Today we have an exciting interview with someone who developed a physical product that is now a healthy lifestyle business – bringing in over $20,000 a month! As the barriers to manufacturing are continuously lowered, we are going to see a lot more success stories like Cahill’s, and a lot more products developed for niche markets. Congrats to Cahill for the great success and being one of the early ones to create a successful lifestyle physical product business! Now, let’s find out how he did it..
What is the story behind the LapDawg?
LapDawg spawned from a situation where Tonny – my business partner – got injured. He was in a situation where he needed to use his computer while laying down and sitting, and just couldn’t find a product that was capable of delivering functionality, comfort and flexibility. The result of this experience was frustrating enough to perform a world-wide search to seek out a product that was close to what he was looking for. He found something close – and guided the manufacturer to modify the device to create the LapDawg product that you see today.
What is your personal background?
My personal background is on the business side of things. I have experience with Marketing, Web Development, Sales, Strategy and experience sourcing products from Asia. To put it in perspective – if you come to me with an idea, I can help you put the pieces together, assemble the right players and get your product off the ground.
Did you market your campaign in any special way?
From the get-go our strategy was to utilize Tonny’s skills in Internet Marketing. We focused on the right keywords, optimized the site, got the right links, got feedback – and then adjusted. Since then it’s been a few cycles of tweaking, feedback, and adjusting. It has only been recently that we’ve sought out opportunities to further our Branding through special-channels. To give you an example we were recently featured as the Top Muse on Best-Selling Author Tim Ferris’ website a couple months ago. Is it special in any way, I don’t think so. However, it is time consuming!
What have been the largest challenges for manufacturing the LapDawg?
Oohh. This is tough. I’d say there are 2 key challenges. 1 – Finding the right factory. 2 – Overcoming the Manufacturing cost.
1 – In finding the right factory you’ve got to take a lot into consideration. This can be frustrating and time consuming. Each factory has a different style, attention to detail, different process for QC (Quality Control), different machines and on and on. You’ll have to be dedicated enough to seek out a number of options – and then firm enough to stick to your guns when making the product. The manufacturer is of course looking to make this as fast and as cheap as possible – while you maybe looking for the highest quality at any cost. To put it in perspective on my last trip to China I ended up spending days going over every material, component and design piece of the product with the factory.
2 – I’d say the second largest challenge of manufacturing is the cost. Most factories have a MOQ (Minimum Order Quantity) which can easily drain $5,000 or more. In some cases – if you’re making a custom product with molding – I wouldn’t be surprised to to dish out $15,000 or more to make the product. Don’t forget that you’ve still got to complete shipping, storage, website, marketing etc. It all adds up. So how do you off-set the costs? We raised a bit of money in exchange for ownership. I’d suggest trying Marketing-Before-
What else should we know about the project? Marketing, manufacturing, the idea..
Haha. Well I have a few things to say about each.
Manufacturing – We’ve recently learned that it’s not always cheaper to make things overseas. There are so many additional costs to consider when you get into importing goods. Don’t overlook aspects such as: Customs, Duties, Shipping Fees, Trucking Fees and others. You’ve got to take a leap – but you’ve also got to be careful and smart.
Marketing – I’d say know your market first before you build your product. Take Dodo Case for example. Their business strategy and marketing plan is something we’d like to follow in the future. They created an idea, and marked it to the right demographic before they even created the product. It pre-sold – and they knew they had a solid idea. The key was they knew their market before they went to manufacturing.
The Idea – random ideas often work. The net is huge. I’m willing to bet that there is most likely some group, somewhere on the net, who will love your quirky idea. Don’t be afraid to try a unique idea and see if it works. Sitting on an idea is one of the worst things. We (or I) often think “Well, this isn’t going to make millions so I wont do it”. Not the right thought to have. I’m starting to understand that it doesn’t have to be a “million dollar” idea. If you can hammer out a basic product that nets you even a measly $25,000/yr on a few hours per week – why wouldn’t you do it? In 5 years, if you only did one $25k idea per year you’d be netting $125,000 / yr on very little work. Sounds sweet to me.
The Time Factor – I think one key point that will help reduce stress and frustration is remembering that E-commerce takes time. Tonny reminds me of this all the time. I get super frustrated when things go slow. If you keep the end goal in mind, you’ll get there. For example even us – experienced in 3 E-commerce projects now – expect that a project will take a minimum of 6-months to get off the ground. Don’t get frustrated – keep pushing and it’ll happen eventually.
For us, the project is one of many. We’ve taken lessons from LapDawg and applied them to our new project Cradle Slate – which will focus on high-end tablet accessories. We’re excited to launch it and see what we can accomplish over the next year.
We’re still learning and working on improving all aspects of the e-commerce experience – from start-up time, to niche marketing, to lowering costs. Our goal is to get to the stage where we can launch 4 successful projects per year.
Many thanks to Cahill for the interview! Here’s a quick bio:
The LapDawg is one of Cahill Puil’s online ventures. He is working on a number of e-commerce projects, start-ups and enjoys consulting with entrepreneurs. If you’re ever interested in ultra-intense workouts, practicing Japanese, or getting some insight into e-commerce or product sourcing – feel free to reach out via e-mail: cahill@wooshmedia.com or via Twitter @cahillp
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