Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

So it`s my understanding that some things cannot be patentable which are basic in nature, like a standard broom, a jump rope, etc.

 

The item I`d like to sell is just like this, it is a silicone bracelet (think LivStrong) that I will be buying from a manufacturer in China.  Is there anything I need to know about purchasing something and selling/marketing it in my name under my business?  This bracelet will have my logo on it to distinguish that it is mine. 

 

Just wondering how this would work.

 

Thanks,

Jessica

I haven`t started this business as of yet, I`m trying to get all of my information together to know where to start.  I have samples currently being shipped to me, however I`m thinking I should start trademarking. I just didn`t know where to start first - do I see if the product is what I want it to be before I trademark a name?  Or finalize my name, trademark it and then move from there. 

 

It`s all a bit overwhelming :)

 

Hi,

 

      Do you have a picture of it for us to see a rough sample?

 

Ricky

Sure,  this is a basic idea of what they are:

 

http://www.alibaba.com/product/haribdas-11051585-10741361/productdetail.html

 

Hi,

 

       Sadly, you can`t patent it :(

But you can trademark you own company name :), and put it on the bracelet.

 

Will this be used as a promotional item to give away or will you be selling it just as it is?

 

Ricky

 

ps. I am also a manufacturer on alibaba, sapphire and ruby supplier :)

That`s what I thought.  I`m just in the starting stages and currently waiting on a samples.  The bracelet has a dual purpose so I`ll be selling it as is.  

 

Thanks so much! :)

 

Hi,

 

       I was actually thinking about this, you might be able to patent it if you changed the design a bit.

 

     I had a customer in india that purchased alot of pure 80 rubies from me and beryllium treated yellow sapphires, because the are cheap from bulk.

 

     Anyways he had also a similar kind of product like yours but i think his bracelet was made of rubber instead of silicone. He made the bracelet in such a way that it was hot swapable. The rubber bracelet had a little 3 mm hole in the centre of it, in that hole he put in a ruby or a beryllium treated yellow sapphire in it.

 

      At first i though it was weird, but his rational that in india, people like ruby or yellow sapphire due for good luck, but they can never afford the gold stuff or the really higher quality stuff. He charged around 100 rupees(about US $2) for the yellow beryllium sapphire bracelet and 500 rupees for the ruby one.

 

        Amazingly he sells close to 10,000 pcs every month. He has 16 outlets in india, started from a street stall :)

 

        I was thinking if you come up something along these lines, you have a good chance of trademarking it, and having an ip for it. :)

 

Ricky

Well the bracelet that I`m purchasing actually changes from white to 3 darker shades depending on the UV Index. It helps one determine the level of sunscreen they should be wearing on any given day. My daughter has lupus and I thought this would be a great product for people with lupus, skin cancer and those who are just generally health conscious about the sun.  I plan on marketing to different areas such as dermatologist offices all the way to anywhere that sells sunscreen like drug stores, sport oriented stores, etc.   

 

I`m not quite sure how I could change the bracelet really.  I`m open for suggestions! :)

Hi,

 

       That is a great product, i think it will help alot of people.

 

There are 3 issues i see.

 

1. Children are beautiful, but other kids are mean to one another especially in school. If you sell something that looks like a hospital band, teenagers that actually need this product will avoid it because of peer pressure or afraid of being made fun of by the "cool kids".

 

2. You see people who are unwell (skin cancer), don`t really want to wear a kind of band that is specifically branded for them. No one wants people to know that they are suffering from skin cancer, as they may may feel uneasy talking about it or they just want privacy. So having something that brands this for them, they might avoid it.

 

3. It looks like a hospital band, where people wear in the hospital they are admitted into. This means that some redesigning of the product or a marketting gimmick has to evolve.

 

This is what you can do to fix the problem.

 

1. It can be redesigned to look fashionable and trendy with variety of colours. I see alot of people in asia where silicon bands but there is always something on it, like a gemstone or beads, braided to look like a bracelet, but never jut the bracelet itself

 

2. For example when you create something like that it becomes patentable and the idea will always belong to you no matter what.

 

3. Don`t just limit it to wrist bands, make it in slabs so people can use them as key chains as well. This way you can cover alot of ground.

 

4. Try pitching to people from the military, they will love this as alot of them work in sun for hours and even doing parades. The fashionable argument again comes into play, because no one in military want to made fun off by their peers. Remember its always green and brown for them.

 

5. The other way could be just to redesign the whole bracelet as a whole. This means asking the mnufacturer to make the mould in strips and then braid it. Most manufacturers should know this well.

 

Have An Alliance Or Gimmick.

 

You see kingdom mine has been operational since 1965, so we have seen every gimmick in the world. I will share some of them with you.

 

Give free stuff away. See my below thread in the british forums. The story happened in thailand.

See the last post, its also by me.

 

http://www.startups.co.uk/6678842909433755280/online-loose-tea-shop.html

 

The guy in thailand had his own shops and did not have to pitch to anyone, the customers came to him in droves because of what he was offering for free. In the mindset of the consumer, if i buy 1kg of tea, i got a yellow sapphire free. People love this type of gimmicks.

Just to check with you, how much do you intend to sell each bracelet, if you have rough figure maybe i can figure a formula that works for you :)

 

2. This is called economic alliance. You see in asia nowadays we are having this type of alliances with manufacturers. How it works is that if someone buys your bracelet they get the other manufacturers product for free.

 

A good example is me, although we are still negotiating the terms, i might be having an economic alliance with a software company. This means that if someone buys gemstones from me that meets the moq(minimum order quantity) which is around US $3500, they will get a voucher from the the software company for a value of a US $1000, usually this voucher goes back out to customers which will use them as gifts, for themselves or just donate them.

 

Bottom line you have great product, you just need a way for it to be redesigned and marketted in way that suits the interest of your organisation and consumers.

 

Wow i went on for so long, sorry about that :)

 

Ricky