Business idea

Discussion in 'Starting & Running a Business' started by larrylarry, 13th May, 2016.

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  1. larrylarry

    larrylarry Well-Known Member

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    Hi all

    Has anyone attempted in creating a product for sale? What's the process in getting basic idea into finished product?

    I just had a lightbulb moment!
     
  2. JohnPropChat

    JohnPropChat Well-Known Member

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    1. Market research and possibility of IP protection.
    2. Product differentiation and exit strategy.
    3. Work out numbers for low volume production while making sure you are ready to move to high volume without a redesign.
    4. Get a prototype made as a proof of concept.
    5. Reach out to re-sellers or setup your online shop
    6. Meet any compliance and regulatory requirements.
    7. At this point, you will know if you want to go ahead and do a small run or cut your losses.
    8. Get help with marketing - DO NOT do this yourself unless you know your audience very well.
    9. All that's left is Praying, Hoping, Networking, Improving the produt and either Exiting or Persisting. Good luck.

    If it's a technical product I can give you more details as I do this for clients as part of my job.
     
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  3. larrylarry

    larrylarry Well-Known Member

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    It's a product I have in mind. Thanks for the info!
     
  4. larrylarry

    larrylarry Well-Known Member

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    Re number 4, where would you find people who can work on the prototype? IP protection should already be in place and confidentiality agreement prepared?
     
  5. hash_investor

    hash_investor Well-Known Member

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    Market research is very important. It is taught as a core for business students and any good business student would go out and interview his potentials customer before building the prototype.
     
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  6. larrylarry

    larrylarry Well-Known Member

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    Can I appoint a research company to assist?
     
  7. Ace in the Hole

    Ace in the Hole Well-Known Member

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    My thoughts are that it would be best to already be involved in the industry you with to break in to, or at least get teamed up with others who posses industry knowledge.
    Breaking into a completely new market could be very tough if you are not familiar with it and don't already have exposure.
    Also, the greatest risk is protecting your product.
    Biggest enemy are the Chinese counterfeiters who will have an duplicate, or slight variation of your product in 24 hours, unless you have developed advanced technology, in which case it would take 48 hrs to counterfeit.

    If you do proceed with it, I'd assume it's best to hit the market hard and fast to get your market share before the copy cats come around.
    Have the next product ready to go for when this happens.
     
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  8. hash_investor

    hash_investor Well-Known Member

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    I can do it for you. At least I will learn a bit how to do it along the way ...
     
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  9. Depreciator

    Depreciator Well-Known Member

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    You need to talk to Lizzie. She went a long way down this path with the product idea (not garlic) a couple of years ago.
     
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  10. larrylarry

    larrylarry Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for all your generosity. Checking US patent database...
     
  11. Terry_w

    Terry_w Lawyer, Tax Adviser and Mortgage broker in Sydney Business Member

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    Don't forget the trademarks and getting the website URL and potential copy cat websites too (so that others cannot).

    Plan how you will own the various components from the beginning. One entity to own IP, another to market and produce product.
     
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  12. JohnPropChat

    JohnPropChat Well-Known Member

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    Yes. IP protection should be in place by this point of time. Patent Attorneys are a good place to start. Patent searches are by no means cheap. You can do preliminary search yourself but patents are intentionally very broad in nature and hard to understand the full extent of protection without some background in IP law.

    Plenty of design houses do prototype work. Depending on the product - won't be cheap if it requires significant design expertise, high compliance requirements or involves high tooling cost such as injection molding. There are a few ways to minimize prototyping costs but can't really comment unless I know what I commenting on.

    You sure can but like most "paid reports" they can made to say whatever the client is expecting. If you don't know your market well - try and sell your idea (with IP protection) to a company who is already active in that market. Barrier to market entry can be insurmountable if your idea is very disruptive or trying to catch the big fish.

    You also have to check WIPO and Australian databases as well. Patents are notorious for over-claiming so unless you want to fight them in court - don't risk patenting something that is likely to have been covered elsewhere.
     
  13. Depreciator

    Depreciator Well-Known Member

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    Back up a step also and make sure there is a market for the product. Many products fail because, as good as they are, nobody really needs them.
    Assume also that whatever idea you have will be copied and mass produced within 18 months (if it has a market) in a country less concerned about things like patents.
     
