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Creating a viable product - Q & A

Anne Marie wants to know how to make her idea into a viable product.

Rich Sloan:   We’ve got Anne Marie calling from Bear, Delaware.  Welcome to the show, Anne Marie. 

Anne Marie:  Hi. 

Rich Sloan:   Go ahead with your question. 

Anne Marie:   Yeah.  I just want to know, when you have an idea for a product, how do you begin?  Like, where do you start?  I have an idea for a product.  It might incorporate maybe welding.  You know what I mean?  And that’s not something that I do, or metal.  Where do you begin or how do you find the resources to develop the product and go from there? 

Rich Sloan:   Is this something you’re interested in selling on eBay? 

Anne Marie:  It could be.  Yeah.  It’s just that I would have to first produce the product, and that’s the very first step and I wouldn’t know how to start. 

Jeff Sloan:    Right.  So the question is more general.  It is you’ve got an idea for a product.  How do you turn that idea into a real product? 

Anne Marie:   Exactly.                                

Jeff Sloan:   Have you ever done anything like that, Kevin? 

Kevin Harmon:   No, not really.  We’ve taken existing things and found the right marketplaces for them. 

Rich Sloan:   Yeah.

Kevin Harmon:   So she’s on a level even before where I would come in. 

Rich Sloan:   You are in StartupNation central, Anne Marie. 

Jeff Sloan:   Yeah. 

Rich Sloan:   And we’re happy to help you with that.  I think the thing that you need to do, depending upon whether this is low volume or high volume. 

Anne Marie:   Okay. 

Rich Sloan:   If it’s a high-volume kind of thing, what you need is a contract manufacturer. 

Anne Marie:  That’s what I will be looking for. 

Rich Sloan:     Exactly.  And so you can find contract manufacturers simply by using the Internet for your region.

Anne Marie:   Okay. 

Rich Sloan:   If you want to have it produced locally.  

Anne Marie:  Oh, okay. 

Rich Sloan:   And, you know, if it’s a welded product --

Anne Marie:   Uh-huh. 

Rich Sloan:   -- as you suggested --

Anne Marie:  Right. 

Rich Sloan:   There are so many shops, little shops that will take job opportunities, so absolutely. 

Anne Marie:   All right. 

Jeff Sloan:    And there’s a great way to locate manufacturers.  It’s through something called the Thomas Registry, where they categorize --

Rich Sloan:   ThomasNet. 

Jeff Sloan:    Is it ThomasNet? 

Rich Sloan:     Yeah. 

Jeff Sloan:   I was going to say, what’s the word -- ThomasNet.com. 

Anne Marie:   ThomasNet.  Okay. 

Jeff Sloan:    Yeah.  Check that out because they list manufacturers by their capability, by geographical location.  It gives a little history on the manufacturers.  It’s a good way to locate them. 

Rich Sloan:   All right.  

Anne Marie:  For contract manufacturing? 

Rich Sloan:   Yep.  Yep. 

Anne Marie:   Thank you.