Product Startup

Raising money for building a prototype vs raising money for the full production run. An early crowdfunding failure - getting the positioning wrong, and how Khierstyn corrected this to have a $600k funding success.

Jill Bong is an entrepreneur, homesteader, and inventor of Chicken Armor - a different chicken saddle. She is also the author of over a dozen books on homesteading and self-reliant living. In this episode, we learn about * Why Jill and her husband created their product despite established competition in the space * Differentiating the product from competitors * The design drivers - few components, washable, easy to manufacture, and low cost * The process of working with material suppliers * Keeping startup costs low - "We almost had no choice, we had to work with a shoestring budget, or almost no budget in this case" * Why it's rare to come up with your final product on your first try and the iterative part of product design process * Taking a year (multiple seasons) to test the product * Jill's experience getting laughed out of a gardening forum - and landing her first user who was also a business owner with a similar experience * Selling Chicken Armor on eBay to validate the market * Handling customer objections and their perception of quality through money back guarantees and up-front education * Why Jill and her husband abandoned pursuit of a patent * Why they haven't scaled up to large scale manufacturing and distribution or branched out into other designs and target markets * When sales actually picked up and Jill's solution to marketing and outreach (especially for unique products) * The product sales as a result of mentions in large broad publications versus small targeted outlets * Their most successful marketing tactic - pitching to the editors of publications and appealing to their audience worked better than influential bloggers and magazine ads * Some of the other passive income streams that Jill has started * How to know when you should continue validating your market, and when to quit Links and resources mentioned in this episode * Website * chickenarmor.com * byjillb.com * Social Media * Twitter: @chickenarmor * Facebook: facebook.com/chickenarmor * Instagram:  * Pinterest: pinterest.com/chickenarmor * Google Plus: +Chickenarmorsaddles

The business case behind starting the company with an existing product instead of a new design. We also get into the process of purchasing a one-way valve from a medical company in the USA and incorporating it into new drinkware.

We explore how Josh started the business with infinite possibilities (near infinite scents) and broke down other brand's successes. His early challenge: educating customers on unisex scents

Having a focused impact on smaller problems - you don't need to find a cure for cancer or end world hunger. Changing a cultural behavior to address to root of a problem. Common characteristics of social entrepreneurs - courage, persistence,

How Lisa tested her products against competitors and stayed objective to improve her product's performance. We also cover Lisa's approach to protecting her ideas, patenting and trademarking what she can and publicly disclosing ingredients to put her cu...

How Brandon focused on the crowdfunding aspect after his own product launch to help others grow their business. We cover the three main mistakes most people make on crowdfunding campaigns and what makes a really good video that captivates your audience.

Why creating a multi-height shoe was a design and engineering problem (it took 2-1/2 years of research and development to solve) and how Tonya used feedback and testing to improve on the designs, early in the development process.

Why Robson turned down a large licensing deal after 1-1/2 years of negotiations to manufacture, market and sell the product himself and how the company chose its product line by identifying markets that were doing well in the 2008 downturn.

Terry got into social entrepreneurship by volunteering at an animal rescue. We learn how he started through Instagram account and Kickstarter. We also get into finding manufacturers and getting better pricing on smaller orders.