Have you introduced a new product to the marketplace ?
 

I have a product that I am about to produce and market. The more I research the process the more overwhelming it becomes.
I'd like to hear from someone who has done this and maybe gain some insight from your experiences.
Thanks All.

I've done it for financial service products.... what kind of product are you talking about (in general terms)?

I've done it a few times, mostly toys. There are a number of variables involved, almost unique to the product.

The toy market is hyper competitive and I found, for lack of a better word, a toy 'broker' that a very good friend of mine recommended. My Buddy had experience in the toy development world and advised me that a solo act without top cover is raw meat, destined to be consumed by prey that stalks the toy market.

I remember his exact words: "If you go to the wrong guy with your idea and he likes it, by the time you get home they'll already have the injection molds made and ready to spit".

The Broker helped finish the design, found a production and packaging firm and helped me market the product...all for a percentage of the profit.

We did well on the toys.

Again, it all depends on the product, patent stuff, reproducibility, etc.

Wish I could help more, but my experience is limited to toys.

Have done a ton.

Depends on the product.

Need more info to go on.

PM if you want.

I've designed a wall mount for kayaks. It is basically just a large "J" that cradles the boat. It's design allow for a all styles of kayaks to be stored easily and out of the way.
I have tooled up to make the part in-house and then it goes out for powder coating. Currently my packaging is corragated cardboard boxes but I'm looking at blister carding as an alternative.
Here's a quick pic of the product.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1223483067.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1223483089.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1223483103.jpg

I have done this for the past 25 years - some stuff generated millions while others flopped. If your manufacturing process is sound, your product position solves a problem or enhances a situation (provides more value than the competition) than you have a fighting chance.

Keep in mind, you can have the best product idea but if you do not have sales distribution in place you will not sell a thing. So, how are you going to sell it?

Is there not a product like that already?

He can start by selling two sets to me.

Would these be OK to mount outside? I wouldn't want to lose garage space but would love to mount them on the back of my garage.

Make some for canoes too!

Currently I sell on the ever popular e-bay. Once I have my ducks in a row I plan on offering it to retail sporting good stores. I'm also working on a e-commerce site for all of the products I'm creating.

I'll PM prices to you. I'm not sure how Wayne would feel about me doing this kind of business on his dime. They are powdercoated and I would expect them to perform just fine outdoors. Maybe some field testing would be in order.

Kayak not included?

Yes. I carry a complete line of touring and white water boats.

My wife does this for a Fortune 500 company. The best way for an individual to bring a product to market is through a broker, as mentioned above.

If you can't get brokers interested, the only thing you can do is haul a dozen of your product from shop to shop, trying to get placement. If you can do that and you get a track record of sales, you can go back to the brokers and you're more likely to get represented.

Sam Adams beer started when the founder's dad yelled at him for spending money without having sold any of his product. The founder thought that made sense, and he didn't know a better way, so he put a couple of cases in the trunk of his car and hit the local pubs. He walked into the first one he came to with a case under his arm, and approached the bartender. Since it was about 10 am, there was almost no one there and the bartender was the owner. He growled at the Sam Adams guy and didn't seem interested. But he tried a sample. He took a drink and ordered 50 cases. Sam Adams was in business.

Every small business has a hundred people a week coming in, trying to sell them something or get them to place a product for them. Your ticket to success is to be able to show them how they'll make more money carrying your item than whatever else it is that takes up space on their wall or in their web site. If you can answer the question of how the retailer makes money off of the product, you'll get distribution.

Is this your product in the REI catalog?

http://media.rei.com/media/zz/909648...1273bd5be5.jpg

No those are NOT mine. Those are the ones sold by Seattle Sports (I'm a dealer for their products)
Those are cheap parts that are made on China. They are made of a lighter material and the coating is chipped and peeling when the product comes off the boat. Those are exactly why I started making my own. Also Seattle Sports has NOT been able to fill an order for those for about a month now. Must be a slow boat from China bringing them. My parts are made fron 3/4' welded seam 18gauge steel. They are powder coated not just spray painted. Mine are made in the USA (no child labor or lead based paints)and contribute to the American economy.

As mentioned above, what kind of "broker" would I be looking for?

I you are a broker for product placement, please raise your hand, I also like to know

Kevin,

Are you making these yourself or farming them out?

Maybe market these for a wider use than to hold a small watercraft. Then perhaps the potential target audience becomes bigger.

If cost competitive, I can see buying these to hold any number of garage implements (ladder, cords, extra FG bumpers, trimming pole).

Provide extra support hooks underneath to hold oars, polyester line, other boat accessories?

Sherwood

I think if you made these modular to accept different style/size hooks, they'd be more versatile and open you up to more markets, as well as be able to sell a variety of hooks/attachments separately. Keep the wall bracket, maybe a collar nut to thread onto a variety of hooks or other attachments?

how about patents???
if they do the same as the others, and just differ in quality...
then you are fair game for litigation if anybody holds a patent on that design...

not a real problem if you just make em yourself and sell em on fleabay
but if you ramp up production and market for real... somebody will start thinking , some money can be recuperated...

unless off course you improve on the design, and add some form of function that isn't there in the patent

or am i being thick?

