Hello everyone
I hope everyone is doing well! My name is Julien, from France.
I'm returning to the forum after having abandoned it in 2020, the same year I left my comfortable salaried job earning €5,000/month, but which I was deeply bored with.
Since then, some incredible adventures have happened:
↪️ I invented, developed, and patented a dog product (the Zolux EASYRIDE Harness, a hands-free leash system). I started all this alone, in my bedroom, at 4 a.m. before leaving for work... A lot of things happened, a lot of doubts, but also press articles, TV and radio appearances. I notably won first prize in an invention competition in France. I was contacted by the QVEMA M6 show (the French equivalent of SharkTank), but unfortunately I had to decline the invitation because I had just signed at the same time an exclusive contract with ZOLUX, the French market leader in pet accessories, which sells the product in 2,000 stores in Europe, via a license of my patent that I reserve for them, for 5 years. They pay me 4% of their revenue in royalties. The launch took place in December 2024, and to date, 18,000 units have been sold.
This represents around €15,000 in commissions for me, but you should know that the entire process (prototyping, all costs, patent taxes, lawyers, etc.) cost me €30,000 (all my savings + bank loans!), so as of today, I have nothing left. I just hope sales will increase in next months/years to earnback. Furthermore, the product in question has obviously been copied and is available on Chinese websites: many DROPSHIPERS are enjoying it and selling it... it's quite hard to live with, but there's nothing I can do about it
(I could write a post entirely dedicated to the Inventor's Journey: you don't realize how difficult it is to complete, how close I came to giving up at least some like 27 times... today, with my experience and knowledge, I don't think I would do it again, because it's hard on my mental health, really... it was so hard and so uncertain, that I even spent an entire year, 2022, hiding this current project. I didn't want to hear about it anymore for fear of getting angry, since everything was at a standstill because of Covid and the investor backing out, even though I was already committed and in the red zone financially, after quitting my job...)
↪️ During all this time, I manage 2 fights at the same time, because I had another challenge close to my heart: passionate about motorcycles, I started competing in speed circuits in 2019. It was so serious, uncertain and dangerous that it almost like driving an enterprise. I give it all blood sweat tears. In 4 years, I won 2 French Championship titles, which qualified me for the World Endurance Championship (the 24 Hours of Le Mans!), where I finished 12th in 2023 with my team. I trained very hard and gave so much dedication, without any certainty of success, and despite 3 accidents that could have been fatal. Then, having lost 3 friends/competitors within a few weeks who died during a training, I became scared and knew I had reached my maximum potential: I cracked down and so I decided to end my career entirely. All my equipment was sold, and I haven't been back on a motorcycle for almost 2 years now. For the record, although at a professional level, it never brought me any money : I was only able to race thanks to the contribution of sponsors who financed all the costs (€70,000/year) and I paid for my motorcycle on bank loan credit. But all of this gave me a more powerful mindset.
➔ After that, at the end of 2023, I went through a major period of depression and alcohol addiction, and I considered suicide. Following this, many "psychiatrist/doctor/neuropsychologist" consultations revealed a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, which helped us understand a lot about my previously unexplained behavior during at least last 10 years... Bipolar disorder is both my superpower and my enemy, depending on the day.
But I've been receiving treatment since January 2024 and I'm now more stable.
Following this, passionate by adventures and take risks, my wife and I sold our house for a motor-home, in which we toured Europe for six months to get a change of scenery and discover other cultures. It was fantastic, but it cost us all our savings, although the adventure was worth it!
➔ We now live in Portugal, in a small house that we rent. Our current priority is to launch our brand (EffyNess®) with innovative products that we are currently developing with a factory in China on e-commerce but also in retail. We are starting to have some sales through our SHOPIFY store but it is not yet profitable. At the same time, I am also launching our brand on AMAZON FBA, because I believe in this model, even though I know it is difficult and success is never certain.
But is impossible for me not to try because my biggest fear is having regrets. And we no longer have a choice, that we're out of money, and there's no way (OUT OF THE QUESTION!!!) we're going back to salaried employment. So our current daily routine is spent locked in our house, working extremely hard, and thinking about all the possible strategies to bounce back strong by the end of the year (well, we're also enjoying the ocean a little, which is an hour from home!)
There you go, I'll keep you posted on the rest!
