RasterWeb!

Rule #7: Create a community to support and enhance your products.

I haven’t really created a community (yet) and I’m not entirely sure I’d be able to, but as it is, I’m trying to service an existing community… the users of Sparkbooth.

Now I didn’t just jump into this existing community with the idea that there was money to be made… I’m a Sparkbooth user, and in solving my own problem I’ve also solved the problem of other Sparkbooth users. (And yes, I’m not the only one.)

I’m hoping members of the community support my product, and as for the enhancing part, well, that may happen just as a result of having customers. I’ve already thought about ways to make things better (the product and the process) as well as some alternatives that may be of interest to people.

Of course, there’s this bit regarding customer support:

Get it right and you can have a community rooting for you. Get it wrong, and you’ll have a virtual riot on your hands.

Hey, no pressure, right!?

(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.)

Rule #6: Be as open as you can.

I think for this current project (the USB Button) I’ve been pretty open, especially since the original post that spawned this whole thing laid out the components, instructions, and code to make what I plan on selling.

Could I be even more open? Probably, but right now I’m more focused on getting the product out there, and seeing if people will buy it (and it looks like some people already want to.)

Here’s a fun bit from Rule #6.

If someone else decides to use our files, make no significant modifications or improvements, and just manufacture them and compete with us, they’ll have do so much more cheaply than we can to get traction in the marketplace.

If they can do so, at the same or better quality, then that’s great: the consumer wins and we can stop making that product and focus on those that add more value (we don’t want to be in the commodity manufacturing business).

Now, in my case, someone could easily do it cheaper. Well, I guess easily is an opinion. But again, if someone does all the work, and produces a decent product at a lower price, then good for them! And as mentioned, the consumer wins. (I’d probably even buy one!)

I’ve already got a guy who is telling any potential customers that they can just go to ebay and buy “one of these” for super-cheap.

By “one of these” he is referring to a plastic USB footpedal from China. I’m not trying to brag, but the button I’m building is all quality parts, and it’s in a die-cast metal enclosure, and it looks really nice. (Well, I think so.) If you’re running a photo booth at a wedding do you want a cheap plastic footpedal or something that looks awesome? Sure, you can rebuild the footpedal to look awesome, but not everyone wants to spend the time (or has the skills) to do so.

I thought about ignoring the comment from Gary, but hey, more power to him! I’m not going to ignore it, I’m totally going to talk about it, and link to it. How’s that for open?

(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.)

Rule #5: You get no leeway for being a Maker.

Hmmm, so part of Rule #5 says “The customer is always right. Even if they’re being a jerk” which causes me some concern, and here’s why. When I first published the code and instructions for my button I was more than happy to answer questions on the blog post, and even via email, because I’m all about being open, and sharing, and helping other people make awesome things… that’s just who I am. But… I’m also a business, and yes, I do need to make money, and yes, I do try to make customers happy, but I do realize I can’t do it at the expense of the company itself. If this whole endeavor goes down the tubes and makes my life a living heck I’d like to think I could walk away from it. (People who know me are now laughing, knowing that I’m terrible at quitting and tend to keep things going way too long on occasion.)

All that said, I don’t expect any leeway for being a maker, but I guess I am hoping for some leeway because I’m just one guy trying to help people out by providing a product they want. I’ll go above and beyond to help customers if things don’t work right, and I hope they’d be understanding of the fact I’m just a small business trying to make simple things, and not some huge corporation trying to make a million dollars. Maybe that’s my expectation because that’s how I look at things. I do tend to give makers leeway because I usually believe that they are in business doing what they are doing more for the love of it than for the money, and I value that, and want to see them succeed, and if it means I give a little leeway, than so be it.

So going back to “The customer is always right. Even if they’re being a jerk” line… I try really hard not to be a jerk customer, and I just hope other people do the same thing.

(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.)

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.)