Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I read the Spouse is Scared thread and was encouraged, to a point.  I developed a product, it`s patent pending, have packaging, Web site, and it`s well received when shown to people - but not one has sold yet.

My wife was initially skeptical and eventually got on board and excited, now I`m the problem.  I feel guilty/bad writing checks for something that hasn`t sold yet and am beginning to second guess myself.

I`ve found this forum both informative and encouraging; time to stop lurking and participate. 

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---------- Tom M. http://www.cancoaster.biz

Hi Tom,

I’ll start by saying I have no use for such a product as I never shave in the shower, that’s what sinks are for. I’m thinking this is for women though, if that is the case are you advertising in the right sites? Are you reaching your potential customers? If you google ‘can coaster’ without the quotes you go for ten pages and you your site doesn’t even show up. With the quotes it shows up on the fourth page, being that www.cancoaster.biz is the name of the site, I would think that hiring an SEO guy could help you.

If I was to market this product though I would not use the net as the only venue as it is unlikely that anybody will search for such a product on the net. I would suggest you approach your local retail stores and work a deal with them on consignment, if they sell you get paid, otherwise you pick up your products in x months. If possible do that NOW before the Xmas season, although I would never buy this product for myself I can imagine that if I see it on the checkout I might pick a couple up for folks that usually don’t get anything for xmas, you know.... the price is right for that.

Good luck!

I agree, the `net is/will not be my primary sales generator.  I need to get it placed in stores, and have begun the process of submitting to catalogues, as well.

Barbasol sells 30 million cans of shaving cream each year alone.  This product isn`t for everyone - amazing how many people don`t shave at all - but there is a significant number out there that have a need for it.  I need to get it on their radar...

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---------- Tom M. http://www.cancoaster.biz

Tom-

I think this is a great idea.  I agree with ElidS that it would work great if you could get it near a checkout as an "impulse purchase" item. 

On your website I would put a women`s shaving cream can with the pink colored cancoaster.  I thought it was kind of funny when I read "REAL MAN" on the side of the can with a pink cancoaster.  I wish you the best of luck and I think I might just have to purchase one of these because I have experienced the rust letting off on the bottom of the can. 

Have you thought of approaching the major shaving cream manufacturers to see if they will buy your product or possible license it for you?

Don`t ever let fear take over your passion for this product.  Believe, Believe Believe!!! 

I read ElidS` post, then went and looked at the site. At first I thought it was about a way to clean fish! LOLOL! Oy...!! :-D

Everyone (except egomaniacs) gets to second guessing themselves. We just went through it, my friend and I, with a new product. If the item isn`t selling, no action`s taking place, and everyone has plenty of advice about how you should quit and get a regular job, you`re welcome to come join the countless others of us in the same situation!

Here`s what I came up with, looking at what was really happening. Maybe it`ll help...maybe not. As they say, advice is worth what you pay for it. ;-)

The key is to sit down and use your thinking, reasoning, rational mind, to ask yourself what`s the real, intrinsic value to the item. NOT what it might be valued at by others...the actual intrinsic value. So for example, if you were on a desert island, what would this product/thing do for you?

Fear is an emptiness---a "missing" thing. It`s a feeling, not an emotion. An emotion is a complex evaluation of experience. Feelings are instant responses from your body toward pleasure or pain. Fear, as a feeling is different from anxiety. The missing thing in your case is certainty and validation. You have what YOU think (or do you feel?) is a good product, but nobody ELSE is validating it!

The problem is to get away from your "feleing" that your product is good, and instead begin thinking, then *knowing* your product is good. You want to replace the void of uncertainty with the values of certain knowledge, and that comes from reasoned thought, not "feeling" things. There`s a time and a place to feel, and it`s not when you`re organizing a business campaign.

In your case, there aren`t showers on a desert island. So what IS the intrinsic value? If you`ve been getting positive feedback, then there must be such an intrinsic value, regardless of if you can find it immediately. The value isn`t what it can do for someone else, it has to be a value that stands alone.

Off the top of my head, the value would be "protection." Your device protects the finish of a very expensive piece of equipment---a tub or sink. Is that true?

When you`ve found that value, then the whole problem changes. Instead of putting yourself into a dependency, reacting to the rest of the world, you begin to become active. The "thing" has a value, and the problem is either that nobody else can comprehend the value, or you`re not correctly presenting that value.

After we`d developed the fundamental value of our product, we stopped worrying that it wasn`t selling. Instead, we paid more attention to how we were advertising it, what were our venues, who were the people looking at it, and so forth. We found we were off the target, and not putting our product in front of those who could easily see the value.

I`d change your photo and get rid of the dead fish (play toy or not). Steal from the marketing folks, and show someone with a terrible frown on their face, staring down at an "unsightly blemish" on the tub`s edge. Find ways to target people who want clean things, don`t want rust rings, and don`t want to spend so much effort and time to clean a rust stain. :-)

Hi Tom M,

Please don`t be discouraged.  My shower has rust rings from my mans shaving cream.  My latest solution was to put a shower cap over the bottom of the can and it just collected water and made a big mess.  I think these will sell, but maybe the web site needs a little help.  I like the way you tied it to the environment but the fish threw me off.  I think you need to get hooked up with stores like Bed, Bath and Beyond or Linens and Things, maybe even local dollar type stores.  Put on an end rack, these would sell, I believe it. 

Don`t give up, you have an idea, just needs to be marketed to the right places.

I`ll buy them....

Best of luck to you

Vicki

Vicki and CraigL, thank-you for the input and positive feedback.  I will take your site advice to heart and change it.  I`ve often thought of the protection angle, and am thinking of something along the lines of "inexpensive insurance."

I appreciate your comments.

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---------- Tom M. http://www.cancoaster.biz

Tom,

I agree with Chairman, about the pink can coaster holding the barbasol.  A man wouldn`t want a pink can coaster.  Also.. when I saw the testimonials page, and a little boy is holding the cleaning can, saying he doesn`t like scrubbing the rings, it doesn`t look right to me.  If anything, it really should be a woman instead of a child cleaning. And under other uses, you want people to take your product seriously.  It shouldn`t be made as a joke.  So I would take that part out.  Nobody is going to buy it to use it as anything else but a can coaster.  Hope this information is helpful. 

Jeannie

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