Prior art - never happen. He has improved upon an exsisting product with better materials and design. The proper thing would be to offer various sizes to accomodate not only Kyaks but bikes and such then offer them in a catalogue through a national distribution house.

eeh Lube, improved? how?
they look exactly the same

changing the quality of the finish does not improve the design,
it's just the same design with better production standards

if it were, he'de have to file his own patent , to protect his own IP

dunno how much of a risk for actual litigation, but on a technical level, i don't see the design improvement, at least not from the above picture with the yellow kayak, compared to the other picture from the existing product

now i look at it... his product pic IS the pic from the catalogue, just smaller scale
it's not his product he's showing

so i don't know what to base myself on to compare it with the existing product... his is not shown...

I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt...

this should clear things up. Gotta love you lubey, but you may want to stick to the Reader's Digest spiel.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1223503825.jpg

time to go grease one up and rub one out...

well, then my argument stands, there's no benefit of the doubt if there is somebody with a patent and some funds to go after those who infringe...

you could set up a whole business, work a few years, think you're doing fine
and then have it all take away through litigation
And you don't even need to loose it to loose your money, the lawyers will take care of that well before there's a ruling...

The fabrication is in house but I send them out to be powder coated

The imported ones are made from thin wall tubing (think electrical conduit) Mine are made as stated before from 3/4" 18 gauge steel. The capacity of the imported product is under 80lbs. Mine supported 160# before unfolding. The imported ones have a hole punched in the centerline of the tube for mounting. This weakens the tube and decreases any torsional load capabilities. The sheet metal squares that you see welded to the tube is 18gauge cold rolled steel which bends very soon after the part sees a load of any kind. The mounting tabs on mine are 3/16" which will hold more weight than the tube itself. My product is powder coated not painted. My product is made here in the States. Before I can offer these on a bigger scale I have to provide liability insurance coverage, not available on the China made product.
Other than that they are the same. As for a patent thats a whole different matter. There are no indications of a patent on any of the ones I've seen. This makes it fair game as far as I'm concerned.
Give me a little time and I'll take some side by side comparason shots for you.

A good PR agency/person specializing in the sporting goods industry will know the buyer(s) for all the major retailers. Or if you have the time to pursue them yourself; put on you VP of Worldwide Sales hat and cold call the corporate offices for the target retailers.

Since you're going black you should look into e-coat, it's much cheaper and still looks great with excellent durability.

I settled on Yellow with my last run but powder coating is the most expensive part of production. I'll look into the e-coating. Thanks

No problem, we use it on a few different products and it's great, as long as you like black:D

For a pricing estimate they usually charge by the rack. You can make your own or they will make them at a cost. I pay $28 a rack and can fit roughly 100 pieces on each. Looking at your setup I see a Christmas tree style rack with maybe 40-50 on each(guesstimate).

Thats a huge difference in price. 26 units powder coated cost me $125.00. We are negotiating a better price but thats huge.

Yep, it's night and day. If you can't get samples locally (I bet you can) I'll UPS you some.

Here is the difference between theirs and mine. Theirs is black mine is the yellow.
You judge which is the better product. The cradle I used to illustrate my product was a reject but the specs are the same.
Keep in mind the price is the same for both.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1223518309.jpg
Thin wall 7/8" compared to 3/4" 18gauge welded steel.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1223518423.jpg
Sheet metal top tab is NOT intended to secure the cradle to the wall it's just to resist torsional loads. My tab is 3/16" and is used to secure the cradle to the wall. Their tabs are spot welded to the tube. Mine are mig welded.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1223518589.jpg
The shaft on their cradle is punched in two places for the mounting hardware. There are no reinforcements around or in the punched holes. No holes are punched or drilled in my cradles.



http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1223518718.jpg
Padding on their cradle is some sort of neoprene rubber that is bonded to the tube. It wears very quickly and cannot be replaced when damaged. My cradle has 3/8" closed cell foam that is slipped into place and can be replaced when it becomes worn.

Kevin, one 'advantage' I see to their's is that the hole in the tube will allow you to screw it directly in to the vertical wall stud. With your's you'll need another brace or something to screw in to.

I've considered that. The down side of their part is that the tube will collapse as the hardware is tightened and it will lose much of it's strutural intergity. Mine, when mounted in drywall with butterfly bolts held over two hundred pounds (218 to be exact) before the drywall started to fail. I also wanted to avoid the bolt thru the center because I thought my design would resist side loads better. The largest kayaks don't weigh more than 60 to 65 lbs max. Admittedly my design forces one to mount it properly and not with just a big screw in the wall. But I can address that with well detailed instructions.
Thanks for the feedback.

I'm still thinkin' that you are really trying to market a new "hair growth for men" formula...

I'm thinking a "vaginal rejuvenation cream" would sell a lot better and it would be a lot more fun to rub on.