Advise Needed to Start Small

tausagi

Hi, I have alot of ideas and creativity and will like to turn them into business.
I have start custom make some of the product and rented at outpost to Start out with. But I was demoralize when my sales was zero for past one month. My capital was very limited. Can anyone help me where when wrong? Here is my blog: tausagi.blogspot.com

Please advise thanks

xoxoxo

When you said "alot of ideas and creativity" and custom made products, are you referring to your 3D photoframe? Apologies if it sounds harsh, from a consumer point of view, I won't spend $60 on such a frame and what's more, the product doesn't 'wow' me at all, in other words, stale idea. Most photo frames these days incorporate hologram effects, rainbow lights, 360 degree rotation, etc. Think you can come up with something better than these.

Anyway these days, save for a few who will still use photo frames, don't most of us store our pics of our beloved in our phones??!!

I may be wrong but my feel is this is a case of wrong product or put it in other words, there is no demand... you are selling something no one really needs... not a necessity, not a must-have, nice-to-have? not really too....

If you insist on continuing this product line, then perhaps revise your price, work on your marketing strategy, you can't just rely on your blog and whatever you mean by "rented at outpost".

Good luck!

tausagi

Thanks for your suggestion, I will look into it, as I am first time in business that is the reason posting here for suggestion. In life we learn through mistake and cristicism, and I will accept whatever cristicism other may say. This is the way we improve and make us a better person, but I hope this forum will help me in some suggestion and assist along the way, as you have mention change in marketing stragedy which I hope you can shed some light for me, your kind assistance will be greatly appreciated.

xoxoxo

Whether you decide to stick your 3D photo frames or to work on some other products, first and foremost, do you have a budget or a financial plan? When you have very limited capital and you are on the path of product customization n new creations, I think it is important you know how far you can go with your limited resources and when to seek help (eg. looking for sponsors, venture capitalist, like-minded partners and the like). Otherwise, very soon you will head no-mans land when you have minimal sales, lack of funds and lack of new products to keep your customers coming back.

And, I didn't mention 'change in marketing strategy", I suggested that you "work on your marketing strategy". Can't be asking you to change your strategy when I don't even know what's your strategy, right??!!

Use the 4Ps - Product, Price, Promotion, Place - to guide you along. Don't just create something that you like and assume that everyone else will like. If there is no demand, you are wasting your time, your $$$, your efforts. Ask yourself (again) who are your target consumers. A well-defined target market is the 1st element to your marketing strategy. You need to know who are your intended consumers before you can work on the best methods to reach out to them, where to reach them, and what kind of pricing works best for this group of consumers.

Perhaps you may also want to consider attending this talk - Understanding the pushcart business - by sbit_sg. From some of his posts, I think the talk may come in useful even if you are not into pushcart business.

Mystech

uhm... What is so special about your item? Its just a few pieces of plastic bound together. Even worse, your edges are not even lined up. xoxoxo is being very kind to you actually. 1st and foremost, you need a product that others want. Or one that you can persuade others to want. And not get easily.

tausagi

xoxoxo, thanks for your kind advise, think i have some enlightment from what you have said and suggestion. I will work out some plans , and using your 4 P as a guide. ya, this is what I am looking for, some guidance from you elders out there to guide a new bird like me , along.
Thanks for your suggestion and input, I will work something out with your guideline, thanks

xoxoxo

Thank you Mystech!

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ok Tausagi, seems like it's the product itself that is the key problem. Sit back and rethink if you want to continue with this product line even before you embark on your marketing strategy. And at the same time, ask yourself, what's next after the Amor Box....

Now what I am going to comment next.... let me say in advance I'm not contradicting myself but I merely put myself in a position where I say "ok, we have no choice, the Amor Box must stay" hence my comment below....

I think your product can actually be a very fun thing (having said this, I still wouldn't buy it ) .... Now why I say it can be a fun thing.....

Remember those art n craft things that kids love to do in shopping centers, and parents will willingly spend their time n $$$, seat down together with their kids and get their masterpieces done.... now back to your Amor Box, it can be real fun dolling up those frames, it allows consumers to exercise their creativity, and imagine the satisfaction one gets when they finish decorating their frames... (By the way, the samples you featured in your blog are really very very very ordinary... perhaps that's another reason why your frames do not attract me at all).

So if you strongly believe you have a miracle box/frame, then continue to fine-tune it. Often when it comes to new products, one has to test n try many times before getting it right. If you can get it right the first time round, it's a real miracle!

Some other points to consider if you insist on having the Amor Box. Consumers can use anything from mini-stickers, movie tickets, flower petals, to practically anything that can be squashed between those acrylic sheets BUT all these "anything" are from the consumers' own pockets.... at a price of $60, how about giving consumers a choice to select some 'add-ons' to beautify their photo frames? Otherwise please reduce your price. For that few sheets of plastics, even at $10, I may not want to buy it! Have live demo of how you put together a frame. Conduct those on-the-spot frame-making sessions at a reasonable fee. (Remember, these suggestions are made on the assumption that you want to continue with this product line. Otherwise, please sit back and rethink your business plan).

Now back to my original position, I still think the idea is stale, the product is not fantastic... so did I confuse you? am I making sense? If Amor Box is what you call creativity, creativity is dying a slow death