How to do a start up? - Need some advice on how to start the process

Start selling it via etsy and shite. You'll do all the manufacturing, packaging, and labeling yourself. It'll be long nights and weekends.

If it gets big enough, leverage any contacts you have to look into copacking and/or manufacturing.

The first thing that needs to happen is she needs to show that the product sales. If it doesn't, it doesn't matter how particular you are with getting everything set up. Where it will get complicated, if it does have a market, is when you need money and/or operations to scale.

Cross that bridge when you get there. That doesn't mean don't think about it, but don't put the cart in front of the horse either.

She doesn’t want to make and sell the product, she wants to build a prototype, and start the path to manufacturing it.
She is super smart. She understands it takes money to make money. She wants to know how to get her idea out there, find investors, and get the product made.
Like I said, it’s pretty ingenious, and very simple.
What or where to go for the first step (after she makes the prototype)?
She can make the prototype in 10 mins with $20 of material off Amazon.

As far as the mailbox painting business, she has a problem that every company in the world wants, she has to turn down business because she has too many customers already waiting. She is booked through August.

quote:

---

She wants to know how to get her idea out there, find investors, and get the product made.
Like I said, it’s pretty ingenious, and very simple.
What or where to go for the first step (after she makes the prototype)?
She can make the prototype in 10 mins with $20 of material off Amazon.

---

Why do you need investors if a prototype can be made with $20 of materials in 10 minutes?


if you could find investors that like the idea and would give you idea money....they'd probably want most of the company and money in return since they are the ones paying the bills.... not a good situation.


go sell stuff get customers. then when you want to scale because business is booming. at that point start thinking about investors.

Sounds like you'd be better off to invest in hiring more people to paint mailboxes, so you don't have to turn down money and scaling that to raise the funds to not dilute this amazing nail polish idea.

Tell her to spend more time on school and get a lucrative career. Those side jobs aren’t worth their time in the long run once they’ve had the experience of working a side job and been humbled by it

Antique are you wanting to automate the build process and have a factory in China build them?

That’s attainable, but depending on the manufacturing process you will need a lot of volume to justify the setup costs and minimum raw material orders. Unless you can hit those minimums based on demand you will be on the hook for whatever you can’t sell.

If you just mean you want to hire others to make them on your behalf domestically how will you prevent them from copying your process and selling against you on Etsy? Do you have IP or a trademark registered?

Your considerations are what is your current target volume and what production process does your product require? Everything is basically downstream of that IMO.

Also keep in mind shipping costs if you go the factory route for your business model. A shipping container from China, when it finally gets through the port in CA, is now like $20k. Can you fill an entire container? If not you have to eat that space or work out a space sharing agreement which can be done.

The variability of time to arrive and the doubling or tripling of the cost to ship has killed many a business in the last few years so beware.

quote:

---

She doesn’t want to make and sell the product, she wants to build a prototype

---

You need a lawyer, not a message board.

Investors are more apt to jump onto a moving train than a stationary one. If she really believes in the product, have her invest in herself and show she can pull it off on a small scale. Ultimately, investors are investing in the creator more than the product.

Cosmetic industry? That is a multi billion dollar industry. I hope that she has something unique and can patent it or she will get crushed by the big dogs.

I will close with I am all about entrepreneurship and love the mind, heart and passion of a business mind, but think through what you are wanting to create.