Rule #4: Basic business rules still apply.
Since my company has been around for quite some time, we’re legit, and I’m familiar with the basic rules of business, though I do need to brush up on the selling of physical goods and what that entails, such as taxes to charge when selling in Wisconsin (where the company is located.)
I do need to write up a disclaimer of sorts for the product I’ll be creating, and I plan on doing quality assurance and testing every unit before they go out. Since it’s not exactly a kit (as in, a pile of components that is non-functional until fully assembled) I think I can be fairly certain that I won’t be shipping non-working products. Of course crazy things can happen during shipping, and other weirdness is possible, but hopefully all will go well, and if it doesn’t, I’ll do my best to take care of it.
(See all the posts in this series: Begin, Stock, Buy Smart, Basic Rules, No Leeway, Be Open, Community, Manufacturability, Marketing, Shipping, Lessons Learned, The Real Costs.)