MorningRod - What do you think about my invention?

[danielfrenkel]

I'm in some dire need of feedback and a reality check from you guys. The thread about the UPSCALE was great and I could use some feedback like that.

So I've always used blackout curtains in my home since they make it nice and dark at night and block the sun during the hot summer days.

But I've always struggled to wake up since they leave the room nearly pitch black in the mornings. So I built a curtain rod that works with my existing off-the-shelf curtains that automatically opens and closes the curtains for me.

I set the open time in the app for 5:30am each morning, then have them close at 9am to keep the south-facing bedroom cool during the day. I have another one in the living room that closes 20 minutes past sunset each evening so that no one can look into our house when it gets dark.

Here are the problems: I'm not sure if this thing is worth selling. It's been fun to build, but it currently costs me $105 in parts to make. That means it would need to sell for at least $299 in order to make a living (probably more?). However, the market for window coverings is huge, and most people have many windows they'd probably use this on, so there's a potential that people will buy more than one.

The second problem, all the plastics are 3D printed. They're really sturdy and look great, but doing injection molding is going to require some serious investment, and will probably require the rod to sell for even more. So again, not sure what to do here.

Finally, do people absolutely NEED this? Of course not. My wife and I can't wake up without it anymore, and it does make our bedroom cooler throughout the day, but I don't think it can be sold as something that is needed.

I understand that the cost is really high, but there's just no way around it. The electronics, motors, and aluminum extrusions just add up very quickly.

Anyways, just trying to see what you all think from a business perspective and if I should at least try to sell it via social media marketing to gauge reactions.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

 

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[MHP368]

I have blackout curtains and thats a solid idea.

If you dont have production money then go the patent route , make sure it can be bluetooth capabale / has smartphone integration and boom , its a new "smart home" gadget.

Provisional patent and then shop around for a buyer , ive seen way shittier ideas get funded on shark tank. If this really doesnt already exist then full steam ahead i'd say.

So lets hypothesize a bit , if you get a patent buyer with proper manufacturing connections what do you really think this would cost mass produced? I feel like 300 bucks no one buys it , 150 bucks for sure , 2 for 200.

It could also have a built in dimmer light that starts low and gets brighter until the user presses a button on the smartphone app. Toss in some speakers and introduce an alarm clock function maybe. But all that might be overkill , once its got a little onboard cpu and its wired for bluetooth the other gadgets that already do this can do all that. I could see amazon and google buying this to go with the at home AI setup.

 

[Ernman]

My gut says you're on to something, but you'll need to work on finding a way to produce in scale and at lower cost. That may take some time and research. Even if you patent you'll get a lot of competition, so be ready.

All this is with the caveat that I know nothing about the window covering industry except that my wife spends a lot of money on them.

 

[ChrisV]

I like this a lot. I would likely buy this. I find the best way to wake up is via sunlight. I don't even set an alarm when I need to way up. I just let my natural circadian rhythm do it.

 

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[ApparentHorizon]

I jerry rigged an arduino to mine to open at set times, but it broke after an accident.

Cons

1. A quick search shows your competition is selling it for USD $70 - 100. You need to get your costs down. Why does the plastic need to be sturdy? Once you set it up, you don't touch it.
2. The above are conversion kits, so they work with existing setups.
3. Why do you need 2 motors? 1 can drive the chain/string in both directions.

Pros

1. Love the app. What would be great is
   1. custom times to open and close. Take a look at the Android alarm clock feature.
   2. learning mode, for when the user wakes up and manually opens the curtains.
   3. based on when the sun naturally rises/sets with custom delays depending on the day.
   4. the ability for it to know holidays, days off from work, or other special events.
   5. Maybe something about helping you save on the A/C bill connected to your Nest or smart thermostat
   6. Is the app wifi or bluetooth enabled?
   7. Voice activated? (alexa, google, siri)
2. The design itself is stylish and looks great in a modern home.
3. Open/Close button on the power wire looks good

Other thoughts

1. Unless there's an outlet near the curtains, the wiring looks ugly on all of these things

 

[danielfrenkel]

I have blackout curtains and thats a solid idea.

If you dont have production money then go the patent route , make sure it can be bluetooth capabale / has smartphone integration and boom , its a new "smart home" gadget.

Provisional patent and then shop around for a buyer , ive seen way shittier ideas get funded on shark tank. If this really doesnt already exist then full steam ahead i'd say.

So lets hypothesize a bit , if you get a patent buyer with proper manufacturing connections what do you really think this would cost mass produced? I feel like 300 bucks no one buys it , 150 bucks for sure , 2 for 200.

It could also have a built in dimmer light that starts low and gets brighter until the user presses a button on the smartphone app. Toss in some speakers and introduce an alarm clock function maybe. But all that might be overkill , once its got a little onboard cpu and its wired for bluetooth the other gadgets that already do this can do all that. I could see amazon and google buying this to go with the at home AI setup.

I've got a provisional patent already, so that's a great idea to find a partner.

It currently uses WiFi so you can use Alexa to open them as well. It has bluetooth hardware, just not programmed for that yet since it adds a ton of complexity.

