getting my product onto the market

Finbar Saunders

Here are some possible names....free of charge. No doubt others will be suggested.

1. 'Nut Lube
2. Oh oh Coco
3. I can't believe it's not toxic
4. Coco Bang.....bang and the friction is gone!

Finbar Saunders

On a more serious note, if you can't go with the green thing then see if you can get Fairtrade coconut oil. I don't think I've seen any Fairtrade cycling products.

joshtp

Finbar Saunders wrote:

Here are some possible names....free of charge. No doubt others will be suggested.

1. 'Nut Lube
2. Oh oh Coco
3. I can't believe it's not toxic
4. Coco Bang.....bang and the friction is gone!

awsome. i love no.4! and no.3 too.


and the best designt will see their design on the bottles and will get a free bottle as soon as they go on sale.

as for the mixing together thing, im only mixing generic products, i wouldnt have thought it would be an issue?

Will Snow

i dare say companies dont credit where they buy each of their chemicals for something, surely?

joshtp

Will Snow wrote:

i dare say companies dont credit where they buy each of their chemicals for something, surely?

thats what i thought. i am only using pure, plain "chemicals"

Will Snow

Might be worth dropping them an email, Im sure they wouldnt mind. Better safe than sorry (though I dare say it wont be a problem either way ill your shifting millions of bottles a day)

joshtp

Will Snow wrote:

Might be worth dropping them an email, Im sure they wouldnt mind. Better safe than sorry (though I dare say it wont be a problem either way ill your shifting millions of bottles a day)

shifting millions of bottles a day might be "hopefull" 100 a week would be pretty flat out i would say.... lets start with 10 a week as a benchmark.

joshtp

now i need a name... anyone got any "serious" sugestions?!

my name is Josh Price and the main "headline" ingrediant is coconut oil. and the lube is white in colour and firm, but clear when warmed to a bit more than room temprature, which is neccessary to turn it liquid and and so apply it.

Rob-Is-On-Fire

You might be getting a bit ahead of yourself with all this marketing stuff. For the time being I'd concentrate on getting testers to try your chain lube and get some feedback on it. Other people may not think it is as good as you think it is or maybe able to comment on its performance in different conditions to aid your development. Or they may say it is the chain lube of the gods...

Make sure you get testers to write some sort of report on it so when you approach a business to sell it eg LBS you have something to backup your product with.

This project sounds really interesting and i would be happy to test a sample...

joshtp

good point, i was getting over exited. well iv had loads of people trying to get free stuff *cough* i mean wanting to be testers for the lube, and i cant send everyone a bottle, its too expensive, and none of you will buy it if youv already got a free bottle!
so im gonna make up a batch tonight and send out maybe 5 samples.

once i get some feedback and have done a bit more work on getting a totaly finished, easy to mass produce recipie and method down, rather than my scrawled notes and memory, ill get to work on marketing.

Gazlar

how about coco-rolla

nuts about oil

or Mr J's better than sex lube

Will Snow

if its as good and cheap as you say it is i might buy some? How much would you want including delivery? I can test in manchester mud haha

jonnyc2420

hows about

'Josh's no1 nut juice.........''

'bike spongle'

etc....... :oops:

Mancunianfightingcat

If it's so long lasting, why sell it in 250ml bottles.

100ml for £2 would be better and still seems bloomin cheap.

Rob-Is-On-Fire

Just make sure you get hard feedback. You don't want people coming back and saying nothing more than "its ok". Maybe make up a quick questionnaire to send out with your samples to focus the feedback. Ask how easy it was to apply? Was it durable? Any unwanted or unexpected side effects?...

You need constructive feedback, good as well as bad, when preparing your product for sale.

Dirtydog11

I think its too cheap.

If it lasts as long a your saying 3 weeks? then that is considerably longer than any lube I've ever used, 1 bottle would last years.

How do you know it lasts 3 weeks?
I'm no expert but I wouldn't have thought you could tell if a lube is still doing its job by looking at it . I was under the understanding it has to do with molecular breakdown, so although the chain may still be coated it doesn't mean the lube would be doing its job. Its the reason you have to change your engine oil.

I like the idea and I think there's a market for a long lasting British Condtions lube as even the wet ones wash off pretty quickly.

I think you may need to do some more research but what about approaching your local University some departments have commercial interests, they may be able to help.

cooldad

Sorry to rain on your parade, but I would say it needs a bit more R&D.

For example, the surfaces that wear are inside the chain, not outside - how well does it penetrate behind the covers and into the links.

To see if it actually works you would really need to test it alongside competing brands, and a non lubed chain to see what the wear rate is, repeated under different conditions.

Oils also break down or degrade.

Companies spend a lot on R&D, can be a significant part of the selling price of a product.


But smelling nice is important too.

armymankin

joshtp/mbukman wrote:

armymankin wrote:

let me know when they are on sell, dont mind give it a try.
i can design the logo for you

if you come up with a good logo, ill give you a free bottle....




i was thinking something with palm tree's to go with the coconut theme.

its not for selling shampoo isnt it? something simple and striking should do, no?

armymankin

i think NUT LUB sounds a go'er.
also, the bottle itself is a important choice.

joshtp

OK, thanks guyes, lots of good points.

as for the price, its a rough guide, and i meant to type 100ml for £2.50, 250mm would be stupidly cheap. and £2.50 is a guide, it may well end up costing more than i think to produce and be more like £3-£3.50, which i think i still pretty good.

