Create Your Own First Product

If you are launching a new product and you're a small business or entrepreneur, then you can't afford to make any mistakes – especially if it's your first product that you're using to launch your start-up. Manufacturing, marketing and distributing are all highly expensive investments and if your product doesn't work or doesn't appeal to your target demographic then it's crucial that you know this sooner rather than later and don't pour large amounts of cash into a project that's doomed from the offset.

And one of the best ways to quickly find out whether your product has legs and how it needs to be tweaked for the best performance if it does at all, is to create a prototype. Without actually holding your product in your hands there's only so sure you can be, but when you're able to properly examine it and test it in person you will have a much better idea of how well it works, where there's room for improvement and what it will actually be like to use. And this is even more useful when you start looking for testers or using focus groups.

How to Create a Prototype

While you may recognise the value of a prototype though, many small businesses don't realise that options now exist to allow them to cheaply hold their item in their hands. While this was once an expensive process however, prototyping is now actually very easy and affordable for even small businesses with few resources.

Do it Yourself: The first and most obvious method of creating a prototype is simply to try and build one yourself with makeshift materials. For more complex products this won't be an option, but if you are creating something that uses readily available materials then you can easily try and create that yourself in a makeshift manner.

Use 3D Printing: For those items that are slightly more difficult to produce, or for a prototype that will be more presentable for beta testing, another cheap and readily available option is to use 3D printing. 3D printing allows you to 'print' three dimensional items in a variety of materials ranging from plastics to ceramics to metals. Almost any design you can think of can be replicated cheaply as a 'one off' using a 3D printer as long as it can be assembled from single parts and is not too large or complex. To create your own 3D printed prototype you will need to create a 3D model using CAD software and then use a 3D printer of your own or use an online service such as Shapeways.

Outsource: If you aren't confident to make your prototype or it is too complicated for 3D printing, another option is to use prototyping companies and outsource the process. These services have come down significantly in price thanks to technologies such as 3D printing and in some cases they will even be offered by your manufacturing contractor. It requires an upfront investment, but compared with manufacturing and marketing thousands of units that no-one wants to buy it's a small price to pay!

How to Find and Work With Fulfilment Companies

If you’re an entrepreneur, or if you run a start-up, and you make money by selling a product, then the key part of your business should be developing a great product that people want and that provides true value. However, this isn’t the whole story – and just as important if you want to be successful is your marketing, your packaging, and ultimately your delivery.

That last bit – the delivery – is the last part of your service and is equally as important as the rest. In order to ensure that your customers are 100% happy after doing business with you, you need to ensure that their item arrives on time, and in great condition.

This is called ‘order fulfilment’ and often it’s handled by logistics companies. Here we will look at what your options are and how to make sure that this goes smoothly.

OtherOptions

Before we get started, there are two ways you can skip the need to find a fulfilment company altogether. One of course is to handle the delivery of your product yourself, though this takes a lot of time and effort when the orders get large (and can actually cost more too as you don’t get the same discounts that fulfilment companies do), and the other is not to sell directly to your customers. If you sell your products to stores and resellers, then it will be their job to both store your products and to send them on to customers. Note though of course that you will have to find some way of getting your product to them – which can be simple or challenging depending on the nature of your business.

How to Find a Good Fulfilment Company

Otherwise it’s down to you to find a company that can handle this aspect for you. FedEx of course is a well-known example of a company that can handle fulfilment, but there are many more.

When choosing between these, you should look for reviews to find out how reliable and effective their logistics is. Don’t be too put off by a few cases of items going missing – that’s inevitable when a company ships thousands of parcels every day – but instead try to get an overall feel for the company’s efficiency and make sure to read up on their policies. Note that a company like FedEx is actually a franchise – experiences can differ greatly from case to case. Many fulfilment companies will provide sample services which allow you to test the service without having to commit to a long-term agreement.

If the company you’re looking at is also going to be storing your products, then you should look into the security that they provide on-site and at the way your items will be stored and organised. Some companies will also allow you to do things such as checking inventory levels and sales activities online, and allow your customers to track the location of orders. Options like this can greatly help you to provide a good service to your customers and even to reduce your overheads by paying close attention to your stock and requirements.

Entrepreneurial Lessons From Richard Branson

When it comes to great businessmen and entrepreneurs, few can rival Richard Branson as a cultural icon of capitalism and business savvy. Here’s a guy who built – quite literally – an empire from scratch and who did so with a fun public image and while involving himself in many exciting and daring adventures. He’s a real life Tony Stark, a billionaire playboy and a roaring success by anyone’s standards.

As such then he can serve as really rather an incredible role model for any other budding entrepreneurs hoping to one day follow in his footsteps and leave a mark on the world and the business scene. Here we will look at just some of the lessons that we can learn from old Rich, and that can help steer the way for the pioneers of tomorrow.

You Don’t Need a Fancy Education

Richard Branson famously has little in the way of educational qualifications, but he never let that stop him. In fact that’s probably part of the reason he did strike out on his own. Don’t view a lack of degree as a barrier to success then. If you have the skill, you have the skill – you don’t need a piece of paper to prove it.

Be Controversial

Controversy sells, and Richard Branson knows this well. Not only does Branson enjoy occasionally drawing attention to himself and his company with occasionally controversial stunts – but even the name ‘Virgin’ was one that was met with some hesitation when he tried to get it registered and it’s certainly not one that people forget. Which is why it’s such a stroke of genius...

TurnWeaknesses Into Strength

Branson was diagnosed with dyslexia which is part of the reason he left school at 16. However, rather than letting this stop him he in fact turned it into an advantage – reading everything out loud and thus gaining a better understanding of it and becoming a better communicator.

Buildon Your Success

Richard Branson did something I like to call ‘springboarding’ – by which I mean that he used each success to help launch his next project. It started with a newspaper for students, moved on to selling papers and continued into almost every other industry. If you have high ambitions that you can’t quite reach right now, then start off with some that are a bit smaller and use them as a ‘step ladder’. Bootstrapping is one example of this.

Spread Your Bets

The Virgin brand is somewhat unique in that it isn’t associated with any on service and instead incorporates multiple businesses. Of course this puts Branson in a position of incredible strength (which he likens to the Roman Empire in his book Business Stripped Bare) because if any of the micro-businesses should struggle, all the others can hold it up.

Brandis Important

It was perhaps fate that someone called ‘Branson’ would become the master of branding – and what is Virgin other than a brand? Here the cunning entrepreneur realises that he can branch into any business he likes as long as the standard of service is consistent across the board because people will gravitate to a familiar logo they generally know to be reliable.

TheSky is Not the Limit

Branson shows us that you can go wherever your imagination takes you. Not content with flying his hot air balloon, Branson is now on the verge of finally privatising space flight. Which is rather incredible.