Tom Buzz Bernard
05-01-2013, 11:38 AM
Part 4 came from reading a thread on Sawmill Creek. Renewed an old idea to make it better and added more product possibilities.
Creation of a Laser Product – Part 4
Could one make simple offset vector cuts in a piece of substrate to create a product? Many years ago I tried to see if I could use the laser to make a hinge with such cuts. At the time, I made long diagonal cuts to make the wood bend completely around like a book cover. I tried it in plastic and other materials and it seemed to be rather strong, but I saw no immediate product idea. That recently changed with a sample I saw on this internet forum. (sawmillcreek.org)
As we go through our daily business lives, we sometimes come across ideas that will enhance or fix problems with previous projects. Every day new substrates are coming out and sometimes new techniques that allow us to make a product cheaper, better, or allow more value-added and profitability. When I use to own sign shops I would look at other people’s work and think how could this have been made better, got more impact, or stood out from the competition? See, in business you are in competition! You need your (product or) service to be better, for the right price, and if not – then value-added to make the customer want to buy from you! This is reality and sometimes we do not get a second chance to impress a big customer.
In the sign industry many customers would come in to order a sign. This could be for their vehicle, store front, or even a banner advertisement. I would say, “There are 1000’s of signs in this town, city, and state. What is going to make someone look at yours?” You need a unique layout, color, 3-dimensional, etc. to stand out - they don’t know our capabilities. I would tell my crew, show the customer what they asked for, and then show them option “B” of what we can create for them. 99.9% of the time they chose option “B” and they bragged about it to other businesses.
I know I am speaking about signs (not lasers) but the analogy I want to convey is the same. You can create a more value-added product (costing more) and they will pay more if they are impressed and it gets the results they want! Sometimes you will find new techniques and substrates that allow a better profit for the same idea, which I will explain more later on. First, I would like to re-tell a true story.
Once I did a 3-dimensional sign for a large bakery. He originally wanted us to basically put his whole menu on the side of all his delivery vans. My first thought was no one is going to read all that. I convinced him to let me try something with one of his vans, but it would cost him more money if he decided to go with it.
This is the deal I made. I would not charge him initially and I would replace the sign with the one he wanted if my idea did not work as I suggested. Not a gamble I recommend for most, but I liked the challenge. So, enthusiastically I went about designing a vacuum-formed (almost 4 foot tall) 3-dimensional (very colorful) cartoon caricature of a baker holding a silver platter with the words “Best Bakery in Town” and the telephone number in clear letters below it. That’s all! It attached to the van with magnets. This went on both sides and the rear of the van. The customer was very apprehensive, but I told him, “You have over 100,000 signs out there. What will make them look at yours?” After just two weeks he called to have all his vans redone with this new signage. He said his phone has been ringing off the hook. He even changed the bakery’s sign at the store to match the cartoon caricature. I think he told 10,000 other businesses of his successful new marketing idea and who made the signs for him, because in two years we were able to grow our sign business from a garage into 43 locations. Granted, the fast growth was not just from this sale, it may have included some luck and taking advantage of some unique opportunities. Free Church signage brought in more new business than we could almost handle.
I don’t want to digress too much but if you attend one of my seminars I usually tell the church story as one of our “give-to-get” methods of sales - very successful and rewarding for any industry.
Point of this story is this was not the low-cost signage he first came to want, but it gave him the results he wanted and he paid the higher price. So how does this relate to the laser industry? Well everyday big businesses are looking for products to promote themselves, get their name out, or to use as a sales tool. What could you make with your laser? Some may not remember this older product story so I will repeat it to show the new twist to creating a product and how it relates to the vector cut hinge we first discussed.
During the hay-days of real estate, I can remember a developer (250-home subdivisions) wanting to buy gifts for each house they sold. He was point blank and said I want something that looks like it is worth $100 or more but I don’t want to spend more than $35, preferably $30 for each one. The lower price was the true cost at what he was looking for. It is not uncommon for us all to spend less for a shower, wedding, or coworker’s gift, especially for someone we are not that close to. We do not want to look cheap. No different than the developer’s goal. He wants perceived high-value at a low price. With the possible repeat volume from this developer, it is worth trying to come up with a product of your own, or possibly that value-added idea I talked about. If we can get just a few dollars more at this level of volume, it adds up fast. What can we make? What does the end-user need? Creating product ideas is my forte. :cool:
When you buy a house and move to a new area, what would be helpful? I would like to know where to find the local dentist, chiropractor, handyman, church, theaters, award shop, and any helpful information about the area. What we suggested to the developer was to supply us with the outside drawings of the house (they had seven different models to pick from), and we would engrave the design on this nice wooden box that could contain sales flyers of local stores and services. They could even charge a small amount for the services to be included in each house package. They loved the concept and idea. I was able to get a higher price by creating a product that could pay for itself. Their customers found great value in the gift and the developer created relationships with the surrounding businesses with helping them get exposure to these new customers. In this scenario (with the developer) it allowed us to be creative and make something unique for our business.
