RasterWeb!

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.)

Rule #3: Buy smart.

If we look at rule #3 we see:

The real difference between a hobby and a business is that businesses don’t buy retail. Just as you’ll be selling wholesale to other stores, you’ll need to buy your components wholesale to keep your products affordable. That means buying in volume, and the discounts typically get a lot better in units of thousands than in hundreds.

Well, right now I’m much closer to “hobby” than to “business” as far as purchasing. I certainly don’t have the capital to buy parts in the thousands, or even the hundreds. Let’s be honest, not even the dozens. As I mentioned previously, I’m not going to have much stock to begin with, which I think is fine. It keeps the risk low, and since demand is sort of an unknown factor at this point, I’m all for keeping risk (and expenses) fairly low.

That’s not to say I haven’t investigated things like bulk discounts, and with at least one component, I’m already saving (a little bit) by ordering larger quantities. The most expensive component has a discount starting at 25 units, which is more than twice as much as I’ve ordered so far. If I sell out the first run immediately, I’d consider 25 for the next order. The discount isn’t huge until you get into 100 units, which is a lot of cash right now.

At some point looking at alternate suppliers might make sense, but that also means checking that new/replacement components are of a high quality. I’m a bit picky about quality, so I really want to avoid cheap/unreliable components, or things that are aesthetically unappealing. Over the years one thing I’ve come to realize in business is that if you compete on price, it’s just a race to the bottom, and who wants to be on the bottom? Some folks do, but not me.

So yeah, it’s smart to buy smart, but it also costs quite a bit of cash to buy smart… So for now, I’ll just do my best to not buy dumb.

(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.)