Episode 5 - MANUFACTURING (the dangerous time) part 1

Manufacturing is never easy and trying to get your prototype made is even harder.

The dangerous time is always between the prototype stage and selling it to the public.

So much can go wrong because it is often started off wrong.

This episode part 1 is about starting out and getting your product, your mind, and the manufacturing right from the beginning.

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
So tell me if you've heard thisone before. It's a great idea.
I just know this is the one. I know it's going to sell.
But I'm having a real trouble withfinding the manufacturer to work with me.
I know, I know the lastfew ideas didn't work out, but it's
not my fault. They just didn'tget it. They're too hard to work
with and they wanted too much.Anyway, Jack, what's their problem?

(00:24):
You know every time I hear that, it's always the manufacturer's problem. Hey,
everybody, welcome back to the thirtyyear Overnight Sensation. I'm your host,
Jack Courage, and this is apodcast that is a conversation, not
a class. If you're a noviceinventor or want to be an inventor,
I'll take you through all the trialsof designing, manufacturing, selling, and

(00:48):
getting your product into the market.This podcast is not a front for a
subscription service or some company trying togenerate money off of your ideas. It's
about the trials of inventing and it'snot easy, but you can do it
yourself. Improve If I can doit with no formal training, I know
you can do it. To me, the absolute most dangerous time for an

(01:12):
inventor is once the prototype is completedand protected but not up for sale,
because you're trying to get it madeat the manufacturer. It is very easy
to get mean and short tempered inthis time period, not just with your
staff if you have one, butto your family, the manufacturing company,

(01:37):
and just about everyone. The reason, well really the reason is because you're
not prepared. People generally blame themanufacturer, but almost every time it is
the inventor. Mainly they weren't listeningto the manufacturer's rules of set up.
The manufacturer wants your business, butyou have to manufacture it their way.

(02:00):
In the last episode, I hadfinished the principal design of my food industry
hair covering prototype. I had awinner to show of the client and they
actually loved it. Now I justhad to manufacture the prototype and get it
ready for the market. Now Iget to burst your bubble. I've been
doing this for so long that Ihad all the connections to get it produced

(02:23):
right away. Actually this was theeasiest step for me, but it had
taken thirty years of relationships to beable to make a few calls in Presto.
A few weeks later, I hadthe final pric ready to go.
I can do it like this becauseI know the final step is the easiest
and the hardest. Let me explain. I got the final product produced perfectly

(02:46):
the first time from my manufacturer inChina. How'd I do it? I
told him to copy the product.I sent him one hundred percent, no
alterations, and guess what, lessthan a month later, it arrived even
better than I expected, which neverever happens. When you're starting out for

(03:06):
the first time, and back beforethe Internet and low cost global shipping,
you could lose months six to eightmonths easy just trying to get your product
made. Everything goes easier if youprepare your prototype exactly as the manufacturer specified.
Now, this story doesn't help youfirst timers very much because it sounds

(03:29):
too perfect. But it took along time to get it that way.
Back in the nineties when I wasstarting out, when you had to produce
something in Asia, every little changewas sent back, and usually it took
a couple months just to get itback on what my friends and family call
my best simplest design, a productI now call the Jaggy. That product

(03:51):
took me well over a year toget right. And it went back and
forth three or four times, andit's a simple product. But why did
it take so long? Because themanufacturer thought I was making a mistake and
kept correcting it for me. Onlyafter the second time did I realize I
had not shown him why a certainaspect of the design was a skew on

(04:15):
purpose. And then they finally gotthe sample right the moment it was pointed
out. But that's what I meanabout not settling. Also, it's not
to be a pain in the ass, but it's a balancing act. If
you know your design revolves around acertain aspect, does stick to your guns
and make it work. This iswhere people blame the manufacture. Are you

(04:40):
sure if there is a mistake,it is not you your mistake. If
you're unprepared, the manufacturer after acouple times of obvious missteps will drop you
and won't work with you anymore,even when you've paid them the money,
because they don't care. They're halfa plant it away. So after the
final correction to the jogging, thedesign was perfect and I can still use

