How To Start A Niche Product Company In Fishing.

[BASSclary]

hopefully you are not trying to do this:

http://www.hawgtech.com/

A standard handle made of CF? Those have been around for forever, and are not new, however they look good, and are affordable now.

I'm talking about some new-new here.

[Sam]

Patents

Will not stop the Asian's from copying and sellng your product. You can't fight them and lawyers will steal your money trying to stop them. You can get a patent but remember if another concern changes one thing on the product you will be out of luck.

Manufacturing

There are machine shops that will make any number of your products for you. Look them up on the Internet or Yellow Pages in your geographical area.

Insurance

You need products liability which is a part of a general liability insurance contract for at least $1,000,000 limits. You will probably have to go into the surplus and excess lines marketplace and pay through the nose. Check with a local independent insurance agent.

Marketing the Product

You will have to go from retailer to retailer and ask them to sell the product. Shelf space may be a problem along with display areas. May I suggest trying to get a sales base on the Internet? If it is fishing related you may have to invest time and money and attend next year's ICAST or a local fishing expo this winter. Advertise in magazines that will target your consumers. A good web page linked to Pay Pal can work wonders. And don't forget ebay and Craig's list.

If the product sells via the Internet, ICAST, fishing expos plus magazine advertising you are on your way. You will need a pro bass fisherman to hawk the product. You will have to negotiate with other machine shops to try to get a better deal. Work out mailing costs with UPS or Fed-X.

Go for it! If it works then you will be making a profit. If it fails at least you tried.

Good luck and let us know what you do.

[Captain Obvious]

Just speaking about the money part. If you get a working model going you can always try kickstarter.com to raise some cash.

I know I would give a little money to see if it worked.

Good Luck

Capt.O

[Sam]

I'd be glad to cut you a few prototypes, if you'd like, no charge. I have a full CNC shop at the University and work is kinda slow right now. As far as software, I have AutoCAD, FeatureCAM, Solidworks, Espriit, ProE.... and more.

Shoot me an email or PM me for a phone # and we'll talk.

That's Ole Miss!

Of course things are slow at Ole Miss. Football season does not start for another three weeks!!!!

Geaux for his help. Be sure to have the product produced in purple and gold, too.

[BigMoneyGrip]

I hear ya Sam. You can't buy those two colors in Oxford! Maybe you could provide those?

And being typical Ole Miss, I figure football season will be even slower when it starts.

[South FLA]

Interesting that you should ask about this, Mike and I (Hawg Tech, LLC) just went through the same process you are going through. If you send me a PM I will give you my number and see if I can walk you through the process.

[BASSclary]

Interesting and shocking update for all who care to know,

I got my shipments of CF in today, and cut out the base shapes for proof of concept out very carefully a dremel, and sanded to shape. I was really hoping the results would be good, but it appears that CF is just to brittle of a material to use. I was fascinated that it worked with Aluminum. My theory is that because it was Aluminum, it had a small amount of give in the metal. The CF just seemed to snap.

So you may be wondering, why not just use Aluminum if it works? Well, aluminum is heavier. You see, what I had invented was a much stronger design than the standard today, so by it being a stronger design, you can lessen your material used, until its the strength of the current design. The new design should in theory have the same strength, but at a fraction of the weight. It would just be heavier and cumbersome with Aluminum.

However, I had an idea spark off of my idea yesterday when someone thought I was working on a CF handle. I have an idea i'll test out with some spare CF, and I really think this could be beneficial.

It's time to change the game on handles, i'm talking next level stuff.

I dont think I can take on the whole process though, so i'll probably look to partner up with my technology. HawgTech, expect a PM, or a call of some sorts.

[cody161]

It's expensive, but there's always titanium.

[BASSclary]

It's expensive, but there's always titanium.

Yeah, coming from Lacrosse I know alot about what alloys have better strength to weight ratios, Titanium, or Scandium, would just be too costly for what it is.

[FL_Sharpshooter]

There's always magnesium

[200racing]

get yourself a good non-disclosure agreement and have anyone dealing with your product sign it.

what i have gathered researching a few ideas i had interest in patenting,including talking to a man who went through the whole process.

when all is said and done a patent cost about $20,000.

a patent is only a strong as the money behind it.

if a corporation wants your product they will do what they want and when you try to stop them they will drag you through court till you have nothing left to spend.

there are many people out to take advantage of would be patent filers.

[piscicidal]

BassClary,

I wish I had seen your post sooner. A couple points....

- Cutting carbon fiber is a very difficult and dangerous thing to do without the proper setup! I would not be cutting it in the garage with a dremel. Please use proper equipment and ventilation...

- Patents. I have eleven patents. They certainly have their place in product development, but unless you have the deep pockets to file and defend an international patent, it may not be in your best financial interest to do so. If you think you might eventually want to file a patent on your idea, one thing you can do is file a preliminary disclosure. This is much cheaper than an actual filing and it sets the original date of the IP. It also allows you patent pending status, which may be advantageous.

- Do a full cost analysis on your idea and add about 30% to that. This will give you some idea of your breakeven point, and the financial feasibility.

- Of course, another way to bring a carbon fiber product to market would be to partner up with someone who has a little experience with this sort of thing (hint, hint). if you think your idea has merit, make sure to get a non-disclosure agreement signed before discussing your idea with them....yes, that includes myself. I would have no problem signing a non-disclosure before talking to you.

[Fishwhittler]

Interesting and shocking update for all who care to know,

I got my shipments of CF in today, and cut out the base shapes for proof of concept out very carefully a dremel, and sanded to shape. I was really hoping the results would be good, but it appears that CF is just to brittle of a material to use. I was fascinated that it worked with Aluminum. My theory is that because it was Aluminum, it had a small amount of give in the metal. The CF just seemed to snap.

So you may be wondering, why not just use Aluminum if it works? Well, aluminum is heavier. You see, what I had invented was a much stronger design than the standard today, so by it being a stronger design, you can lessen your material used, until its the strength of the current design. The new design should in theory have the same strength, but at a fraction of the weight. It would just be heavier and cumbersome with Aluminum.

However, I had an idea spark off of my idea yesterday when someone thought I was working on a CF handle. I have an idea i'll test out with some spare CF, and I really think this could be beneficial.

It's time to change the game on handles, i'm talking next level stuff.

I dont think I can take on the whole process though, so i'll probably look to partner up with my technology. HawgTech, expect a PM, or a call of some sorts.

BASSclary, have you considered using garolite? I don't know what you're trying to build, but garolite (aka Micarta or circuit-board) is very strong and rigid and the only way to break the stuff is to take a hacksaw to it. I don't know how it compares to aluminum in weight, but it might be something to look into.

[DILLY07]

For the rivets your talking about, your probably going to need a rivet gun that has a suction on it and probably need a compressed air tank with the rivet gun.