So $149 seems like a great price to you, which probably means with a little convincing you'd buy it at $199 So maybe that should be my goal for the moment.

And ya, it has a very nice CPU on it that can have those things added to it. But all of that increases costs significantly. But something to look into down the road.

 

[RazorCut]

I LOVE the idea. For the right group of people I think it would sell really well. And as far as peoples needs go, well do they really need the latest iphone? Do they need a sports car for the weekend? No but it doesn't hinder sales.

I would refine it so that the curtains can open over a 5-10 minute window. That way you could sell it on it catering to the bodies natural wake up sequence. Operating via an app is a huge selling point in my book especially if it is feature rich.

The price has to come down though. I would look at reducing to one motor to start with. A normal string operated curtain pole works from one end only so why can't yours?

You could also have bolt on's such as a light sensor so it opened/closed with outdoor light conditions.

 

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[danielfrenkel]

It looks like everyone is liking this, minus the price. It seems like $149 is a good price to start testing the waters.

There are a few areas I can bring the cost down as well, so that will be the next big goal.

I'll fire up some Facebook and Instagram ads and redesign my website and start testing things out.

It may also be a good idea to lower the price and charge more money for add ons, like a light sensor, or battery-operated version, as was mentioned by @RazorCut .

All of this is easily doable from a technical aspect. It will just require time, money, and possibly an investment, which I can probably get if there's any traction from the current $149 price point.

I can also open-source the software and give people the ability to add whatever features they want in an easy way. This could be a good way to keep competitors away while building a small community around the device as well.

 

[Primeperiwinkle]

I love the idea and would buy the product but the name is... ummm. I don’t think it’s the best.

 

[danielfrenkel]

I LOVE the idea. For the right group of people I think it would sell really well. And as far as peoples needs go, well do they really need the latest iphone? Do they need a sports car for the weekend? No but it doesn't hinder sales.

I would refine it so that the curtains can open over a 5-10 minute window. That way you could sell it on it catering to the bodies natural wake up sequence. Operating via an app is a huge selling point in my book especially if it is feature rich.

The price has to come down though. I would look at reducing to one motor to start with. A normal string operated curtain pole works from one end only so why can't yours?

You could also have bolt on's such as a light sensor so it opened/closed with outdoor light conditions.

Just tested it on the slowest setting possible and it can open the window as slow as 18 minutes while being near-silent. I'll start using that setting each morning as see how it feels. Great suggestion!

 

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[danielfrenkel]

I love the idea and would buy the product but the name is... ummm. I don’t think it’s the best.

I get it. The name seems good from a marketing perspective. This is something I go back and forth on all the time...

 

[SEBASTlAN]

They have made the Hue which can light up in the morning which seems to solve your issue. Still, not a bad idea.

 

[SD Entrepreneur]

I love the idea and would buy the product but the name is... ummm. I don’t think it’s the best.

I agree, definitely looks like a cool idea that solves a need (not for my plantation shutters though). I would think about the brand/name further, morning rod --- morning wood association? I would go with something that describes it a bit more like Auto Curtain Rod or Smart Rod...

 

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[minivanman]

I don't think I would be a buyer but that is good for you. Normally if I don't buy something, lots of others will. I think, the way the world is going, you are on to something. Window coverings are expensive so $400+ would not be an expensive item to buy. $299 sounds really great but if it's not giving you comfort then why do it? If $299 is on the edge of comfort then you should go for $399 or even $329. Any cushion is better than none.

 

[journeyman]

Seems like a great product. Find a way to get a patent and go for market testing

 

[Vairavan]

I'm in some dire need of feedback and a reality check from you guys. The thread about the UPSCALE was great and I could use some feedback like that.

So I've always used blackout curtains in my home since they make it nice and dark at night and block the sun during the hot summer days.

But I've always struggled to wake up since they leave the room nearly pitch black in the mornings. So I built a curtain rod that works with my existing off-the-shelf curtains that automatically opens and closes the curtains for me.

View attachment 27066

I set the open time in the app for 5:30am each morning, then have them close at 9am to keep the south-facing bedroom cool during the day. I have another one in the living room that closes 20 minutes past sunset each evening so that no one can look into our house when it gets dark.

Here are the problems: I'm not sure if this thing is worth selling. It's been fun to build, but it currently costs me $105 in parts to make. That means it would need to sell for at least $299 in order to make a living (probably more?). However, the market for window coverings is huge, and most people have many windows they'd probably use this on, so there's a potential that people will buy more than one.

The second problem, all the plastics are 3D printed. They're really sturdy and look great, but doing injection molding is going to require some serious investment, and will probably require the rod to sell for even more. So again, not sure what to do here.

Finally, do people absolutely NEED this? Of course not. My wife and I can't wake up without it anymore, and it does make our bedroom cooler throughout the day, but I don't think it can be sold as something that is needed.

I understand that the cost is really high, but there's just no way around it. The electronics, motors, and aluminum extrusions just add up very quickly.

