Getting a product onto shelves

[robokoder]

Hello all,

I have a retail product under development - it's a new spin on 'teach yourself' type books. I'd rather not post explicit details publicly online, but from the general feedback I have got from friends and strangers alike, the concept does seem to be distinct and attractive enough for the potential of commercial success (though obviously I know that the statistics on new product launches aren't exactly on my side )

I have created a brand and reached a stage in development where I have a very good idea of what the finished product and future spinoffs will look like and cost to make etc, and essentially have a prototype ready for demonstration.

One of the things I have thought a lot about is the practicality of launching this. A couple of months ago I had the idea that one option might be to sacrifice profit at first and just get the product onto shelves by offering it at cost. To that end, I managed to get a foot in with a national charity, whose retail buying team are prepared to give me a meeting, though this is by no means a done deal (they haven't said yes and I haven't committed). Another thought I have had is offering the idea to a publisher, though I'm not too keen because it isn't quite a normal book, I'd lose a lot of control, and it could take a long time to get any answer.

I have two significant constraints, though: first, I'm a student, and want to keep studying, at least in the short-term, though I do have a good two months now in which I can focus on this. More importantly, I can't plough as much money as I would like into the project. Of course I have some limited funds, but not enough to have the finished product professionally designed / patented etc or to manufacture the first batch.

My question really is then, any tips? I know this is a whole minefield, but pointers on what to be thinking about or where to start would be invaluable. I suppose one option may be to get professional assitance with some kind of success-based payment, so tips on that would also be great.

Thanks everybody!

Dom

 

[serendipitybusiness]

I would recommend turning them into a digital product and marketing them online, this way your upfront costs are less and your potential market is larger, plus you keep control of your product and there is less legwork, allowing you to continue with your studies. It will also test your market and when you have more money in the bank to produce a hard copy version, you could self publish and offer this as an alternative.

If you want to discuss this further send me a pm and we can have a chat.

 

[robokoder]

I would recommend turning them into a digital product and marketing them online, this way your upfront costs are less and your potential market is larger, plus you keep control of your product and there is less legwork, allowing you to continue with your studies. It will also test your market and when you have more money in the bank to produce a hard copy version, you could self publish and offer this as an alternative.

If you want to discuss this further send me a pm and we can have a chat.

Thanks for the reply. This is certainly a route I have thought about, but I'm concerned that I will effectively lose the market for gifts and will also have difficulty charging people for this kind of think on the internet given free ad-supported competition.

I suppose the key thing is that I can see this selling well on shelves whereas I'm skeptical about the chances of success online. I know it is a more realistic plan, but, as I said, I have a good amount of time to work on this now and I'm prepared work very hard to get this off the ground.

Anyway, thanks for the advice serendipitybusiness: if you think you could give me advice on going straight to retail, it would be much appreciated.

 

[XanderMarketing]

I recommend you get a copy of the book 'World Wide Rave' by David Meeman Scott.

 

[BlueprintAnimation]

This sounds like quite a similar situation to mine at the moment. Having thought in some depth about marketing and selling myself, I've decided I want to go the route of finding a publisher - I'd rather have a smaller slice of a bigger pie, and stick to what I know I'm good at. Not knowing your expertise at marketing and so on, maybe this doesn't apply to you?

The other big plus is that I won't have to find printing/duplication costs myself.

One thing somebody pointed out to me - if you do have a publisher, you usually do a deal with them to sell the first print run of however many, and after that you can negotiate a new deal with them or choose to take it elsewhere/go it alone. I think for me, with limited time and money right now, that's the best way to go because I can still choose to self-publish once I've got a bit of cashflow coming and have tested the market.

 

[robokoder]

This sounds like quite a similar situation to mine at the moment. Having thought in some depth about marketing and selling myself, I've decided I want to go the route of finding a publisher - I'd rather have a smaller slice of a bigger pie, and stick to what I know I'm good at. Not knowing your expertise at marketing and so on, maybe this doesn't apply to you?

The other big plus is that I won't have to find printing/duplication costs myself.

One thing somebody pointed out to me - if you do have a publisher, you usually do a deal with them to sell the first print run of however many, and after that you can negotiate a new deal with them or choose to take it elsewhere/go it alone. I think for me, with limited time and money right now, that's the best way to go because I can still choose to self-publish once I've got a bit of cashflow coming and have tested the market.

This sounds interesting - how are you finding the experience of getting a publisher on board, and what are the instincts of other people in this respect? I don't know if anybody here has particular experience here, but, for example, if I were to get some good solid sales statistics from say 500 units which were sold nationally in a charity retail chain at standard RRP, would it be feasible then to get a meeting with wholesalers or even buyers from chains like WHS? If that would still be out of the question then I guess getting a publisher is my only real shot - and, if so, is thre a better strategy other than just writing to them at their 'publish with us' addresses?

I'm still on the lookout with somebody with experience with this kind of thing who wants to get more involved. I can share more information privately if you get in touch.

Thanks

 

[BlueprintAnimation]

I'm afraid I'm not at the stage yet of actually sending out to publishers - still testing and finishing up the prototype. It'd be good to chat about it though, I'll send you a PM.

I would imagine that whichever way you decide to go, getting some good sales figures from the charity shop would be a big help.

 

[robokoder]

I'm afraid I'm not at the stage yet of actually sending out to publishers - still testing and finishing up the prototype. It'd be good to chat about it though, I'll send you a PM.

I would imagine that whichever way you decide to go, getting some good sales figures from the charity shop would be a big help.

Yeah, it would be interesting to share experiences!

Has anybody else got any general feedback (see my previous post)?

Thanks