Have you designed a product and brought it to market?

d_brennen

d_brennen

d_brennen

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As title, I'm interested in what steps people have gone through getting a new product from your brain to the shops/online. I've had an idea for an item that it seems no one sells, but would be quite popular with the right nurturing, I think. Problem is I have no idea where to start, I've got a clear idea what it should look like, how it works and probably what it should be made from. Another issue is, I'm not sure if the idea it could be patented... I know there is at least one inventor on here, any input would be welcome. Had a scout about places which could make a prototype but there would be nothing to stop them churning them out themselves (think the cost to mass produce would be <£1 and imagine a good retail price >£10)

inb4 tell us what it is "NO!" :p
 
I make jewellery, if that counts. You can laugh, but it would pay you to shut up :p.

What's your product likely made of? Plastic? Metal? Cardboard? Any electrics etc?
 
Plastic, possibly a piece of metal but would like to avoid it. With some creativity it could be one piece I think, but I don't know too much about different plastics/moulding. Remember doing something in school with therm setting plastic, like acrylic sheet, heated and bent to shape. That could do away with the need for a metal piece perhaps.

No laughing at the jewellery! My sister in law and her husband make jewellery, pottery and outdoor art. They do very well for themselves :cool: Myself, I was in the loo when creativity was being handed out
 
You could do a batman, and split it into two or three parts and have them each made separately, either commercially or from a 3d printer hobbyist.
 
Can you make a prototype out of wood, fibregalss or even paper mache to see if the idea works?

Then start looking around for plastic moulders in the UK and china and work out the cheapest way to produce it.

If you can't patent it then the protection will be in the brand name that you build but that's obviously much harder as a start-up.

I say give it a go. You don't know until you try!
 
I've made one and in the process of another but both are based off existing products. Is there anything similar?

If it's reasonably simple you could ask some manufacturers for advice. Mine helped to make a new unique packaging solution. Have a look on alibaba.com for manufacturers. If it's more complex you may need to go down the route of having drawings made up which is expensive and a pain.

Personally I wouldn't patent anything unless it was a world changing product. People will copy it anyway and it costs a fortune in legal fees to deal with it.
 
Was talking with the wife last night and she did say just get it made up in the UK then, see what people think then get a load made in China if it looks worthwhile. My first reaction was "they'll be on eBay for £3 before the first shipment arrives" :p

I'm really struggling with sketchup at the moment when I should be doing something more... productive
 
d_brennen said:
Was talking with the wife last night and she did say just get it made up in the UK then, see what people think then get a load made in China if it looks worthwhile. My first reaction was "they'll be on eBay for £3 before the first shipment arrives" :p

I'm really struggling with sketchup at the moment when I should be doing something more... productive
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Then the retail price isn't £10. ;)

Unfortunately these pesky Chinese/Koreans are a real problem for such things (overclockers should know, everyone is buying their monitors :p).

This is one of those things where you have no option but to just give it a try.

Make sure you set yourself up well (website and marketing) and give yourself the best possible price to penetrate into the market.

Try and think of something that might add value to make it less inimitable.
 
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Been doing this for about a year now for a product.

Initially for a prototype, build it yourself. Everytime I thought I had a finished version something would be noticed and it would all need to be changed. Having a company do this would be from what I've seen very expensive.

If having trouble with learning sketchup have alook at a free CAD program called emachineshop. They are US based and the program is built for their CAD service. However you can export 2d files in dxf, which can then be supplied to one of many small companirs who will convert to a 3D drawing, engineering drawings, blown apart views etc quite cheaply.

In the end I found out that ordering from china was not worth the hassle. Once taking in to account the shipping and import related fees the UK manufacturig quotes were not far off the china ones. So opted for a slight product price increase for a much better service. Always ask for sample pieces before an order.

When ordering I did a smaller first batch, the price was quite a bit higher. However is safer to test the market with. If popular the second batch can be the one a larger profit is made on. Depends how well you know the demand. Usually penetration pricing is a good first step on a new product to market. Need to get it out there, seen, used and talked out.

Depending on your product you may need a CE mark. This is a headache, and when starting out looking into it quite confusing. Basically if your product falls in any one or more "New Directives" then your will need a CE mark. The easiest way for this is to contact a company which will firstly check if you need a CE mark and secondly get all the paper work ready for you. To pass directives certain tests will need to be carried out. Many can be done by yourself, however if required to be done by a third party that can be quite expensive.

If your product is one solid piece using plastic maybe look into injection moulding. However this will need volume as moulds will cost thousands usually.

Oh and when pricing out your products cost to build and final selling price always expect more then you orginally thought once you take into account custom packaging, recovering development and manufacturing one off costs, charging VAT on sales if required etc.
 
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Howdy.

I have about 8 things in the market now internationally.

I don't actually manufacture anything tho'

This is the way it works.

1). Have idea.
2). Make working prototype
3). Patent if needed.
4). Show to companies (hard part unless you have an inventor agent).
5). Negotiate to license the concept to the above company if they like it.

Then the company you licensed the concept to, will do what they want with it under your license, and pay you a royalty on each one produced.

There is also KickStarter and all that stuff, but you are the manufacturer, distributor and marketing company. Not for the feint hearted.

Finally you can manufacture yourself with your own money - but do not underestimate the costs in this! The tooling for most products cost the same as a brand new mid size car!

It really depends on what your idea is and if there is a market for it.

I know you can't tell us what it is, but can you give us a heads up on what it will need for production. eg It is plastic, contains electronics etc.
 
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I have something I'd like to get prototyped that I have scribbled on paper at the moment. So this thread is useful to me too.

d_brennen said:
I'm really struggling with sketchup at the moment when I should be doing something more... productive
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I struggle with sketchup too, it's frustratingly simple. Annoyingly I used AutoCAD at uni and was great with that, sketchup baffles me, I couldn't even find out how to extrude a circle, there seems to be no text commands :confused:

Frustratingly I know how to do use CAD, FEA, write G-code, know what materials and manufacturing processes to use for different parts from uni but I just don't have the access to the software to design stuff. Once I have a design in an electronic format I can send it to be prototyped but until then I'm stuck.

Is there a better CAD package than sketchup that is more like AutoCAD but doesn't cost $4000?
 
is it something that could be 3d printed? a few forum members have them maybe you could some to an arrangement.

BTW some groups have started doing dragons den type things where you can bring along an idea and try to pitch it to investors , read something in one of the papers about such things popping up around the country but without patents you might get raped
 
I had an idea the other day I thought would be genius. Alas, I cannot think of it now, so you know, can't have been that good.

I'm great at ideas, it's getting them the whole way I can't do.
 
I made a couple of prototypes for a car project, but gave them away as the machinist let me down and I then sold the car I was doing it on.
 
Not sure if anyone else is looking too but I actually found that progeCAD 2009 Smart is free for private use, uses similar commands to autoCAD and uses DWG files - http://www.progesoft.com/en/products/progecad-smart/

Will try it out tonight but seems a good option :)
arknor said:
is it something that could be 3d printed? a few forum members have them maybe you could some to an arrangement.
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Once I have a design in a digital format I'd be more than happy for someone on here with a 3D printer to prototype it.
 
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dirtychinchilla said:
If you need help with drawing, I'm an AutoCAD technician and would really love to get involved with a product!
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I actually currently need to do design drawings for product packaging. Is this something you could do? We currently have a graphic representation of how it should look but need specific drawings done for the manufacturer.

I think we may have someone lined up to do it but let me know anyway just in case.
 
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