Anyways, just trying to see what you all think from a business perspective and if I should at least try to sell it via social media marketing to gauge reactions.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Sorry, bro. It's already available on the market:

Automatic Electric Curtains: Somfy Automatic Curtains, track motorization for Home

Get your house connected with Somfy home automation with automatic electric curtain rods, operate your curtains individually or as a group, with remote control

www.somfy.co.in

 

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[danielfrenkel]

Sorry, bro. It's already available on the market:

Automatic Electric Curtains: Somfy Automatic Curtains, track motorization for Home

Get your house connected with Somfy home automation with automatic electric curtain rods, operate your curtains individually or as a group, with remote control

www.somfy.co.in

Those have been around for a long time. The problem is they require special types of curtains which are very expensive (sometimes hundreds of dollars just for the curtain). Most people already own the exact curtains that mine requires. My style is also much different and looks like a normal curtain rod.

Again, depends what you're looking for. But it's pretty different

 

[ChrisV]

MorningRod

But I think you should perhaps consider a different product name

 

[danielfrenkel]

But I think you should perhaps consider a different product name

That's the problem, it gets attention when I mention it, so from a marketing standpoint it stands out from the crowd. 50% people tell me to change it, 50% tell me to keep it. Idk...

 

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[Guest24480]

I personally would avoid buying the product just because of the name.

Sorry, bro. It's already available on the market:

Automatic Electric Curtains: Somfy Automatic Curtains, track motorization for Home

Get your house connected with Somfy home automation with automatic electric curtain rods, operate your curtains individually or as a group, with remote control

www.somfy.co.in

Great, there's demand.

 

[tmb22]

I definitely thought it was gonna be like a testosterone supplement or something haha. I like the idea though and would buy it

 

[PizzaOnTheRoof]

The name is not so great tbh but I also love the idea.

The price point really needs to be around the $150 mark. $299 I fear is way too high to get into the homes of middle class people. Especially if they have multiple windows to cover.

Just think about it, a family may have $500 to spend and see the value of 3 units at $150 but not 1 unit at $299.

The 3D printing is probably what’s skyrocketing your costs.

Sorry, bro. It's already available on the market:

Automatic Electric Curtains: Somfy Automatic Curtains, track motorization for Home

Get your house connected with Somfy home automation with automatic electric curtain rods, operate your curtains individually or as a group, with remote control

www.somfy.co.in

Just do it better

 

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[Primeperiwinkle]

That's the problem, it gets attention when I mention it, so from a marketing standpoint it stands out from the crowd. 50% people tell me to change it, 50% tell me to keep it. Idk...

Ok. Chick voice in the ad says this “I love how the morningrod wakes me up so gently and completely, it perks me right up in with the sunrise!! The ease with which it slides, the widening of my curtains, my day starts with a smile!”

*cough

“Morningrods. They start your day.”

If you market these with humor the way the potty step thing did, it would be a riot.

 

[G-Man]

Ok. Chick voice in the ad says this “I love how the morningrod wakes me up so gently and completely, it perks me right up in with the sunrise!! The ease with which it slides, the widening of my curtains, my day starts with a smile!”

*cough

“Morningrods. They start your day.”

If you market these with humor the way the potty step thing did, it would be a riot.

That’s kind of what I thought. Find the ad agency that did this series of ads for poo pouring. You should also A/B test the price, but my gut feeling is that it’s 99.

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oaQ1CdISw8o
EDIT: TBH the name is risky. It may help you create a viral ad, or it may just confuse people. I clicked on a thread titled Morning Rod” because I thought I was about to read a thread about someone marketing an *ahem* enhancement product.

 

[Guest12120]

I would recommend changing the name. I think it may put off especially female buyers.

 

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[Rabby]

I would buy it. I would want it to be easy to program the time. Light is really important... you need none of it when you're sellping, and lots of it during the day to keep your biological clock running.

 

[Rabby]

I would recommend changing the name. I think it may put off especially female buyers.

I might also re-think the name. It's a little too close to a euphemism for... a certain biological state men find themselves in in the morning. Not that I myself have a dirty mind and would think such a scandalous thing upon reading the name. Nothing is further from my mind. Other people though...

 

[Veloman]

I thought it was going to be an add on for a toilet so that a guy never has to wait to pee in the morning.

What about using a solar panel to power it? Probably not reliable enough. I think you can get the cost down a lot. Tiny electric motors and circuit boards are cheap. Think of a mechanical stuffed animal. Can't cost more than $10 to produce that.

 

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[TheCj]

Would this be something can make as an add-on too existing curtain rods. First thing that comes to mind is Magic Curtain.

 

[ChrisV]

EDIT: TBH the name is risky. It may help you create a viral ad, or it may just confuse people. I clicked on a thread titled Morning Rod” because I thought I was about to read a thread about someone marketing an *ahem* enhancement product.

I honestly didnt even notice until later when I saw it on the list. I mean if you're gonna do this then go all out and market it as a "bedroom privacy time system" cuz right now the name doesn't match the product. Even then I still think it's risky.

Would this be something can make as an add-on too existing curtain rods. First thing that comes to mind is Magic Curtain.

Yea.

Btw OP, what did you use to do that mock-up?