(05:05):
it today with no update to thedesign. Now many years later, I
could take that same design with itsexact mistake and have it corrected in one,
if not two, phone calls becauseof my present relationships, but back
then it took forever, and eventoday, if you aren't careful, you

(05:25):
could lose the manufacture. They justmove on. So how do you get
your product made? Well, ifit's a toy, you don't call up
Mattel. You have to do ityourself. No one is going to do
the research for you. So theeasiest answer is to start reading. And
you got to read a lot morethan you did for making the prototype,

(05:46):
and that takes fortitude. This iswhere you learn the type of person you
need to be to get your productmade. Who are you for me?
I was always a designer and inventor, but I never knew it until I
was in my mid twenties. Whatcracks me up is when I went to
my twenty year high school reunion,which made me thirty eight. No one

(06:09):
was surprised that I had patents andthat I was a designer. They all
remember me doing stuff in high schoolbecause I didn't like the way it was
being done before me. I guessI was pissed off then too, Not
grumpy old man pissed off, butmore like Why the heck did they do
it that way. That's stupid.I'll just fix that. I'll do it
my way. Screw them. Kindof pissed off. Back in high school,

(06:31):
I remember running for a president ofa club to run. People just
signed up and one day later onthey would vote on it. Screw that.
I started campaigning every way I couldbefore the vote. You see,
I liked the club, but Ihated the fundraising aspect that every club seemed
to have. So that was myplatform. Pay the club a small joining

(06:57):
fee, I think it was aboutthree bucks, and I'll find sponsors to
match the money we raised. Nofundraising. It was just so we could
just have fun after school. Thatwas it. I made a ton of
paper buttons and placed them everywhere,and I mean everywhere. They said vote
for me, no fundraising. WellI won, and before long I was

(07:20):
president of the richest club in school. You see, kids hated to fundraise,
but they wanted to be in aclub, So I said, I'll
take that out of the equation andwe'll just have fun. The teacher Gus,
who was our club sponsor, thoughtI was crazy, but I took
the money I had raised and wentto outside sponsors. I gave them a

(07:41):
sticker and I said, I won'tbe back begging you this year. If
you can match the money we raise, put the sticker on the door,
and then you don't have to dealwith any other kids from the high school.
Well it worked. The only downsidewas I remember the vice president coming
back and made me clean up everybutton. I wish I had put out
so many, but I didn't reallymind because we're I wasn't going to have

(08:05):
to sell cheese balls, candy bars, gummies or popcorn, all fun,
no fundraising. And that's still tothis day makes me laugh. So why
bring up this old story. Itshows it even before I was an inventor,
I went after what I wanted,change the rules to get it,
and made it happen. Okay,you're sitting there, listen, you go

(08:28):
so what it is because once youwere done prototyping the product, you were
a long way from being done.And this is the first chance for you
to see if you have the heartto be an inventor. Being an inventor
takes heart, it takes soul,it takes courage, and it takes a

(08:48):
little bit of spite. I mean, you may be an inventor, but
you may not have the drive forit. I can't tell you how many
products I personally know of that madeit out of prototyping but never made it
into production. There are two thingsyou need to make to make it into

(09:09):
production. One determination to find thecorrect manufacture, which is usually in a
foreign country. And two money.It always costs more, always, and
you have to think it out.My head covering prototype for this big company
not only needed to be made,it needed to be manufactured, ensured,

(09:31):
customs, distributed, fulfilled, marketed, publicized, and then recoup the initial
investment, even before talking about aprofit. And I made that sound simple,
but it is far from that.There can be all types of problems
along the way that put you outof business if you are not vigilant.

(09:54):
Even if the product is successful,it can still fail. If you're old
enough to remember, Barbata and LaserDisclost out to VHS, and VHS wasn't
even that good of a product.So why so, grim Jack, I'm
actually not. I just know ithelps if you know what could be coming.

(10:15):
But knowing all that, the questionis is it still worth it?
The key is so very simple.You just don't give up it's just one
step at a time. I understandhow that sounds. It sounds so predictable
and cheesy. You could have gotit out of any book. But it's
that simple. You have to stayat it. You learn as you go,

(10:39):
and it takes time to learn.