That was more than 15 years ago, so what is the relevance? How about a new technique for making that product and the possibility of many other products? Remember in the first sentence I said “Every day new substrates are coming out and sometimes new techniques that allow us to make a product cheaper, better, or allow more value-added and profitability”.
The idea I saw on the sawmill creek forum was using a similar style hinge cut to make a low cost box. The look was very unique and when stood on end looked like a book for storing in your book case. What a great new concept for the real estate idea. Bad part is the real estate market is pretty flat right now, so what other ideas could we use this concept for? Let’s see how easy we can think of a couple of products.
Well, if you kept the same thickness (about the same size as a book) and made it tall enough to hold cigars, you could make a nice personalized humidor. That might be a good product, but the cigar fade has waned. What if you engraved, It’s a Boy or Girl, on the outside with an area for personalization of date, weight, length, and name for a newborn child? Inside, one could place the corresponding cigars and after the proud parents pass out all the cigars, the box could then be used to store those precious mementos such as the birth certificate, the foot imprint, pictures, and cards from loved ones from the hospital. Such a unique way to store memories - then place the container in your book case (like a book) for easy access to show guests when they visit or for safe keeping for when the child grows up. A multi-use product idea makes for an easy sale. How many more products could we create?
Breakdown of material Cost, Wood used is less than 2 square feet of 3mm 1/8” Russian Baltic Birch, my cost is less than $1.00 for this. Staining the wood and a piece of felt or fabric inside, the cost is under $1.50. Perceived value is yet to be determined, but my target is always at least 1000% mark up. Would someone pay $15.00 for such an item? More value-added if personalized? How much exposure might one get with this type of product? How many new people will be shown the end-product because they loved what they received? My point here is every sale can be the start of finding a new customer, idea, or market!
Your business starts with your first sale! Go have some fun!
261423261424261425261426
Creation of a Laser Product – Part 4
Could one make simple offset vector cuts in a piece of substrate to create a product? Many years ago I tried to see if I could use the laser to make a hinge with such cuts. At the time, I made long diagonal cuts to make the wood bend completely around like a book cover. I tried it in plastic and other materials and it seemed to be rather strong, but I saw no immediate product idea. That recently changed with a sample I saw on this internet forum. (sawmillcreek.org)
As we go through our daily business lives, we sometimes come across ideas that will enhance or fix problems with previous projects. Every day new substrates are coming out and sometimes new techniques that allow us to make a product cheaper, better, or allow more value-added and profitability. When I use to own sign shops I would look at other people’s work and think how could this have been made better, got more impact, or stood out from the competition? See, in business you are in competition! You need your (product or) service to be better, for the right price, and if not – then value-added to make the customer want to buy from you! This is reality and sometimes we do not get a second chance to impress a big customer.
In the sign industry many customers would come in to order a sign. This could be for their vehicle, store front, or even a banner advertisement. I would say, “There are 1000’s of signs in this town, city, and state. What is going to make someone look at yours?” You need a unique layout, color, 3-dimensional, etc. to stand out - they don’t know our capabilities. I would tell my crew, show the customer what they asked for, and then show them option “B” of what we can create for them. 99.9% of the time they chose option “B” and they bragged about it to other businesses.
I know I am speaking about signs (not lasers) but the analogy I want to convey is the same. You can create a more value-added product (costing more) and they will pay more if they are impressed and it gets the results they want! Sometimes you will find new techniques and substrates that allow a better profit for the same idea, which I will explain more later on. First, I would like to re-tell a true story.
Once I did a 3-dimensional sign for a large bakery. He originally wanted us to basically put his whole menu on the side of all his delivery vans. My first thought was no one is going to read all that. I convinced him to let me try something with one of his vans, but it would cost him more money if he decided to go with it.
