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Originally Posted by not_so_new  Hi all.
Not sure if this is the right place for this but here goes.
I and thinking of starting my own gear design company. I have a very good business sense and many professional contacts to get a company on it's feet from a marketing and legal angle. I have owned / ran businesses before and have years and years of people and project management experience.
The down side is I know very little about electronic design. 
I have a great ear, I know what I like and I think I have a few special products that would have a market but I need a designer that is willing to work with me to see these ideas from concept and testing to full production.
I don't have stars in my eyes, I see this as a way to sell a few units with plenty of potential for growth with the proper products and marketing. LOTS of hard work and some frustration for very little payoff other than being my own boss. Anyone interested should have this same outlook.
I have a friend who is a designer that I have spoken with about this already. He gets first shot at this opportunity but I am not going to wait for him to make up his mind for too long either (I am not getting any younger).
I am looking for a partner first to share the responsibilities of start up costs, production costs and workload. Someone to bounce ideas off of and get input from (a fair split in a healthy working business relationship).
Failing that I would be interested in a designer that will build my concepts, offer input and ideas, develop drawings and fill customer orders at a per piece rate. Not sure on the details there but I am open to suggestions.
So... I would be looking for someone in the U.S., preferably in the North East but that is not mandatory. Someone with design experience who is very reliable, somewhat outgoing and above all HONEST.
If you or anyone you know is interested please send PM's.
Thanks.. |
Good Luck... In some regards designing and building the gear is the easy part, assuming you can sell as much as you need to at a comfortable profit margin to support your expenses.
IMO the higher end markets are to some extent fashion driven, rather than performance driven, so being closely attuned to trends, responsive, and effective and brand management will be important. Of course the "designer" gear must work well too. Perhaps do a market study of what companies are already in the general area you are interested in and their particular strengths and weaknesses.
The number of small companies that have come and gone, should advise some caution, but there's always room for one more boutique player. Lurking here can suggest hot product trends or new ideas (perhaps some even worth doing?).
There seems to be some brand association with strong personality designers which will be hard to create from whole cloth (without lots of ad bux) so that might suggest some association with an already known entity. That may come with good and bad baggage, depending on the individual.
Good luck and to rephrase an old joke, the way to make a million dollars in a new business is to start with two million.
JR