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Having quit the 40 hour a week job, I've spent the last couple of weeks working (as my ADHD and anxiety will let me) on getting business stuff going.

So now is Spaceballs 2, The Search for Lots of Money, and Spaceballs 3, The Search for Customers For the Brand New Product, filmed simultaneously.

Kunkmiester wrote: ↑Thu Mar 06, 2025 6:53 pm Having quit the 40 hour a week job, I've spent the last couple of weeks working (as my ADHD and anxiety will let me) on getting business stuff going.

So now is Spaceballs 2, The Search for Lots of Money, and Spaceballs 3, The Search for Customers For the Brand New Product, filmed simultaneously.

Oh ho? What is the product, may I ask?

Based on experience in my last shop I designed a system of adjustable hydraulic fixtures for CNC machines.

Kunkmiester wrote: ↑Fri Mar 07, 2025 1:12 am Based on experience in my last shop I designed a system of adjustable hydraulic fixtures for CNC machines.

Ooooh, those sound really useful

I hope so. Had to jump through some hoops to get pictures to post.

Never having done any CNC work, and only having been close to one maybe a half dozen times, I have NO idea what those items are supposed to do.

However, they look neat. Howinthehell do they work?

And, I wish you the best with your venture.

Belushi TD

Kunkmiester wrote: ↑Fri Mar 07, 2025 1:12 am Based on experience in my last shop I designed a system of adjustable hydraulic fixtures for CNC machines.

Sweet!!! I could see them cutting setup time down massively!

Craiglxviii wrote: ↑Fri Mar 07, 2025 2:16 pm

Kunkmiester wrote: ↑Fri Mar 07, 2025 1:12 am Based on experience in my last shop I designed a system of adjustable hydraulic fixtures for CNC machines.

Sweet!!! I could see them cutting setup time down massively!

That's part of it. Since I plan to sell off the shelf with a short lead time, it's also faster and cheaper to get to the point of setting up.

The "Search for lots of money" requires customers

Customers require people knowing that your product exists, and why its so good/better than the competition

So your marketing plan is critical - if people don't know about the product they can't buy it - so take a REALLY good look at how you're marketing. Who is your target audienc? what channels are you using to reach them? How can you measure the effectiveness or otherwise of your marketing? Your marketing can be make or break, so think about it carefully, and consider hiring in expert advice.

Also, IP protection. As much as you can.

Got patent pending. Marketing is the hard point, it costs money and I don't have it.

I'm really thinking instead of bootstrapping off a shop I'll have to get the whole shebang since I'll need the e-commerce site and stuff anyway.

Kunkmiester wrote: ↑Sat Mar 08, 2025 2:09 am Got patent pending. Marketing is the hard point, it costs money and I don't have it.

I'm really thinking instead of bootstrapping off a shop I'll have to get the whole shebang since I'll need the e-commerce site and stuff anyway.

E-commerce is very cheap and easy; not to do it well, but to do it adequately. However from your description, I don’t think it’s the right way to approach this product.

Research your target market well. You need to laser-target your prospective clients with surgical focus. Who do you intend to sell to?

Once you know that, identify their vertical value chain(s). Who do they buy from and sell to, and could your product be appropriate for them too?

You must be crystal clear about your costs. What can you sell for and still make 30-40% nett profit? Or whatever margin you’ve deemed suitable? This also means that you must have your sales pricing structure worked out too; you’ll need to factor in any distribution & delivery costs too.

Identify the size of your target market. This ranges from the local to the regional to the national (and beyond…), which will give you a good idea of how you can scale operations. Immediate Available Market, Intermediate Available Market and Total Available Market.

Once you’ve done that, you need to work out how you plan to break in to those markets. Get onto a distributor’s line card? Sell direct to local shops?

You also need to figure out (from this market size research) what sales volume is likely to look like. 2/ week? 10/ week? 15,000/ week? I suspect it’s the sort of product that will be a low priced non-CAPEX purchase for most shops, but you need to factor that accordingly into the sales pricing. Remember, Throughput = Sales Volume x Nett Profit, so if Sales Volume is low, then Sales Price needs to be elevated to increase Nett Profit. Don’t price yourself out of the market however!

Expansion; I know it’s very early days but do you have any product expansion planned? Maybe different sized clamps/ jaws? Soft nylon or brass inserts? I don’t know, I’m just thinking out loud, but it’s always easier to make more sales to an existing customer (especially if they like your original product) than break into a new customer.

Sales channels, route to market, blah blah. It might sound daunting but it’s way harder to actually make sales than it is to invent a good/ revolutionary/ product!