results of this, the metal gives a weight to the stand, the threads are MUCH smoother and the lock can be tighter. As well as completely getting rid of my main failure point, the plastic thread snapping. So where am I stuck here? A common trade off with increasing quality on 3d prints is increasing time spent manufacturing, quality and speed are 95% of the time in an inverse relationship. One goes up the other goes down. In this case, while embedding the nut into a print is in my opinion a cool feature, it requires the machine to stop at a specific layer for me or someone else to place the nut into the print and then press continue. I need to do this 3 seperate times for one unit. On the other hand, the fully plastic version can print fully without stopping, and can be programmed for the printer to eject the unit at the end, starting a new print right after with no human involvement. Don’t get me wrong here. I’m not afraid of spending time on a business, I will pour my life into it. But I feel as though if I can save myself time in manufacturing I can apply that time to growing the business you know?
There is a middleman in this dilemma. I believe with a little more design time and engineering. I can create a version that incorporates metal without needing the printer to stop, thus unlocking the infinite printing cycle I so longed for. I just don’t believe it is possible to get this done without the nuts being visible to the customer. At a minimum I think I can make it to where when installed it is not visible, but during adjustment you will see them.
In summary here are my current options:
Fully plastic:
Low value, easy to manufacture at scale
Visible nut and bolt:
Medium value, easier to manufacture at scale than embedded nut
Embedded nut and bolts:
Highest value, hardest to manufacture at scale
I had a talk with my genius business mentor (ChatGPT) and it mentioned the idea of offering both. The fully plastic unit as a lower value option to anchor and justify the premium price of the metal incorporating unit. I quite like this idea, but wanted to hear your guys’ thoughts.
I will include a photo of both side by side. Keep in mind these are prototypes and are pretty rough around the edges. Also I know the photos are shit I promise I know how to take good product photos haha. I just really wanted to get this post out and it’s the only pics I had from my phone.
Moving on to the post title. I have decided to move forward with my PC GPU stands as in my experience with selling them they seem like a stronger “productocracy” candidate (I’ve noticed more people rave about the product in reviews). I am currently in a small “product development” mode while I focus on increasing relative value of the stand. Bestsellers in the category are commonly metal. While the plastic is more than strong enough to handle the forces, I feel the metal looks and feels like a more premium product. In order to incorporate metal in my design, I have embedded nuts and bolts into my plastic GPU stands. This is something that, to my knowledge, can only be done with 3d printing technology. So far I am loving the results of this, the metal gives a weight to the stand, the threads are MUCH smoother and the lock can be tighter. As well as completely getting rid of my main failure point, the plastic thread snapping. So where am I stuck here? A common trade off with increasing quality on 3d prints is increasing time spent manufacturing, quality and speed are 95% of the time in an inverse relationship. One goes up the other goes down. In this case, while embedding the nut into a print is in my opinion a cool feature, it requires the machine to stop at a specific layer for me or someone else to place the nut into the print and then press continue. I need to do this 3 seperate times for one unit. On the other hand, the fully plastic version can print fully without stopping, and can be programmed for the printer to eject the unit at the end, starting a new print right after with no human involvement. Don’t get me wrong here. I’m not afraid of spending time on a business, I will pour my life into it. But I feel as though if I can save myself time in manufacturing I can apply that time to growing the business you know?
There is a middleman in this dilemma. I believe with a little more design time and engineering. I can create a version that incorporates metal without needing the printer to stop, thus unlocking the infinite printing cycle I so longed for. I just don’t believe it is possible to get this done without the nuts being visible to the customer. At a minimum I think I can make it to where when installed it is not visible, but during adjustment you will see them.
In summary here are my current options:
Fully plastic:
Low value, easy to manufacture at scale
Visible nut and bolt:
Medium value, easier to manufacture at scale than embedded nut
Embedded nut and bolts:
Highest value, hardest to manufacture at scale
I had a talk with my genius business mentor (ChatGPT) and it mentioned the idea of offering both. The fully plastic unit as a lower value option to anchor and justify the premium price of the metal incorporating unit. I quite like this idea, but wanted to hear your guys’ thoughts.
I will include a photo of both side by side. Keep in mind these are prototypes and are pretty rough around the edges. Also I know the photos are shit I promise I know how to take good product photos haha. I just really wanted to get this post out and it’s the only pics I had from my phone.
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