All 3 products are expected to be released in Feb/March 2025.

Product #1 – Available at the Bungalow, Direct & Amazon
Product #2 – Available at the Bungalow, Direct & Amazon
Product #3 is 99% complete, B 99%, Availability estimate: 3/15

3/3/2025 – The final product (Google) will be available 3/15. We have Siri products in a local store called ‘The Bungalow.‘ There is an online store now. The company website is also launched. Next is Amazon seller set up. Need a bank account and we should be ready to go. There is a Facebook page that is just getting starting with some natural postings – no paid social yet. Next is tackling more social and becoming an Amazon Seller.

2/11/2025 – Placing 6 Prod1 in local store for price testing. Shop owner said I need a table-tent but I found a display stand on Amazon. The stand won’t be in until EOD today.

2/10/2025 – Sending Product 2 inserts.

2/92020 – Sending Product #2 Box file. Boxed, wrapped 26 products in 1 hour – not bad.

2/7/2025 – New product #1 arrived and they feel great. Working on the sales website. I am not planning on selling products from this design-focused website although product 1 does have a URL pointing to the ‘products’ section on this site – I will just make a re-direct page. Prod 1&2 boxes will have the new product website based on the LLC name.

2/6/2025 – A local retail store is going to place 6 of product 1 in their store. I am planning on conducting price research. Although it’s not a great sales time, we are on the cusp of Valentines Day, Mothers Day & Fathers Day. My plan is to have a resolute approach with pricing; starting on the higher side and lower the price. With this said, I’m not sure this store is the one form these products, but it will give me solid research I’ve not had with the products. The owner said they wanted a table-tent…another project I didn’t see coming my way.

2/5/2025 – Product 1 is shipped. Waiting on FedEx. Should arrive in 1-5 days. Adding more information to the website. Received a G-Series device to aid in research for product #3

2/4/2025 – Pushing to get the 2nd product final-checked, and pushing hard to get product 3 completed. My deadline is in 2 days.

2/3/2025 – I received my tax id for my LLC today. Hopefully I can find a low-cost banking account. This will be the grounding for applying to Amazon.

2/2/2025 – Today a complete turn around from yesterday. I was able to create a website on WordPress & get a single email (free for 3 months) up and running very quickly (2-4 hours). So much easier and not as expensive. I got a free domain name (had to the .org since the .com was stuck in the Wix set-up) and it was attached to my site in minutes! Highly recommend Word-Press! I am pissed I have to move forward with an .org domain, but I got to keep this bus moving without waiting on bureaucrat issues.

2/1/2025 – Disaster! I ended my day early after struggling with Wix to set up a website & some Google enterprise-email based on the LLC name. After buying a domain name, Wix wouldn’t connect it to the site unless I upgraded to a premium business account costing $36 a month. I am trying stay lean but it seems Wix is taking advantage of startups. I wouldn’t recommend Wix for start-up businesses.

1/30/2025 – After researching possible issues, I reluctantly decided to form an LLC. I didn’t really want to place money into non-product expenses but it seems inevitable to have a proper business. This should help with becoming an Amazon Seller. The LLC should be approved in 5 biz days. The LLC name wasn’t the best, but it was available in Indiana and the .com was also available.

1/29/2025 – Product 1 estimated to ship 2/5. Contemplating filing for an LLC – There is some inherent risk working with big trademarks. Purchased the UPC codes for product 2 & 3.

1/28/2025 – Product 1 is at the printer. Reviewed a proof and needed to make 2 edits. Re-sent a new pdf. Product 2 could be ready in 1-2 days.

1/25/2025 – Paper samples arrive and the product 1 artwork/copy has been updated.

1/24/2025 – Yesterdays design lunch was interesting. The product was very well received and they were surprised how advance and clean it looked. The big message was to push harder and get all 3 sub-types produced & released together. I took up the challenge to do just that. The poly-bag test was successful – I was surprised the box had no wear and tear and appeared unscathed. There was no padding at all. Today the bubble-mailer arrived, so I think I’m covered either way.

1/23/2025 – Lunch with fellow designer to get feedback on my product. I have been getting feedback from another designer but he’s pretty close to the project now. It would be great to get a fresh viewpoint.

1/22/2025 – Rough photo shoot #2. Found out there is a lot more time needed for set up. I may need better lighting. Paper samples are shipped and arriving Sat 1/25. My re-order planned for 1/27

1/21/2025 – Did a shipping test using a poly bag with no bubble wrap to see how the product will take a beating. I also ordered 50 bubble mailers.

1/20/2025 – Boxes arrived and looked really nice. I put together 4 boxes, shrunk-wrap and hung them on retail pegs – they look great. Box quality and print were on-point. Finished photo-shoot concepts, marketing personas. Uncovered a new target message I hadn’t considered.

1/17/2025 – Product was finally delivered after 1 week of being lost by FedEx
Although printed on 80 lb card stock, they seemed thinner than I expected. Good thing the run quantity was only 25. In hindsight, first 3 prototypes were 16pt which is comparable to 120lb. In the the test box there is a lot of unexpected room (almost half the box). I am now researching options: Reprint a 1/2 inch box? – boxes are a highest cost. Most lowest cost approach was a foam filler and technically works but doesn’t seem to improve the customer experience thus could make the consumer feel like they are getting half the product they expected.

After a long talk wit my quality manager, I am reluctantly deciding to re-printing on 120lb stock. We both decided getting the indicator on Amazon which says “This product returned often” would create an uphill battle on our first release and dampen sales crucial for growth needed to re-invest in 2nd and 3rd similar products being designed. This will push back the launch timeline 2-3 weeks but it will be worth it.

With all this said, I don’t want to throw away the thin cards – they’re still good to learn with, just thinner. I found plastic cases which work well with the thin cards at a per unit cost of the printed box! Now, I need to decide how to use/market the thin-cards. Maybe they’re promotional or perhaps they could be used in a class or give-aways?

1/11/2025 – Creating 4 Personas to focus for product messaging

1/8/2025 – Expected deliver date. Cards arrived 1/17 due to a labeling issue.

1/7/2025 – Box design is complete and production will begin soon.

1/6/2025 – First production printing to be shipped. Designed a ‘blow-in’ card to remind customers to rate and give feedback.

1/4/2025 – Planning and started shooting mock photos – Turned out great.

12/31/2024 – Test box was delivered from the printer.

12/30/2024 – Designed a box based on the printer specs. Not sure I need one, but if I can get the per unit cost down, it will make a better product. My small focus groups suggested a storage box for customers.

12/30/2024 – Did some shrink-wrap testing today. The results were better than expected.12/27/2024 – The first production run is at the printer. Only a quantity of 25 but it’s enough to gauge interest and test 3 vendor platforms. If all goes well, I can easily ramp up more product.

12/23/2024 – The learning product is currently in its third prototype and is nearly ready for its first production print run.