Patent research

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I spent most of the day researching both Australian and international patents for anything close to my products. It’s exhausting especially since I’m not an expert in “legal-ese” or product design. There doesn’t appear to be any active ones in Australia which is good. It’s hard to know for sure for the other countries though. As much as I want to consider everything while finalising these designs, I can only spend so much time and money on this now. I’ll have to revisit once the products are proven here, and I’m more serious about exporting.

Today, I also had a good chat with Manufacturer #3 which took forever to organise with them. I have a phone call with Manufacturer #4 (referral from a friend) tomorrow. I want to have a competitive process for selecting my manufacturer to ensure I get the best price and engineering team on board. This is especially important since I’m looking for a long term relationship with them, and the cost of stuffing up a design could cost me 5-figures for a new mould.

Fast Eats Big for Breakfast

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I was recently reading the Thankyou social enterprise story in a book called “Chapter 1.” One of the quotes that was repeated over and over again was the ability for a young, agile company to beat larger competitors with their speed i.e. “Fast Eats Big for Breakfast.”

Don’t get me wrong as my business isn’t even eating burnt toast yet. Still, when I look back to our start so far, I can see that we’re actually moving really fast now that I’m fully committed.

The first time I spoke to a potential investor about my idea was in a casual conversation was just two months ago – 3 April 2019 to be exact.

I applied for an ABN about three weeks later (23 April). Then, a fortnight after that I received some market research feedback that loudly confirmed the need for my products (6 May).

Late Monday, I received the CAD drawings from my designer (an uni student). And today, I just submitted them to one of the two Australian manufacturers that I am considering. I’m just waiting for the NDA to be signed before I send them to the second company.

I also confirmed today with Social Traders that my business model would qualify for certification under their process as a for-profit, social enterprise.

When I saw a friend tonight at a networking event, and I gave her an update she remarked about how much I have done since the last time I saw her. The reality is that I feel like this product development process is taking forever, and I’m always waiting for something to be done by someone else.

Looking back at my journal entries, I realise now that perhaps I’m being a little too hard on myself and others. Still, if fast beats big for breakfast… I don’t see a good reason to slow down now!

DILO 2/5/19

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Did more market research for competitor products for Product #1 and #2. There are a lot of DYI projects, but very few options off the shelf even in the US.