Putting in the Work: Bootstrapping a Physical Product/Ecommerce Business

[Aidan04]

This is my first thread that I've started in a long time.

To the general public on this forum, you probably remember me as that one guy who invented Setsign, the device that told people how many sets you had in the gym. Unfortunately, this was a failure. I learned many things from this experience.

To our small inventor community and my friends here on the forum (@Spenny @Mikkel @RightyTighty), I have been hard at work on my latest product.

Thanks to some extensive market research with the help of Spenny, I have identified a solid need in the skateboard/short range transportation market. I will keep this vague for now, but I will be giving more details later.

The design process is complete, so now I am currently climbing the mountain of production by trying to manufacture these in my garage with bootstrapped funds.

I hope to quickly get these out there so I can get feedback and iterate asap.

There are a lot of challenges in the way, but I feel confident in myself that I can take them on.

Here are some short term goals that I have at the moment (this will get more detailed later on):
- Clean out garage workshop
- Get new router bits
- Complete mold process
- Work on website layout
- Create a small router table
- 3D print jigs
- Shoot product photo and video

I am starting this thread for accountability, and I will post once per week on Wednesday. I hope my thread allows people to see my progress for future use, and learn from everything I'm about to do.

 

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[Maxkaz]

Looking forward pn your updates. That is the direction I am moving to once I finish switching to my service business from 9/5.

Btw, do you have any suggestions on howto courses/resources on iteration of those physical products? I have pretty much everything set up for 3d-printed manually soldered prototypes, but the way from there is still vague. All I can think of before I dug into it is to buy tabletop plastic injection machine and order PCB design on Fiverr and PCB manufacturing in China, then assemble it myself.

If conserned, I am working totally outside your area My products will be in the field of automated resource distribution and cleaning/handimanning

 

[kr8nt]

This is my first thread that I've started in a long time.

To the general public on this forum, you probably remember me as that one guy who invented Setsign, the device that told people how many sets you had in the gym. Unfortunately, this was a failure. I learned many things from this experience.

To our small inventor community and my friends here on the forum (@Spenny @Mikkel @RightyTighty), I have been hard at work on my latest product.

Thanks to some extensive market research with the help of Spenny, I have identified a solid need in the skateboard/short range transportation market. I will keep this vague for now, but I will be giving more details later.

The design process is complete, so now I am currently climbing the mountain of production by trying to manufacture these in my garage with bootstrapped funds.

I hope to quickly get these out there so I can get feedback and iterate asap.

There are a lot of challenges in the way, but I feel confident in myself that I can take them on.

Here are some short term goals that I have at the moment (this will get more detailed later on):
- Clean out garage workshop
- Get new router bits
- Complete mold process
- Work on website layout
- Create a small router table
- 3D print jigs
- Shoot product photo and video

I am starting this thread for accountability, and I will post once per week on Wednesday. I hope my thread allows people to see my progress for future use, and learn from everything I'm about to do.

Have you already talked with people that are the target audience for this solution and asked what they are thinking about it?

Something you could try to do is to start building an email list while you are still making the product, so that you can send out a message to those emails you managed to collect once the product is ready and get feedback immediately. You will have to build an email list anyways eventually, so why not start while you are still in the progress of making the product, rather than doing this only when the product is finished and save yourself some time.

Good luck with this project!

 

[Aidan04]

Have you already talked with people that are the target audience for this solution and asked what they are thinking about it?

Something you could try to do is to start building an email list while you are still making the product, so that you can send out a message to those emails you managed to collect once the product is ready and get feedback immediately. You will have to build an email list anyways eventually, so why not start while you are still in the progress of making the product, rather than doing this only when the product is finished and save yourself some time.

Good luck with this project!

I think this is a solid idea. I was going to create a blog and social media posts that give updates, similar to what I say here. I'll have those link to some email list.

I have talked to some people in the target market (college students/young adults), and they seem to like it. I also AM the target market myself, and I know it solves personal problems of mine.

 

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[Jon822]

I still think SetSign was a good idea but I'm rooting for you with your new one!

 

[Aidan04]

Btw, do you have any suggestions on howto courses/resources on iteration of those physical products? I have pretty much everything set up for 3d-printed manually soldered prototypes, but the way from there is still vague. All I can think of before I dug into it is to buy tabletop plastic injection machine and order PCB design on Fiverr and PCB manufacturing in China, then assemble it myself.

There is no "master course", you have to learn by doing.

Start lean and then scale, don't buy any large machinery/order things from china until you KNOW that people want your product (by forking over cash for it).

