DonDebelak.com Newsletter
Stop Retailers from Switching from Your Product to Cheap Knock-Offs November 2008
In This Issue
How to Keep Your Big Retail Buyers Buying From You and Not the Competition
A Taste of Sourcing Smarts
Quick Links
15 Steps to Bring Your Product to Market

Consulting

Market Introduction Plans

Invention Evaluations
Join Our Mailing List
::
Steve Greenberg, author of Gadget Nation: A Journey Through the Eccentric World of Invention, recently said in an interview:

"...when I was interviewing the inventors, I usually asked the very loaded question, ''So, how are you doing?'' at the very end of the interview. The response was always a surprise. Very clever gadgets were losing hundreds of thousands of dollars -- some goofy gadgets were making big money. Predicting the winners from the ''non-winners'' was almost impossible. Success seems to have more to do with marketing than the actual nature of the gadget."

Greenberg raises a point that we have said all along: "Success seems to have more to do with marketing than the actual nature of the gadget."

That is why we at DonDebelak.com focus on the marketing on your invention, which starts at how you develop the product with the goal always on how you will market it to whoever your customers will be.  We have lots of resources on our website to help you with this at every step of the way.  Make sure to check out our Online Articles and our 15 Steps to Bring Your Product to Market to help you with the marketing of your product.

This issue also has a new article on how to handle the marketing of your product so you don't get replaced by cheap knock-off products plus we have part 7 of our Taste of Sourcing Smarts.

Enjoy!
How to Keep Your Big Retail Buyers Buying From You and Not the Competition
Inventor Story: Jamey Bennett
money man

When you have one or more really good retail chains buying from you for a few years, is there any way to keep them from switching to a copy-cat product that costs less?  There are no guarantees in retail sales and some retailers will drop you if they find a lower cost product no matter what.  But some retailers are more concerned about giving their customers the best products than offering them cheap products.  Once such a retail chain starts buying from you, you should work hard to build a good relationship with them that will keep them buying from you, even when low-cost copy-cats are everywhere. 

Read on...
sourcing smarts
A Taste of Sourcing Smarts

Taken from Chapter 3 of "Sourcing Smarts:  Keeping it Simple with China Sourcing and Manufacturing" by Edie Tolchin, Don Debelak and Eric Debelak,  this installment discusses asking the China factories for quotes on manufacturing your product...
 
Asking for Quotes:  After contacting the references that the manufacturers have provided, hopefully you will have narrowed down your list to at least five good prospects.  Put together a package to send to each of those manufacturers that includes samples of your prototype, along with all product literature, specifications, measurements, components, etc. Many sources can work with drawings, but it is more efficient to use actual prototypes, as mentioned in Chapter 2.  Also include any safety issues you will want addressed, taken from your Design Evaluation report from the independent testing / safety lab, and any production tests that they must comply with, also from the Design Evaluation.
 
Make sure to include an introduction letter, indicating the quantity you are looking to buy, the ports into which you would like to ship your order, and any special features of your product that need to be included, which might not be obvious to thesupplier when they first look at your prototype. 

Give as much info as possible - communication can be difficult and the more information you give the more likely your product will turn out right.
 
Stay tuned for more information on finding a China factory on your own from a Taste of "Sourcing Smarts" in our next newsletter. To purchase "Sourcing Smarts:  Keeping it Simple with China Sourcing and Manufacturing" by Edie Tolchin, Don Debelak and Eric Debelak, go to www.egtglobaltrading.com, www.sourcingsmarts.com, or www.amazon.com.