advice on bringing product to market

Piriz

Hi,

I have developed a good graphic / logo that fits well into the Dublin and Ireland brand, it is a clever design and meets most of the criteria for good logo design. Its memorable and appealing etc.

I'm aiming to get this trademarked on about three classifications of goods.

It is a tourist market product range; i aim to have a small product range with prints, mugs, tshirts and fridge magnets.

What i'm having difficulty with is sourcing manufacturing etc. so i can get the right product produced at the right price.

Whats my best approach here?

Should i get samples made and speak to retailers as a next step?

The economy of scale here is making it difficult to start, i dont know where to get potential order numbers or establish a unit price, pricing structures etc. cheap or rather good value and quality manufacturing etc.

is it easy to licence this sort of trademark?

any advice is greatly appreciated..

thank you

stcstc

other thing to maybe look at is using manufactuers here, for that made in ireland marketing too

YellowSheep

Piriz wrote: »

Hi,

I have developed a good graphic / logo that fits well into the Dublin and Ireland brand, it is a clever design and meets most of the criteria for good logo design. Its memorable and appealing etc.

I'm aiming to get this trademarked on about three classifications of goods.

It is a tourist market product range; i aim to have a small product range with prints, mugs, tshirts and fridge magnets.

What i'm having difficulty with is sourcing manufacturing etc. so i can get the right product produced at the right price.

Whats my best approach here?

Should i get samples made and speak to retailers as a next step?

The economy of scale here is making it difficult to start, i dont know where to get potential order numbers or establish a unit price, pricing structures etc. cheap or rather good value and quality manufacturing etc.

is it easy to licence this sort of trademark?

any advice is greatly appreciated..

thank you

1. Trademark is easy enough. PM me if you need help.
2. I suppose you need to produce a prototype of any kind to establish your cost. If the cost per unit is viable, than of course value production is as well.
3. Once you established some kind of profitability you need to communicate with your potential market and see if it is a runner. Before you approach anybody I would possible have a questionnaire ready to exactly determine need, possible turnover, improvements ect.

If you want to brainstorm, give me a PM.

Regards Oliver

Piriz

YellowSheep wrote: »

1. Trademark is easy enough. PM me if you need help.
2. I suppose you need to produce a prototype of any kind to establish your cost. If the cost per unit is viable, than of course value production is as well.
3. Once you established some kind of profitability you need to communicate with your potential market and see if it is a runner. Before you approach anybody I would possible have a questionnaire ready to exactly determine need, possible turnover, improvements ect.

If you want to brainstorm, give me a PM.

Regards Oliver

thanks a mill Oliver, i'll get on to you soon hopefully...

Peterdalkey

Your product range is fairly typical of the kind of goods used in the promotional products industry. You could get one of the local suppliers to run you relatively modest quantities of each item with your logo. Make sure you own all the origination!!
It is predominantly supplied by the Chinese. They exhibit at PAPERWORLD in frankfurt and the Spring fair in NEC Birmingham Might be worth a visit to identify supply lines for when you are in a position to order the larger quantities direct. Google promotional products and you will get a huge array of potential suppliers. Just make sure they are actually producers as the industry if full middlemen!

Best tip, visit a trade show in Europe or the UK.


Cheers

Peter

Piriz

valuable advice Peter, thank you

Peterdalkey

OP, This is the third time you have started the same thread since last September seeking broadly similar advice. What exactly have you achieved in moving this forward since or it it just something that you dabble in when you are bored?
I am sure you can Google mugs, T-Shirts and China just as easily as I can.

Piriz

Hi Peter, my most recent thread was requesting information on pitching my product to potential stockists, the other threads were to garner information on trademarks and manufacturing etc.... I acknowledge you have been very forthcoming with advice on my threads and I am very grateful.

What have I achieved on this since September?

I am not a business person and have been working two jobs until recently as a healthcare professional (currently just part time now). I have been doing some research since September. I have yielded good information; some from you (thanks) and I have submitted a trademark application for review to the patents office. I have researched promotional product companies, prices and what are the best products to fit into my initial range, also how these products align with the classifications of goods in a TM application. In addition, I have been distracted by a few different ideas I spent time researching before realising that this is my best option and I should focus on this for now. I have been reluctant to rush in to this before I do my homework so my achievements to date are nil but I hope to take the right steps going forward in the coming weeks and months hence asking for advice from those who have experience. Your right, I can google for info on manufacturing in China...

Arjuna4

Trademark is as much as compulsory as business products required...


