Bringing a new product to market always comes with hurdles. Here are a few I encountered over the last month alone!
- PRODUCT QUALITY: You can have a great art rendering, a great prototype, and still end up with a product that needs revision. Our first Contact Flag was perfect, but after the mold was completed and I received a box of samples I noted a significant problem that I then had only a few weeks to fix! A few gray hairs later the product now is up to our standards and ready to ship.
- TIME: Dealing with a company in China has its benefits, but do realize that they check their e-mails at about 10 PM Eastern time! We are about a day off! So, if you have a problem you need to communicate to them and you realize this at 8 AM your time, you won’t get a response for at least 1 day. This results in slow progress and lacking communication.
- SHIPPING: Well, this is a big one. Shipping things from China is EXPENSIVE! My entire first order (minimum order) of Contact Flags is significantly less expensive than shipping the order to me! That was a surprise to me and significantly cut into my profits. The goal is to order larger quantities and SHIP them, not fly them in!
I am excited about 2010! With all the experience we have now creating products and bringing them to market I see some exciting changes coming soon…
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Christian
