The Beginning + Progress Post

[Aidan04]

Hi, I'm Aidan. I recently turned 18, and started college in September. I don't feel like it's for me, and it's really going against what I'd like to do. Anyway, after re-reading Unscripted several times, I believe it's time for some execution. I have a concept for a product that I believe would be valuable to many. I want to document my journey here so that others may follow in my footsteps. Right now I'm working on a prototype, and once it is finished I want to create proper models for it so I can take it to manufacturers. After finishing the prototype and schematics, I have no idea where to begin, but I guess that's part of the journey. Really any help or advice would be appreciated on that front.

This is gonna be a wild ride.

Thanks for reading,
Aidan

 

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[Matt Lee]

Think of the channels you will use to distribute the product. Think about how you want to get eyes on your product.

Paid Ads? Social media branding(a.k.a content creation in the niche of your product)? SEO? There's more, but these are the first thing that came to mind.

What do you have to do next? How aggressive do you want to be?

Create a website, showcase, kickass sales page, content creation, find an effective way to get traffic to your site, find some people to use your product so you can get feedback/reviews, where can you get your first batch of customer? How can you position yourself to be an authority? List it on amazon, ebay, etsy etc... Again just what's on my mind.

Here are some threads that might help you get a clearer sense of what you should do.

GOLD! - HOT! - IDEA - Idea Generation To Execution: Fastlane Millionaire's Step By Step Guide

This is a great question, so I will think about maybe making a bigger post on this. In the meantime... It's not a race. Things take time. If you have the mental bandwidth, stamina, and funds to test multiple things at one time. I won't be the one stopping you! But it's not something I would...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

GOLD! - IDEA - The great way of testing any idea!

The success of a business is based on variables. IF you can buy an item for $0.50, spend $0.20 more and sell it for $2, you have a GREAT BUSINESS. IF you can only buy that item for $2, spend $0.50, and can only sell it for $2.30, you have a TERRIBLE BUSINESS. Better to just donate your money...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

GOLD! - Ask me anything about eCommerce (Ongoing)

Alot has changed since my Ask me about Ecommerce AMA from 2012, so I thought I'd do an updated AMA as some of the answers in the previous thread are now outdated. The online marketplace has shifted greatly in the past couple years. Some examples of what has changed: Google Shopping is now at...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

If you join INSIDERS, you will be able to read up on some more detail processes I think. At least that's what a member on here told me, so if you go through free content and think it's not enough, consider getting the INSIDERS subscription.

Hope that helps man

 

[Aidan04]

Think of the channels you will use to distribute the product. Think about how you want to get eyes on your product.

Paid Ads? Social media branding(a.k.a content creation in the niche of your product)? SEO? There's more, but these are the first thing that came to mind.

What do you have to do next? How aggressive do you want to be?

Create a website, showcase, kickass sales page, content creation, find an effective way to get traffic to your site, find some people to use your product so you can get feedback/reviews, where can you get your first batch of customer? How can you position yourself to be an authority? List it on amazon, ebay, etsy etc... Again just what's on my mind.

Here are some threads that might help you get a clearer sense of what you should do.

GOLD! - HOT! - IDEA - Idea Generation To Execution: Fastlane Millionaire's Step By Step Guide

This is a great question, so I will think about maybe making a bigger post on this. In the meantime... It's not a race. Things take time. If you have the mental bandwidth, stamina, and funds to test multiple things at one time. I won't be the one stopping you! But it's not something I would...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

GOLD! - IDEA - The great way of testing any idea!

The success of a business is based on variables. IF you can buy an item for $0.50, spend $0.20 more and sell it for $2, you have a GREAT BUSINESS. IF you can only buy that item for $2, spend $0.50, and can only sell it for $2.30, you have a TERRIBLE BUSINESS. Better to just donate your money...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

GOLD! - Ask me anything about eCommerce (Ongoing)

Alot has changed since my Ask me about Ecommerce AMA from 2012, so I thought I'd do an updated AMA as some of the answers in the previous thread are now outdated. The online marketplace has shifted greatly in the past couple years. Some examples of what has changed: Google Shopping is now at...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

If you join INSIDERS, you will be able to read up on some more detail processes I think. At least that's what a member on here told me, so if you go through free content and think it's not enough, consider getting the INSIDERS subscription.

