Finally received the signed NDA from Manufacturer #3. I was starting to give up, thinking that I was too small for them. I sent them the rough CAD design for Product #2 and asked for a phone call to discuss it further.
Received the first draft of my Product #3 design. Wow! This crazy idea is feeling more like a real business every day.
Received final pdf files from my local designer for Product #2. He’ll send CAD files tomorrow. This is just what I need to send a manufacturer. The manufacturer will go through a full review of it to ensure that it will actually meet the functional and technical needs in the best way. I’m sure there will be changes. I already have some concerns about its robustness
Received next version of design files for Product #2 – asked designer for more changes.
Provided more feedback for design of Product #2. He completely understood my question about “toasters and bread” versus “hotdogs and buns.” He even answered me using the same terminology!
Spent another 1.5 hours with Microsoft help desk trying to fix email issues. Ugh! Not fixed yet. I think we’ve already spend about five hours just trying to get my new business email to work.
Saw first CAD design of Product #2. Looks amazing when compared to my horrible hand drawings. Provided feedback to my designer for some changes. Because I don’t know what the technical terms are for the various parts, I questioned the use of “toaster and bread” connection pieces versus the “hotdog and bun” connectors we had discussed earlier. I’m sure he’s laughing at me!
Also, provided design changes feedback for my extra product logos. They look great.
Went to hardware store to see if there were any standard parts that I might be able to use for Product #1 or #2. Nope! And nothing like these products really exist there.
Put together a rough budget with no real idea about how much it’s going to cost to get these products manufactured. I heard that simple moulds could cost about $20k each. This is definitely going to be the most expensive business I have after started.
Found an Australian product designer/manufacturer online – Manufacturer #1. I liked what they had done for another business in their case studies – makes me think that our values are aligned. I need to put together some sort of product requirements doc for a prototype before I call them. I’m not really sure how to do that, but I suppose I can use a similar format that I would have used for software development in my old IT days
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.
Did some market research on the street asking strangers about their needs. I haven’t done anything like this in ages, and I get the same strong desire to procrastinate like when I have to cold call – ugh! I didn’t get a good enough answer to support my product idea from this process, but I’m still convinced that the need exists – just perhaps not with the random people I surveyed. I need to figure out a better way to do this market research.
From an useful perspective, I did get an idea for another product need in the same category – Product #2 which is likely easier to make
