- Joined
- Aug 2, 2013
- Messages
- 615
Rep Bank
$2,575
$2,575
User Power: 373%
Hey guys,
I have a progress thread on the INSIDERS, but I thought I'd post a new thread for this as it's a fairly important step in our business.
Long story short, we are going to be selling safety apparel and we're at the final stage (testing & certifying our product) before launching. The launch is going to be near the end of November.
Our Market: oil workers/construction workers
Our Product: Unique safety apparel that fills a current need amongst todays laborers
Where we're at so far:
- 300 pre-orders from a small safety apparel store upon tests passing
- Another small-medium size order 100-300 units from an oil company (to supply the workers)
- (possibly the best of all) Regular communication with one of the top 5 safety apparel retailers in all of Canada to have a discussion when product has been certified
None of us in the company are professional marketers. I've been in sales for about 7 years and I'm great at it, so presenting and selling our idea will be no problem.
What we're trying to strategize is where we want to aim to find our business.
Possible options:
Online Store: Would be great to market to the mass majority and create viral campaigns. Downside would be a hassle selling/shipping individual units
Oil Companies: We could sell to individual oil companies (like one of our pre-order clients) who supply gear to their workers. We would be able to market at trade-shows and attempt to set up sales meetings/presentations with the owners/managers
Retailers: As stated, we have a small retailer that has agreed to pre-orders (acquired from a trade show). A good friend of mine will also be setting up a meeting with a medium-size chain in an oil valley. We could get more retailers on board possibly by trade shows and also sales calls/meetings/presentations. The best-case scenario would be the Huge retailer we're in talks with right now, but we're not solely depending on that.
Considerations:
- The market we're getting into has some major competition. Thankfully, we have a unique product they don't offer, hence the pre-orders and talks with a large chain and oil company orders.
- If we sell to retailers without any advertising, how will they sell off the shelves when other large name brands are there also? (we're thinking of setting up visual displays, possibly infomercial like tv ads above our product)
- Selling online might help with building the brand/spreading the word, but also much more inconvenient to ship individually
- We may need to be quite aggressive building the brand with the risk that our major competition may copy-cat our idea
Any advice?
I appreciate any advice from you guys. I know there's gotta be a few people on here who've built some great brands and know more about marketing than I do.
Thanks!
I have a progress thread on the INSIDERS, but I thought I'd post a new thread for this as it's a fairly important step in our business.
Long story short, we are going to be selling safety apparel and we're at the final stage (testing & certifying our product) before launching. The launch is going to be near the end of November.
Our Market: oil workers/construction workers
Our Product: Unique safety apparel that fills a current need amongst todays laborers
Where we're at so far:
- 300 pre-orders from a small safety apparel store upon tests passing
- Another small-medium size order 100-300 units from an oil company (to supply the workers)
- (possibly the best of all) Regular communication with one of the top 5 safety apparel retailers in all of Canada to have a discussion when product has been certified
None of us in the company are professional marketers. I've been in sales for about 7 years and I'm great at it, so presenting and selling our idea will be no problem.
What we're trying to strategize is where we want to aim to find our business.
Possible options:
Online Store: Would be great to market to the mass majority and create viral campaigns. Downside would be a hassle selling/shipping individual units
Oil Companies: We could sell to individual oil companies (like one of our pre-order clients) who supply gear to their workers. We would be able to market at trade-shows and attempt to set up sales meetings/presentations with the owners/managers
Retailers: As stated, we have a small retailer that has agreed to pre-orders (acquired from a trade show). A good friend of mine will also be setting up a meeting with a medium-size chain in an oil valley. We could get more retailers on board possibly by trade shows and also sales calls/meetings/presentations. The best-case scenario would be the Huge retailer we're in talks with right now, but we're not solely depending on that.
Considerations:
- The market we're getting into has some major competition. Thankfully, we have a unique product they don't offer, hence the pre-orders and talks with a large chain and oil company orders.
- If we sell to retailers without any advertising, how will they sell off the shelves when other large name brands are there also? (we're thinking of setting up visual displays, possibly infomercial like tv ads above our product)
- Selling online might help with building the brand/spreading the word, but also much more inconvenient to ship individually
- We may need to be quite aggressive building the brand with the risk that our major competition may copy-cat our idea
Any advice?
I appreciate any advice from you guys. I know there's gotta be a few people on here who've built some great brands and know more about marketing than I do.
Thanks!
Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member:
Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)
Access Restricted: Unlock 1,000,000+ Posts
Stop Peeking Through the Keyhole.
Open the Door.
You hit a wall because the best advice isn't free—it's earned. Since 2007, MJ DeMarco has been active here daily (99.9% active rate), building a war room for entrepreneurs who refuse to settle for mediocrity.
- Active Daily: Life-changing content posted dozens of times every day. No dead threads.
- MJ's Inner Circle: Direct access to the author of The Millionaire Fastlane.
- Vetted Network: Connect with founders scaling to 7 and 8 figures.
- Proven Roadmaps: Strategy over motivation. Execution over "hustle porn."
"SCALED TO 6-FIGURE MONTHS"
"Tips and advice here saved me from huge mistakes, others allowed me to scale my business to 6-figure months."— User MitchC
"INSANE QUALITY OF PEOPLE"
"The number of high quality people I've met from this forum has been insane. All of it predicated on building real value."— User Richard Peck
"You are the average of the five people you surround yourself with."
Are you surrounding yourself with success?