Hope that helps man

Thank you for the reply, I'm gonna try some of this and see if I can get the fire burning. I'll post later on about how it goes.

 

[Aidan04]

Picking up from where my last post left off, I've recently had luck with the design of my product. I've been drafting designs and modeling parts in CAD software, and so far things are looking good. Once the design process is completed, I want to give these parts a shot in the 3D printer to see how the prototype turns out. I'm hoping it goes better than my last run, as it had some flaws. As Edison once said, “I have not failed 10,000 times—I've successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work.” I've also been working on the website, and learned a bit of Javascript to give it some added flair. After prototyping is completed I want to finalize the design and take this to manufacturing (any advice on the manufacturing process would be appreciated).

Thanks for reading,
Aidan

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Picking up from where my last post left off, I've recently had luck with the design of my product. I've been drafting designs and modeling parts in CAD software, and so far things are looking good. Once the design process is completed, I want to give these parts a shot in the 3D printer to see how the prototype turns out. I'm hoping it goes better than my last run, as it had some flaws. As Edison once said, “I have not failed 10,000 times—I've successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work.” I've also been working on the website, and learned a bit of Javascript to give it some added flair. After prototyping is completed I want to finalize the design and take this to manufacturing (any advice on the manufacturing process would be appreciated).

Thanks for reading,
Aidan

I moved this to your existing thread as you don't need to start a new post. Congrats on making visible progress!!

 

[Aidan04]

I moved this to your existing thread as you don't need to start a new post. Congrats on making visible progress!!

Thanks MJ!! You got me started on this journey so it makes me happy to see a reply from you.

 

[football4life]

Hi, I'm Aidan. I recently turned 18, and started college in September. I don't feel like it's for me, and it's really going against what I'd like to do. Anyway, after re-reading Unscripted several times, I believe it's time for some execution. I have a concept for a product that I believe would be valuable to many. I want to document my journey here so that others may follow in my footsteps. Right now I'm working on a prototype, and once it is finished I want to create proper models for it so I can take it to manufacturers. After finishing the prototype and schematics, I have no idea where to begin, but I guess that's part of the journey. Really any help or advice would be appreciated on that front.

This is gonna be a wild ride.

Thanks for reading,
Aidan

good luck!

 

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[Aidan04]

Going to make a short post today, not much has happened. Another day, another design apparently. I seem to have pretty much wrapped up my designs so I'm going to actually build this now and see if I can actually use it as intended. Considering filing a provisional patent soon so I can get this out there asap and into people's hands.

Thanks for reading,
Aidan

 

[Aidan04]

Hello again! It's been a bit. College and life in general has been eating up some of my time, but I'm refocused and centered. I'm really hoping I can make this work because this is what I love, what I've always wanted, and I will pour my heart and soul into this. College honestly feels like a distraction at this point.

ANYWAY​

After some testing, I finally caved and accepted that I am kind of shit at complex 3D modeling. So I outsourced it to Fiverr and we now have a really solid design. I'm going to remember this lesson for the future.

THE NEXT STEPS:
I'm going to get an Amazon seller's account and sell the prototype models to see if we have any demand, as well as running targeted ads. This is honestly the closest I can get to "soft proof".

Take care and stay tuned for more progress.

 

[Aidan04]

I'm building something big.

I've scrapped the products I was working on before because a lot of them were actually not super useful/practical in real life after doing some testing (I know, I know. Shiny object syndrome).

But now I'm getting serious.

See I've realized (after watching Fight Club like 5 times) that materialistic wants are really what own people. I think I can use this to my advantage. I am building not just a company, but a movement of ambitious young men. This is all while I can sell products to them to improve their lives.

The point of the company is this, F*ck "brands". F*ck Nike, F*ck Dior, F*ck Calvin Klein. We exist to create quality products that are the bare necessities. The first step of all of this is actually soap (and cologne as well). That's right, just like Tyler Durden, I will be making soap.

See, I figured out how to make really high quality soap and cologne for exceedingly low costs after some experimentation. Soon I will share my grand vision with you all, and I might show some pictures of me in a big lab coat mixing chemicals together to make soap! If you're interested in becoming a soldier in my "Legion", please let me know.

Stay tuned.

 

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