Start with the 3D-Printed and hand-soldered prototypes, and sell those through online channels. Scale from there.

 

[Aidan04]

I still think SetSign was a good idea but I'm rooting for you with your new one!

Unfortunately the market did not, but thank you!

 

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[RightyTighty]

Btw, do you have any suggestions on howto courses/resources on iteration of those physical products?

Replicating PCB’s is fairly straightforward. In addition to etching the boards, the same companies will populate them and send you finished boards. You do need to have components fully spec’d if going this route. there are also decisions in board design that you shouldn’t leave up to a fivver guy, such as type of wiring connections and test points.

Depending on the size, short runs of plastic components can be achieved without the cost of injection molds through the use of MJF/SLS printing, SLA printing, and resin casting in silicone molds.

Come join us at the Inventors’ Meetup for discussion of possibilities.

 

[Maxkaz]

Come join us at the Inventors’ Meetup for discussion of possibilities.

Thanks!

Where does this meetup holds it’s place?

 

[Aidan04]

Thanks!

Where does this meetup holds it’s place?

MEETUPS - Inventor's Virtual Meetup

Link will be posted 10 minutes prior to the meeting. The link will be posted in this thread. I think so! You don't need to add much ti the conversation. We have our regular people that typically stop by and we chat about all things inventing. However, we try and get those who are new to...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

We host it every two weeks on Sunday. The next one should be Feb 4th.

 

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[Aidan04]

Sometimes when financial constraints and challenges arise, you have to design some weird shit.

Today's weird shit:
I am combining plywood sheets with specially designed 3D-printed parts to create a mold.

The reason I am doing this:
- I am broke
- The CNC machines in our makerspace will not be open for 2 months
- I do not trust myself with a bandsaw to cut such a precise mold shape

The solution I have developed is taking some 12mm plywood and drilling some holes into the side. This makes up the bulk of the mold as it is flat and strong.

The curved part of the mold will be made of high-infill PLA and will have little cylinders coming out of the side to fit into the holes. This will then be epoxied together.

This practice goes back to medieval times when they had to build houses without screws. It's called a mortise and tenon.

I am hoping this solution works, and if it does, I can get started on making the boards.

 

[AmazingLarry]

Good stuff. Looking forward to seeing your progress on this! Sounds really interesting.

I used to work for an aerospace company and we would sometimes use 3D printed tools for forming sheet metal when steel tools weren't available fast enough, so stuff like this can absolutely work.

 

[Aidan04]

Late on my update here- but for a good reason.

I have been making some really solid progress lately, and we are moving forward with this.

I think it's time we list some tasks as well as sub-tasks that are in my way.

Steps (in order, green = done, orange = in progress, red = not done):

- Clean garage (this was a complete mess before I cleaned it up)
- Set up workbench
- Build the mold
- Epoxy 3D-printed parts together
- Cut plywood boards to the correct lengths
- Epoxy and clamp 3D prints to plywood
- Do a bit of sanding
- Make the board
- Glue and press veneer layers in the mold
- Create 3D-printed guide and hole jigs for the router
- Get a compact router
- Cut board to shape and cut/drill holes
- Sand and finish the board
- Apply grip tape, trucks, and wheels
- Possibly laser etch brand name/batch number on the bottom
- Create an e-commerce page/social media pages
- Get packaging and shipping in order
- Film some creative media and make some ads in Photoshop

If you think there is anything else that would be important, I will add it to the list.

I'll be showing photos of what's up soon.

 

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[Aidan04]

UPDATE:

- Clean garage (this was a complete mess before I cleaned it up)
- Set up workbench
- Build the mold
- Epoxy 3D-printed parts together
- Cut plywood boards to the correct lengths
- Epoxy and clamp 3D prints to plywood
- Do a bit of sanding
- Make the board
- Glue and press veneer layers in the mold
- Create 3D-printed guide and hole jigs for the router
- Get a compact router
- Cut board to shape and cut/drill holes
- Sand and finish the board
- Apply grip tape, trucks, and wheels
- Possibly laser etch brand name/batch number on the bottom
- Create an e-commerce page/social media pages
- Get packaging and shipping in order
- Film some creative media and make some ads in Photoshop

Mold build is done! It's wonky and not as straight as I'd like, but it'll do. I'll send pictures when I get back into the garage.

Next, I need to make some guides on the printer and get these boards pressed.

Stay tuned.

 

[Aidan04]

I'm moving this thread to the Speedway.

Here's the new link: https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/co...-physical-product-e-commerce-business.112577/