Entrepreneurship: How to build a killer product?

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As CEO of a start-up company, I was always curious when I was working with other entrepreneurs to explore each other's entrepreneurial processes. Because this is a good opportunity to exchange business experiences and recognize other sunrise industries. But, often more impressed me is when I understand their entrepreneurial path on the bumpy, suffering.

When I met Zappbug's co-founder, Cameron Wheeler, the first thing he said was, "Do you know that 110,000 people a month will use the Google search engine to ask ' how can I get rid of bugs? '" My first reaction was, "Well, can you repeat, are you talking about bugs?"

And he gave the answer to that.

I soon realized that Cameron was a smart guy and that his "get rid of bugs" product would be a killer product. But the story I'm going to tell is not just about removing bugs. I want to know how he found out about this problem and how to build a physical hardware product company in the context of an Internet startup that dominates the world?

The following story is about how three very ordinary boys create a product company and then make a profit (and how to create a product company within budget).

Find a real just need

Bugs are really a pervasive problem, and we know that a lot of people around us have actually encountered them. And it all started with Cameron's neighbour, a co-founder, who stumbled upon a room with bugs that would go through a power outlet into apartment, spread across the building, and appear in an apartment. To deal with these "painful" bugs, he finally worked out how to get rid of bugs.

It is in this process that they realize that removing bugs is a universal requirement.

In the initial research process, they were also aware of the need for better solutions and more information. They found that the market demand was large and fragmented. Some bugs get rid of companies that want to sell their products to your apartment. There are bloggers who spend a lot of words describing the operability of the blog, and the salesman just wants to sell you the product.

They realized that there was no real good resource or solution to solve the problem, so Zappbug was born.

After more research, they found the real gap in the market-and there were no affordable and efficient products, so they decided to invent such a physical product and sell it directly to the customer. The idea is to develop a bug grill that heats up on a suitcase or personal suit to kill the bug and protects the individual from corrosion. "We choose to start with the product, because we have the technical ability to be competent." Heat treatment is a proven solution to kill bugs. This product can be very good at preventing and eradicating bugs, but it will also be a product that generates huge revenue. ”

Lesson: Cameron found a real new need and launched a profitable product to run his own company. Using Zappbug, people can find and effectively kill bugs to solve their headaches. More importantly, when people are confronted with a troubling problem, they will not hesitate to spend money to find a solution. The lesson for entrepreneurs is that they pay for you to solve their real needs.

Innovate and quickly create models

Creating a company that develops physical products is bound to be expensive. Testing and making products means more time and money than developing software products. And the fact that every product you test will be a cost. You need to raise money ahead of time to purchase inventory. Also, you need to make the production line enough material to meet the minimum order quantity of the manufacturer that produces the product for you. Amazon does not produce these physical products, you can only find Chinese manufacturers, which is far from our usual habit of using affordable and highly flexible web services.

And Cameron's next question is: Is there a lean entrepreneurial principle that applies to solid products? Will it eventually be able to produce products and sell them successfully, without huge capital, and ultimately profitable?

"When my founders and I explored the opportunity, things changed, I figured out a coping strategy, found a low capacity overseas manufacturer and found a valuable expert to help us do the marketing," Cameron said. ”

The team now has ideas, but it needs a model.

He solved the problem after Cameron swept the street once. "I went into the Home Depot and bought a heater, some insulators and a memory. Then he bought some information and found out the Arduino. By the end of the day, I had developed a model. ”

He basically built a baking fixture out of thin air.

This simple bug grill is designed to heat up to a lethal temperature and maintain a period of time to eventually kill the bug. After a few days of experimentation, they finally determined the size of the product and examined how the product should be operated. "So we found a designer for the Craigslist company on the website, and he offered to sew some samples for us," he said. After this series of revisions and experiments, we finally launched a complete product model. ”

Lesson: Be creative when developing product models. The process is not necessarily difficult or expensive, it only requires that you model the product you think of. Find the local market or retailer as the initial supplier. Remember, you only need to focus on developing a product.

Taking advantage of China's economies of scale

Large-scale production of textiles, like "Insulated folding boxes" (ie, bug grills), is not suitable for production in the United States because of the high cost of labor and the small amount of orders. In fact, most people do not have a good understanding of how such a simple model in the factory workshop to produce products, but also in a large factory to build the assembly line?

How did Zappbug do it?

Summing up the reasons for the failure of startups, Cameron realizes the importance of lean entrepreneurship principles in product development and marketing. At the same time, with the previous experience of a product manager responsible for overseas manufacturing, he learned that it is easy to produce products in China.

"I've seen several factories on Alibaba's website before, where you can find anything people use," he said. So we started looking for a small factory to produce our ' baking tools '. ”

Interestingly, they only put pictures of the model in parallel to the manufacturer. They sent hundreds of e-mails to Chinese manufacturers and received responses from most manufacturers, and then began to discuss cooperation.

In order to further discuss cooperation, Cameron flew to China!

When he arrived in China, he contacted several local producers. "Ben and I have known each other in Alibaba and have been in touch." Ben let me look at the sample and help me negotiate the lowest order quantity on the production line. Let me know that anything can be negotiated in Chinese manufacturers. ”

Cameron recounts that when you see the production of your product, don't be scared away by the initial high minimum order requirements. In order to talk about cooperation, the factory will try to make concessions for you.

Their products arrived at the container in June 2012 and they started selling it on Amazon. Sales have been good. In fact, their first shipments soon sold. In order to produce more products, they added a new production line, and in December 2012 the production line of the first batch of products officially landed. When it comes to earnings figures, Cameron mentions that they are like driving on the freeway, profits are doubling, and sales are rising steadily as the latest products are introduced.

Lesson: China has experience of scale, everything can be negotiated, and can now be contacted by email. Develop friendship and collaboration with Chinese manufacturers to help you solve problems in the negotiation process. Also, the iterative update time of the product will be shortened and the cost can be reduced to the controllable range after cooperating with the Chinese manufacturer.

Who would have thought that bugs would bring such a killer product? (Compile/Hiroshi)

Via:under30ceo