I am also a business man and know the value of trademarks in the business and also made a trademark for logo of my company...

Peterdalkey

Sorry for the cranky moment, I thought the sourcing request from China was pulling my chain a bit too much! My point about Carrolls was to reverse engineer the pricing to establish target cost pricing. I would think that they probably source most of their own product directly and bypass distributors altogether. They may even have their own wholesale arm selling to other retailers, for all I know!

Good luck with it!

Piriz

Peterdalkey wrote: »

Sorry for the cranky moment, I thought the sourcing request from China was pulling my chain a bit too much! My point about Carrolls was to reverse engineer the pricing to establish target cost pricing. I would think that they probably source most of their own product directly and bypass distributors altogether. They may even have their own wholesale arm selling to other retailers, for all I know!

Good luck with it!

I thought by asking you about China you could offer specific info as you did re: PAPERWORLD in frankfurt and the Spring fair in NEC etc. I wasn't trying to take the mick.
I agree with the idea of reverse engineering the pricing as i dont want to price my products higher than what exists in this market space. I am reluctant to approach Carrolls until I can have a proven record of sales and my pricing and distribution in order. But this begs the question...how do I get to speak to the right people in Carrolls and other retailers for that matter?

Peterdalkey

I know of these shows as they cross over into the promotional/direct marketing products area for which we produce and market certain specialist products.
TBH, you should not consider approaching any retailer until you have your homework done. I mean that you have your market and cost pricing research/results, your brand protection sorted, and have actual samples to show. You will also need to be able to demonstrate how you will service them with physical warehousing/distribution VAT, accounts etc.
You could do some of this online , like http://www.carrollsirishgifts.com and others.
Given you do not have a business background, you should seriously consider doing a start your own business course part-time with FAS. They are really very good and cover the basics to a decent level.
As to how to approach them when the time comes, simply visit the shops you want to sell to and ask for the name/contact details of whoever does the buying!! Make sure you do it earlyish in the day when the shop is not busy or you will get short shrift!

Piriz

Thanks again Peter, I will aim to structure this as best I can showing consideration to the areas you highlighted, need to read up on VAT and figure out what could be involved in distribution...

jimmii

It will need to be something pretty special unless you get lucky and someone really gets what you are doing. I have a small shop in town and we have two or three people coming to us with their products every day. As a supplier getting your distribution right will be key especially if you are to get a big company on board as a reseller. Before you go investing a lot of money in to it though take a few samples round to see if there is much interest. As good as it might seem to you there might just be similar stuff around that hasn't worked in the past.

Piriz

Hi Jimmii,

Thanks for this information.

Distribution is something I dont really understand... can you describe briefly the characteristics?

In my mind I can place an order to get products produced and delivered from China, I have a place to store these products, I have free time to deliver products when ordered.

I fear I am quite ignorant to what may be required..what will the expectations of retailers be?

Finally, to help put your story of having people try to sell their products to your shop in context, can you tell me what type of shop you operate?

The plan is to get samples and unit prices and approach retailers.

Many thanks,

jimmii

Retailers would expect you to have a reasonable amount of stock available to order its very annoying when you put together an order and the supplier comes back a couple of days later saying that half the stuff is out of stock! If I was the buyer I would understand that you were only coming to market now and that initially stock might not be in ready supply but would hope that once things are up and running that you would be able to supply orders quick enough i'm not sure how many retailers are happy to wait for stuff to be made and shipped from China! China Airmail takes a LONG time to arrive its dirty cheap but very slow not sure how much of it is actually airborne! Once you have the stock here its just a case of delivering it to the stockists whether that be yourself delivering it or using a courier.

I have a small home, gifts & accessories shop. Only open a couple of months now. We have people coming to us with everything from candles to art to bunting some are sales people some are just people making it at home it varies massively. Definitely get some samples and take them round as the quality isn't always the best from China. If you haven't already got someone in place alibaba.com is a good place to start if you haven't heard of the site before its is ridiculously huge their turnover is bigger than Ebay & Amazon. Combined! Its full of suppliers who should be able to make whatever you have in mind.

Be prepared to be flexible with stockists there is a lot of competition out there from suppliers and we get offers of free stuff and a lot are happy to offer sale and return so you can see if it works for you. Obviously this may not be ideal for you as you will need the cash flow but don't be surprised if some ask for it.

Piriz

Im very grateful for your input Jimmii its very insightful, i'll have a browse through that website tomorrow...think its time for bed...

I might walk in to your shop someday in the next few weeks...go easy on me!