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Hey everyone!
I'm in the midst of bringing 2 new (and completely separate products) to market.
I decided to make a progress threads for a few reasons:-
------------------------------
So, now down to business. The 2 products are completely separate from each other, and in entirely different markets.
Because I'll be talking about them both in various posts, I'll call them 'Project A' and 'Project B'.
Both products stemmed from ideas I came up with, and are v. unique. I have greatly different plans for both products.
As I mentioned, I've already done quite a lot of work on both projects already, so the progress thread is jumping in the middle. I'll list some key points about each project below (from memory, so likely missed points - also just writing them down as I would in a notebook), so you can catch up somewhat.
Project A
- Figured out proponents of the product. Drew some mock ups, and listed the expected utility of the final product.
- Prototyped the product, and got feedback (via Skype) from family and friends (lesson learnt: always take family & friends feedback with a grain of salt; apart from dads - he will be brutally honest as always!) regarding the mocked-up design and utility of the product.
- Made numerous adjustments to the design & utility based off the feedback received.
- Finally got to a design & functionality that I'm v. happy about, and the feedback suggests the same.
- Figured out company name & branding. Registered various domains & registered as a Ltd. business.
- Hired a design team (have contacts from internship), went to visit them and got the designs created within a day.
- Began sourcing via Alibaba (have done countless times in the past), and began sampling with a number of factories, after getting them to sign an NDA that I drafted with a lawyer (family contact). They're pretty useless in China, but it shows commitment from the factories at the very least.
- Received two v. poor quality samples from different factories (lesson learnt: communicate in excruciating detail (use pictures), be clear about exactly what you expect of the final sample, or they will cut corners. Also don't negotiate so ruthlessly; always leave something on the table. Learn more about Chinese business culture. Spend more time sourcing, don't rush it and really put effort into comparing the various factories. Take all factors into consideration, their enthusiasm, response time, knowledge. Finish reading Walters thread on sourcing).
- Spent a lot longer sourcing, with a much stricter criteria for who to work with. Finally found a fantastic factory today, about 2hrs away from me. Paid sample fee, expect to receive in 7-9 days.
Aim: This will work best as a retail product. Will be running a Kickstarter initially as it's great to prove consumer interest before pitching it to retailers, and it's also a product I'm certain the people on Kickstarter will love.
To do:
- Get designs from factory.
- Visit the factory.
- Decide which domain name to go with (have a few versions of the company name, trying to figure which is the catchiest - perhaps get feedback from people).
- Hire design team for product packaging.
- Look into patenting.
- Research the path to retail stores for this type of product, in more detail.
- Get a landing page up, to start building an email list.
- Learn more about Kickstarter.
- Hire a web designer for the website (have contacts from internship nearby).
- Create a HQ video for the Kickstarter.
- Start marketing to drive hype & to continue collecting emails before Kickstarter launch.
- Launch Kickstarter (potentially find a trusted US partner, as it will likely be much more successful on the US Kickstarter platform).
Project B
- Very big project.
- Loads of work done so far trying to nail down the concept of this. Big potential, but seems to be 'one step forward two steps back' currently.
- Prototyped & feedback received again. Agreed that there's potential, but definitely not there.
- Keep tweaking. Spending a lot of time on figuring out the concept, getting much closer to the final product utility.
- Also designed with the team. Really love the design of this product too.
- Domain already registered. Have offered to buy it from the current owner - waiting on a response.
- Still have some features I want to implement - however, not too far from being able to begin sourcing.
- Tested the product for an extremely long time with others - still needs work.
- Have some concerns about the potential cost of the finished product, may not meet the price point I hope to provide for customers. Not willing to sacrifice quality.
- Currently implementing features & improving the utility.
- Waiting on domain owner to respond, as have submitted an official bid via a domain broker.
Aim: Will be selling via my own website & Amazon. Also plan to initially launch via Kickstarter, as I know it's launched well (with a good video & well detailed description), they will love it.
To do:
- Get utility of the product nailed down 100%.
- TEST TEST TEST
- Secure domain name.
- Register as a Ltd. business.
- Look into patenting.
- Set up a landing page.
- Hire web design team.
- Create a HQ video (highly important for the success of this product).
- Launch Kickstarter (also potentially look for a trusted US partner for this product, as I'm certain it will be much more successful on the US Kickstarter platform).
More than happy to answer any questions too.
I'm in the midst of bringing 2 new (and completely separate products) to market.
I decided to make a progress threads for a few reasons:-
- I lurk on the forum a lot, and have learnt so much. So I want to add some value back into the forum.
- I keep notebooks for a wide variety of things (all my current ventures, daily & long terms tasks/goals, business ideas / models etc.), but I've never kept a notebook for 'lessons learned' - so I thought why not make this thread my personal notebook instead?!
- To get input and advice from you guys for the numerous speed bumps ahead.