Thank you for readings and any interests, and take care
I hope everyone is doing well! My name is Julien, from France.
I'm returning to the forum after having abandoned it in 2020, the same year I left my comfortable salaried job earning €5,000/month, but which I was deeply bored with.
Since then, some incredible adventures have happened:
↪️ I invented, developed, and patented a dog product (the Zolux EASYRIDE Harness, a hands-free leash system). I started all this alone, in my bedroom, at 4 a.m. before leaving for work... A lot of things happened, a lot of doubts, but also press articles, TV and radio appearances. I notably won first prize in an invention competition in France. I was contacted by the QVEMA M6 show (the French equivalent of SharkTank), but unfortunately I had to decline the invitation because I had just signed at the same time an exclusive contract with ZOLUX, the French market leader in pet accessories, which sells the product in 2,000 stores in Europe, via a license of my patent that I reserve for them, for 5 years. They pay me 4% of their revenue in royalties. The launch took place in December 2024, and to date, 18,000 units have been sold.
This represents around €15,000 in commissions for me, but you should know that the entire process (prototyping, all costs, patent taxes, lawyers, etc.) cost me €30,000 (all my savings + bank loans!), so as of today, I have nothing left. I just hope sales will increase in next months/years to earnback. Furthermore, the product in question has obviously been copied and is available on Chinese websites: many DROPSHIPERS are enjoying it and selling it... it's quite hard to live with, but there's nothing I can do about it
(I could write a post entirely dedicated to the Inventor's Journey: you don't realize how difficult it is to complete, how close I came to giving up at least some like 27 times... today, with my experience and knowledge, I don't think I would do it again, because it's hard on my mental health, really... it was so hard and so uncertain, that I even spent an entire year, 2022, hiding this current project. I didn't want to hear about it anymore for fear of getting angry, since everything was at a standstill because of Covid and the investor backing out, even though I was already committed and in the red zone financially, after quitting my job...)
↪️ During all this time, I manage 2 fights at the same time, because I had another challenge close to my heart: passionate about motorcycles, I started competing in speed circuits in 2019. It was so serious, uncertain and dangerous that it almost like driving an enterprise. I give it all blood sweat tears. In 4 years, I won 2 French Championship titles, which qualified me for the World Endurance Championship (the 24 Hours of Le Mans!), where I finished 12th in 2023 with my team. I trained very hard and gave so much dedication, without any certainty of success, and despite 3 accidents that could have been fatal. Then, having lost 3 friends/competitors within a few weeks who died during a training, I became scared and knew I had reached my maximum potential: I cracked down and so I decided to end my career entirely. All my equipment was sold, and I haven't been back on a motorcycle for almost 2 years now. For the record, although at a professional level, it never brought me any money : I was only able to race thanks to the contribution of sponsors who financed all the costs (€70,000/year) and I paid for my motorcycle on bank loan credit. But all of this gave me a more powerful mindset.
➔ After that, at the end of 2023, I went through a major period of depression and alcohol addiction, and I considered suicide. Following this, many "psychiatrist/doctor/neuropsychologist" consultations revealed a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, which helped us understand a lot about my previously unexplained behavior during at least last 10 years... Bipolar disorder is both my superpower and my enemy, depending on the day.
But I've been receiving treatment since January 2024 and I'm now more stable.
Following this, passionate by adventures and take risks, my wife and I sold our house for a motor-home, in which we toured Europe for six months to get a change of scenery and discover other cultures. It was fantastic, but it cost us all our savings, although the adventure was worth it!
➔ We now live in Portugal, in a small house that we rent. Our current priority is to launch our brand (EffyNess®) with innovative products that we are currently developing with a factory in China on e-commerce but also in retail. We are starting to have some sales through our SHOPIFY store but it is not yet profitable. At the same time, I am also launching our brand on AMAZON FBA, because I believe in this model, even though I know it is difficult and success is never certain.
But is impossible for me not to try because my biggest fear is having regrets. And we no longer have a choice, that we're out of money, and there's no way (OUT OF THE QUESTION!!!) we're going back to salaried employment. So our current daily routine is spent locked in our house, working extremely hard, and thinking about all the possible strategies to bounce back strong by the end of the year (well, we're also enjoying the ocean a little, which is an hour from home!)
There you go, I'll keep you posted on the rest!
Thank you for readings and any interests, and take care
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