Update on the camera/hiking piece of gear that I have been developing: I spent the last week testing our alpha version of the product. On my calibrated scale: 3.53 grams (0.1245 ounces) - WOW/OMG!!! Our projected weight was 5.8 grams (0.2045 ounces) so the material ended up being considerably lighter than what we expected to it be - crazy strong too. Going to go back to the CAD software and make two or three very small changes and have a couple more made, hopefully allow us to go from an alpha project to a beta product. After I get done testing the beta I will hopefully be able to share what all of this is about and get an idea for whether it should even be brought to the market. For those of you wondering why I am sharing all of this (about a project not even on the market, and that I cannot say what it is) is because I think some of you might be interested to see all of the work that is involved in bring a new product to the market. It is (usually) not just one of those things you think up and a week later you are selling it (though a couple of my ideas now on the market where that easy.) I started working on this product (in my brain) in early April of this year while out hiking and spent my free days at home working on building a CAD version of what was in my brain. Around the end of July (two months later) I shared it with the company owner that I felt could bring this to the market. The first week of September (five weeks later) we had the first four alpha versions created and in our hands. Here we are the end of September and I am now submitting changes back to the company for beta tooling/manufacturing. So, going on six months and still at the alpha stage of product development. My goal is to have them ready for sale before the first week of December. That is, if we even decide it will be worth it to bring them to the market. Could be ten months of work and I might decide to just pull the plug on the idea. Highly unlikely that will happen unless the cost to manufacture them will be so high as to not generate a profit for the company I am working with. After all, a company has to make money, and part of my job is developing a product that another company is going to manufacture and sell is to make it profitable for them. I submitted the idea to the company without any interest in financial return to myself. Whatever profit is made by these bring brought to the market and getting sold will not end up in my pocket. Doing all of this because (first and foremost) I want the product for myself and it is worth all of this effort to get it, and (secondly) because I think a whole lot of hikers are really going to want to use one of these! Anyway, that is why it is that I am sharing all of this - so all of you can get an insight into what can sometimes be involved in potentially bringing a new product to the market.
Posted on: Tue, 01 Oct 2013 03:40:16 +0000
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