Professional/trade associations...thoughts?

[WildHoneyTree]

OK...I hope this is the right place for this question.
I finished making some samples of my cosmetic product and got invited to be a part of a new trade association in this field (to be a founding member of this association). I jumped on it but I guess what I'm wondering is... Is this an action fake? Or is it a legit way to corner this market? Am I just setting myself up to drown in future bureaucracy instead of focusing on finding markets for my product?

 

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[spraybottle]

I would ask myself, "Will being a founding member of this trade association help me get these products sold?" Right now, you're just starting out so you don't have the luxury of waiting for 6 months before you see results. You need to get traction, and you need to get traction quickly to know this is a winner or not. Otherwise, you might find yourself 6 months down the line tied to a product where you realize it's not exactly a winner but you invested so much time and money into it that you don't want to give it up, which is the worst situation you could put yourself in. If I were you, as long as there was no commitment involved (or tell them you "just want to try it out"), I would see if it's going to work out for you. Don't put all your eggs in one basket, start branching out to ecommerce, amazon, etsy, facebook, instagram, wherever will get your product front of more eyes.

 

[WildHoneyTree]

I would ask myself, "Will being a founding member of this trade association help me get these products sold?" Right now, you're just starting out so you don't have the luxury of waiting for 6 months before you see results. You need to get traction, and you need to get traction quickly to know this is a winner or not. Otherwise, you might find yourself 6 months down the line tied to a product where you realize it's not exactly a winner but you invested so much time and money into it that you don't want to give it up, which is the worst situation you could put yourself in. If I were you, as long as there was no commitment involved (or tell them you "just want to try it out"), I would see if it's going to work out for you. Don't put all your eggs in one basket, start branching out to ecommerce, amazon, etsy, facebook, instagram, wherever will get your product front of more eyes.

Thanks for the response. It's just for the year and it seems like all the licensing, registration etc work is being done by other people. Simply joining seems enough for now. I hadn't yet looked into the e-commerce possibilities and have been selling physical samples to possible store fronts. I will look into that. Thanks