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AT Inventors 3 is focused on Logistics and Production for your product to help improve the practice of Athletic Trainers EVERYWHERE.
Production
Origin of production, taxes, and duties
Cost per unit and minimum orders
Payment options with vendors
How do you price your product
E: dial in all of your costs and then add 15% in case of overages.
A lot of people do not understand this statement, but it's good to shoot for 5X to cover all the other expenses we talked about. Rent, insurance, time, labor…
Really slim margins do not offer you any protection. Everyone needs to make their money.
Using the SanDisk memory card example – the card is the same shape and size as it changes storage capacity but the price keeps going up.
Stay focused and do not spread yourself too thin.
E: Shipping can be a big experiment as well. Saving one inch could save you lots of dollars.
J: Everyone liked the custom cardboard boxes but they cost more…
E: I was going to pay $90 for 10 stickers…I decided to go with a vinyl sticker cutter instead…it has been well worth the time and investment.
Passive income streams are another option we did not really cover.
What is your relationship with your vendors?
How do you handle quality control and setbacks from vendors
J: As someone who does not have access to a lot of warehouses I had to prototype to troubleshoot quality control and how they handle the load.
I used SGS as a third party inspection company
How involved do you want to be with production?
Do you want to learn a new trade or use a vendor for production
J: Is it worth your time and money to pay someone or do you need to learn how to do this.
E: Look at efficiency and what you really want – do you want to learn how to sew.
How do you keep things in stock or when do you know you need to purchase more
Just in time manufacturing, WIP or large batches of inventory
Where do you store large batches of inventory?
- Elysia, please answer this one. I do not want people to look into my supplier because of my partnership with the warehouse
Logistics
How will the products arrive to you?
Will you ship your product and storage
Order fulfillment systems
How involved do you want to be from start to finish?
Websites, credit card processing, and fees
J: Affordability was the key – square seemed to be the best fit for me now.
They are a one-stop shop for me.
E: I got a quote from a company to build a custom site with everything I want for $14K
There were not as many eCommerce sites available
I felt I would be stuck with that with minimal support.
We went with an eCommerce site and used the money to get exactly what we wanted.
With your website try to answer every customer service question with an article or video so that you can reduce the personally answered questions.
J: The best part of upgraded eCommerce sites is REPORTS.
Marketing options for trade shows, social media, influencers or grassroots
J: I did not do any marketing, I established a relationship with ATs first using Instagram.
E: The personable story is what everyone likes
Always answer the phone with a smile.
If you put a video on YouTube you do not actually own it but YouTube does.
Google ad words – someone will outbuy your “word”
Variety is actually good, not everyone likes Starbucks
How do you manage daily business operations and unforeseen events?
What is the critical path, doubling back on your work or pure avoidance
E: What is the most important thing you need to get done today at this moment – I do not open an email unless I am ready to answer it.
Do the things you least like first to get them out of the way.
Write yourself an abundance check – kind of like a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Check out the first two in the series:
Michael MacPherson – michael@sujibfr.com
Lisette Guerrero
Elysia Tsai – info@SI-Boards.com
Jay – @NexusSportsMed on IG
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