This is the deal I made. I would not charge him initially and I would replace the sign with the one he wanted if my idea did not work as I suggested. Not a gamble I recommend for most, but I liked the challenge. So, enthusiastically I went about designing a vacuum-formed (almost 4 foot tall) 3-dimensional (very colorful) cartoon caricature of a baker holding a silver platter with the words “Best Bakery in Town” and the telephone number in clear letters below it. That’s all! It attached to the van with magnets. This went on both sides and the rear of the van. The customer was very apprehensive, but I told him, “You have over 100,000 signs out there. What will make them look at yours?” After just two weeks he called to have all his vans redone with this new signage. He said his phone has been ringing off the hook. He even changed the bakery’s sign at the store to match the cartoon caricature. I think he told 10,000 other businesses of his successful new marketing idea and who made the signs for him, because in two years we were able to grow our sign business from a garage into 43 locations. Granted, the fast growth was not just from this sale, it may have included some luck and taking advantage of some unique opportunities. Free Church signage brought in more new business than we could almost handle.
I don’t want to digress too much but if you attend one of my seminars I usually tell the church story as one of our “give-to-get” methods of sales - very successful and rewarding for any industry.
Point of this story is this was not the low-cost signage he first came to want, but it gave him the results he wanted and he paid the higher price. So how does this relate to the laser industry? Well everyday big businesses are looking for products to promote themselves, get their name out, or to use as a sales tool. What could you make with your laser? Some may not remember this older product story so I will repeat it to show the new twist to creating a product and how it relates to the vector cut hinge we first discussed.
During the hay-days of real estate, I can remember a developer (250-home subdivisions) wanting to buy gifts for each house they sold. He was point blank and said I want something that looks like it is worth $100 or more but I don’t want to spend more than $35, preferably $30 for each one. The lower price was the true cost at what he was looking for. It is not uncommon for us all to spend less for a shower, wedding, or coworker’s gift, especially for someone we are not that close to. We do not want to look cheap. No different than the developer’s goal. He wants perceived high-value at a low price. With the possible repeat volume from this developer, it is worth trying to come up with a product of your own, or possibly that value-added idea I talked about. If we can get just a few dollars more at this level of volume, it adds up fast. What can we make? What does the end-user need? Creating product ideas is my forte. :cool:
When you buy a house and move to a new area, what would be helpful? I would like to know where to find the local dentist, chiropractor, handyman, church, theaters, award shop, and any helpful information about the area. What we suggested to the developer was to supply us with the outside drawings of the house (they had seven different models to pick from), and we would engrave the design on this nice wooden box that could contain sales flyers of local stores and services. They could even charge a small amount for the services to be included in each house package. They loved the concept and idea. I was able to get a higher price by creating a product that could pay for itself. Their customers found great value in the gift and the developer created relationships with the surrounding businesses with helping them get exposure to these new customers. In this scenario (with the developer) it allowed us to be creative and make something unique for our business.
That was more than 15 years ago, so what is the relevance? How about a new technique for making that product and the possibility of many other products? Remember in the first sentence I said “Every day new substrates are coming out and sometimes new techniques that allow us to make a product cheaper, better, or allow more value-added and profitability”.
The idea I saw on the sawmill creek forum was using a similar style hinge cut to make a low cost box. The look was very unique and when stood on end looked like a book for storing in your book case. What a great new concept for the real estate idea. Bad part is the real estate market is pretty flat right now, so what other ideas could we use this concept for? Let’s see how easy we can think of a couple of products.
Well, if you kept the same thickness (about the same size as a book) and made it tall enough to hold cigars, you could make a nice personalized humidor. That might be a good product, but the cigar fade has waned. What if you engraved, It’s a Boy or Girl, on the outside with an area for personalization of date, weight, length, and name for a newborn child? Inside, one could place the corresponding cigars and after the proud parents pass out all the cigars, the box could then be used to store those precious mementos such as the birth certificate, the foot imprint, pictures, and cards from loved ones from the hospital. Such a unique way to store memories - then place the container in your book case (like a book) for easy access to show guests when they visit or for safe keeping for when the child grows up. A multi-use product idea makes for an easy sale. How many more products could we create?
Breakdown of material Cost, Wood used is less than 2 square feet of 3mm 1/8” Russian Baltic Birch, my cost is less than $1.00 for this. Staining the wood and a piece of felt or fabric inside, the cost is under $1.50. Perceived value is yet to be determined, but my target is always at least 1000% mark up. Would someone pay $15.00 for such an item? More value-added if personalized? How much exposure might one get with this type of product? How many new people will be shown the end-product because they loved what they received? My point here is every sale can be the start of finding a new customer, idea, or market!
Your business starts with your first sale! Go have some fun!
261423261424261425261426