- I'm 19, and I guess I'm what you'd call a 'serial' entrepreneur. My aim is to set up product based companies (not set on this, but it's what I've focused on so far) & pass the majority of the workload onto capable teams. I don't want to be a permanent 'serial' entrepreneur, jumping from business to business. I'm looking to create a large & long-lasting company in the near future, but I'm currently doing this for for the valuable learning experience, and in order to get a steady income, in order to fund future ventures.
- I've been living in China for just over a year now. I originally came for an internship, and was offered a full time job at the end of it. I continued to work there for a little while, while I continued to setup my business in the evenings. It took off shortly after, so I quit (on good terms with the CEO - who offered to invest in my venture), and I'm now purely focused on my own businesses full time, and I'm really loving life.
- I didn't go to University & have no plans to.
------------------------------
So, now down to business. The 2 products are completely separate from each other, and in entirely different markets.
Because I'll be talking about them both in various posts, I'll call them 'Project A' and 'Project B'.
Both products stemmed from ideas I came up with, and are v. unique. I have greatly different plans for both products.
As I mentioned, I've already done quite a lot of work on both projects already, so the progress thread is jumping in the middle. I'll list some key points about each project below (from memory, so likely missed points - also just writing them down as I would in a notebook), so you can catch up somewhat.
Project A
- Figured out proponents of the product. Drew some mock ups, and listed the expected utility of the final product.
- Prototyped the product, and got feedback (via Skype) from family and friends (lesson learnt: always take family & friends feedback with a grain of salt; apart from dads - he will be brutally honest as always!) regarding the mocked-up design and utility of the product.
- Made numerous adjustments to the design & utility based off the feedback received.
- Finally got to a design & functionality that I'm v. happy about, and the feedback suggests the same.
- Figured out company name & branding. Registered various domains & registered as a Ltd. business.
- Hired a design team (have contacts from internship), went to visit them and got the designs created within a day.
- Began sourcing via Alibaba (have done countless times in the past), and began sampling with a number of factories, after getting them to sign an NDA that I drafted with a lawyer (family contact). They're pretty useless in China, but it shows commitment from the factories at the very least.
- Received two v. poor quality samples from different factories (lesson learnt: communicate in excruciating detail (use pictures), be clear about exactly what you expect of the final sample, or they will cut corners. Also don't negotiate so ruthlessly; always leave something on the table. Learn more about Chinese business culture. Spend more time sourcing, don't rush it and really put effort into comparing the various factories. Take all factors into consideration, their enthusiasm, response time, knowledge. Finish reading Walters thread on sourcing).
- Spent a lot longer sourcing, with a much stricter criteria for who to work with. Finally found a fantastic factory today, about 2hrs away from me. Paid sample fee, expect to receive in 7-9 days.
Aim: This will work best as a retail product. Will be running a Kickstarter initially as it's great to prove consumer interest before pitching it to retailers, and it's also a product I'm certain the people on Kickstarter will love.
To do:
- Get designs from factory.
- Visit the factory.
- Decide which domain name to go with (have a few versions of the company name, trying to figure which is the catchiest - perhaps get feedback from people).
- Hire design team for product packaging.
- Look into patenting.
- Research the path to retail stores for this type of product, in more detail.
- Get a landing page up, to start building an email list.
- Learn more about Kickstarter.
- Hire a web designer for the website (have contacts from internship nearby).
- Create a HQ video for the Kickstarter.
- Start marketing to drive hype & to continue collecting emails before Kickstarter launch.
- Launch Kickstarter (potentially find a trusted US partner, as it will likely be much more successful on the US Kickstarter platform).
Project B
- Very big project.
- Loads of work done so far trying to nail down the concept of this. Big potential, but seems to be 'one step forward two steps back' currently.
- Prototyped & feedback received again. Agreed that there's potential, but definitely not there.
- Keep tweaking. Spending a lot of time on figuring out the concept, getting much closer to the final product utility.
- Also designed with the team. Really love the design of this product too.
- Domain already registered. Have offered to buy it from the current owner - waiting on a response.
- Still have some features I want to implement - however, not too far from being able to begin sourcing.
- Tested the product for an extremely long time with others - still needs work.
- Have some concerns about the potential cost of the finished product, may not meet the price point I hope to provide for customers. Not willing to sacrifice quality.
- Currently implementing features & improving the utility.
- Waiting on domain owner to respond, as have submitted an official bid via a domain broker.
Aim: Will be selling via my own website & Amazon. Also plan to initially launch via Kickstarter, as I know it's launched well (with a good video & well detailed description), they will love it.
To do:
- Get utility of the product nailed down 100%.
- TEST TEST TEST
- Secure domain name.
- Register as a Ltd. business.
- Look into patenting.
- Set up a landing page.
- Hire web design team.
- Create a HQ video (highly important for the success of this product).
- Launch Kickstarter (also potentially look for a trusted US partner for this product, as I'm certain it will be much more successful on the US Kickstarter platform).
More than happy to answer any questions too.
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