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  14. Xenia

    Xenia Well-Known Member

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    Larry, having taken a few businesses now off the ground, I can tell you that market research, trademarks, product launches etc are not going to be your major challenge. Yes they are important things but this is the easy peasy part of any business. Setting up systems is also easy.

    The biggest challenge is going to be breaking through the non existent veil and being noticed in a world of constant noise and marketing.

    Being different, standing out, and getting known is your biggest challenge. It takes time and you need to be able to find your way to a market share while you are working like a dog for many years and no one is noticing anything.

    You need expert marketing and the ability to just stay with it while you take it from non existence to affluence. Most businesses fail, not because the product was not good or that they were not prepared to work hard but because they did not know who to stick at it and push through marketing strategies until it becomes successful.
     
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  15. JohnPropChat

    JohnPropChat Well-Known Member

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    All the more reason to have clear exit points in the strategy.
     
  16. sanj

    sanj Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    when you say you have in mind, to what extent? is it just an idea or is it an idea you've spent a fair bit of.time on to work out if it is in fact worth pursuing further?

    is it a consumer item? if so I assume you're talking odm and not oem if patents etc are being mentioned, in this case there certainly is a fair bit more to do vs oem.

    we've done a fair bit of this in a business of mine, as an example we won a CES innovation award for a consumer electronics product and also pitched an idea to a major player to create a licenced product for one of their very large movie franchises. starting out distributing other products in that sector, then using those contacts to start with oem and then moving on to odm meant it wasn't a huge jump.

    going from zero to odm is definitely harder but of course can be done.

    while it's important to protect your IP of course keep in mind that realistically you don't have any/much IP right not, you have an idea that by the sounds of it hasn't progressed past the idea stage. therefore it will be hard to protect your IP. you can and sometimes should use NDAs as at least some layer of protection but ultimately someone malicious cab often get around that.

    what industry is it in? is it a b2b or b2c product?
     
  17. JohnPropChat

    JohnPropChat Well-Known Member

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    What @Xenia said is probably more true for services than products. Most products have a lifecycle. Sticking on to a dud product is not a good idea. Unlike property, a product from 5 years ago is not gonna magically start gaining traction - it happens but not very often.

    Cutting losses is a perfectly valid and smart decision when done right.
     
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  18. sanj

    sanj Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    It is far too early to engage a patent lawyer, unless the OP wants to understand the process etc which is actually valuable information.

    how do you patent an idea without clear direction on how it is carried out?

    as a currently relevant example, if Elon musk had tried to patent hyperloop when his idea was simply people travelling quickly in a magnetic tube of some kind, it wouldn't have worked. in its current form, where there has undoubtedly been work done on how this could occur, patents could and shoulf be obtained.


    if it's in an industry rife with copycats and where new versions appear every 6 months or.so (eg consumer electronics) you'll find many people don't even bother with patents anymore because by the time someone not only copies you but finally reaches market you're likely not far from launching the next version.


    there's no singular best way to approach this imo, a lower value higher volume idea/design with a shorter turnaround time from idea to end result needs a hugely different approach to a more revolutionary design focused item that might require years before commercialisation but has a longer potential period where the product is relevant.

    eg, we recently came across a domestic consumer electronics brand/range in China heavily copying our packaging style/ideas, realistically it isnt worth event getting upset about let alone doing something about it.

    for another higher value item we have been designing from the ground up and will be nearly 18 months from concept to shelves is being guarded much more aggressively.
     
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  19. larrylarry

    larrylarry Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for all the input so far. It's an idea I have when walking through the airport today and it's b2c. There are already such products but it was a good exercise reading the claims of such a patent.
     
  20. bob shovel

    bob shovel Well-Known Member

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    Check out patenteur
    Patenteur - Next Generation Patent Entrepreneurs

    I think they are also in Sydney. Have a chat with about your idea. You can then go in for a meeting with them if you want to go down the patent road. They charge a small fee but take you through the first 3 years of your product plus have designers and can help with prototypes. I learnt heaps just in a 30 min phone call!
    I have to arrange an appointment soon myself. Worst case is I'll learn something!
     
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  21. bob shovel

    bob shovel Well-Known Member

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    Holy moly! I'm looking into a patent. I have made a few prototypes with stuf from red dot! :oops:
     

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