as for all the stuff about its actuall lubricating property's well good point, i havent actually done tests in a lab, no. BUT. I does penetrate deeply, it is aplied as a very,very light thin liquid, and only later "dries" to the hard waxy texture it then retains. so it penetrates. It definately protects, any water that gets on it instantly beads and rolls off. and dirt doesnt stick to it.
as for its technical friction reducing property's i cant really comment, i have no scientific proof of its effectivness, only personal experiance. But for me i want a lube to last a long time and be clean, dirt causes way more wear on the chain than 5% (or whatever) more friction between the chains components, its the dirt and grit that act like grinding paste that cause the damage. And this lube does provide a low friction coating anyway, its a very slipy substance, and the more the chain works, the faster it spins the harder it works, becouse as the chain's temprature increaese it will start to melt the lube, and so provide even better friction reducing property's. However in the cold, with water and mud it provides a hard protective coating.

its clever, as wel as cheap, green, effective, and highly versatile.

oh, and it can be washed without having to be reaplyed.
and it comes in two flavours! just now, while making up a fresh batch, i developed a way to make it heavyer/lighter for longer lasting/cleaner, winter/summer use.

and i have a theory on how to make it smell good too. although it might ruin performance..... :? worth the trade off?!

joshtp

armymankin wrote:

i think NUT LUB sounds a go'er.
also, the bottle itself is a important choice.

ok, maybe i will have to go for a nut related name, after public demand...

and i agree bottle choice is VITAL. nothing worse than a poorly designed droper, esp with a light (to aply in this case) lube. im working on finding a good suplyer.

as for logo, personaly i think bright, bold and loud, but highlighting the green and coconut themes. maybe a green coconut?!



and with all the important info.

Slow1972

I think you need to have a proper look at your pricing. This will depend of course on how you intend to sell it and whether you want to make a proper business out of it if it takes off. If you start with a low price, will you be able to increase it to one you need if you start proper production / distribution.

You need to consider not only ingredients but bottles, label, equipment, facilities etc.

If you are going to sell via shops and/or distributors you need to sell at a low enough wholesale price that the distributor and the shop also make a margin.

I.e if you sell at £2.50 to make a profit, distributor/wholesaler would want say 50% markup = £3.75, shop wants same mark-up = £5.60. You are now in the realms of other brands. So I would say you would want your USP to be longevity rather than price (and to be fair a lot of cyclists will pay a lot of money for the right product).

On top of all of the above, you need a decent sum for advertising if you're going to look at launching as a proper business. Okay your ingredient costs would come down as you'd be buying in bulk but I suspect if you launched it as a business the retail price would more like £7.50 a bottle

All that said, if it'll stay on for 3weeks I'll have some. Although there are other wax based products already on the market obviously, like this: http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/produ ... e_Wax_Lube - not that it stays on for 3 weeks!

armymankin

dont waste time and money on making it smell good...... who the hack will smell the lube in the first place.... its not like buying shampoo.

as long as you have proven its performance, all bike lovers would get this to look after their wife / bike 8)

i dont mean to ruin your hope... but when the belt drive going to dominent the market, you are out of job mate 8)

armymankin

joshtp/mbukman wrote:

armymankin wrote:

i think NUT LUB sounds a go'er.
also, the bottle itself is a important choice.

ok, maybe i will have to go for a nut related name, after public demand...

and i agree bottle choice is VITAL. nothing worse than a poorly designed droper, esp with a light (to aply in this case) lube. im working on finding a good suplyer.

as for logo, personaly i think bright, bold and loud, but highlighting the green and coconut themes. maybe a green coconut?!



and with all the important info.

alright then, hands on it. gimme some time

joshtp

http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/produ ... e_Wax_Lube
iv heard of that before and from the blurb it would apear to offer similar things... long lasting, biodegradable wax base, a hard drying coating, and all condition use. wether it works as well as mine, or lasts as long, or is as cheap is another matter.

joshtp

armymankin wrote:

dont waste time and money on making it smell good...... who the hack will smell the lube in the first place.... its not like buying shampoo.

as long as you have proven its performance, all bike lovers would get this to look after their wife / bike 8)

i dont ment to ruin your hope... but when the belt drive going to dominent the market, you are out of job mate 8)

IM working on a belt grease....

armymankin

i m thinking of a transulcent bottle with a bright cap . then logo / name print on top

Bero

joshtp - My advice would be to send out 3-5 samples to well respected forum members on the basis that they write up a review on the forum for you.

Then, assuming the feedback is positive look to source bottles and labels - these should be pretty inexpensive items if you buy 100 of them (20-30p i would target). Start selling through forums and to enthusiasts - word of mouth is worth LOTS more than anything else, and a niche/boutique product has appeal to many people. Hopefully your sales will grow over 1-2 years. Then you will have a marketable product and distributors will give you more respect and might entertain reselling your product.

You could then look at paying for some professional chemist time to tweak/improve the formula or some inexpensive R&D. I don’t think the 'send me your bottles' would work well, in my experience people are not inclined to but in the effort. I don’t think ebay would be a great success ether unless you compete very favourably on price - an unknown product with nothing else to make people want it.

I'm just a noob here but I’ve been a couple boutique car products make it into a business through www.detailingworld.com (check dodo juice & rubbish boys ) using this basic route.

Don’t undersell the product - if it really is novel and smells good (i buy a competing product to yours because it works well, smells 100% better than WD40 and is made by a small British company http://www.bilthamber.com/ferrosol.html i don’t mind too much about the price) The people you will be targeting are enthusiasts and dont mind spending a little more on something that is fun, smells good and/or works as good as a generic brand.

Just some well meaning friendly advice best of luck!

armymankin

go find a bottle, and let me know the surface dimention (printable area) of it.

The Northern Monkey

Not sure if this has been said but...

Have you just made it by combining other products? OR. have you made the ingredients yourself?

I don't think you can sell it due to legal stuff if its mixing other products.