I'm a web designer/builder and my wife and I invented a non-tech related, physical product that we brought to market. Feel free to email me.
After we built our prototype we hired a local machinist to make a "mold" that would produce higher quality (sellable) examples.
We then made (and sold) those in our basement for months, until we had enough traction to hire a CAD designer to make a CAD file for the purpose of finding a manufacturer.
We started cold calling local manufacturers in the US and were basically told to "f*ck off" as we were too small.
We finally got a lead by contacting another business with a "similar" product (or at least process). They referred us to their manufacturer in China, and we jumped on it.
We ordered generic samples of similar products they make and were happy. We then had samples made (after paying for the "mold" to be machined) and those looked good (we lucked out) and then finally ordered our first 750, and then subsequently higher quantities.
We then had another business owner who had experience with importing help us with customs/importing etc.
Ask for help! Find other small biz owners, they're usually eager to assist.
After we built our prototype we hired a local machinist to make a "mold" that would produce higher quality (sellable) examples.
We then made (and sold) those in our basement for months, until we had enough traction to hire a CAD designer to make a CAD file for the purpose of finding a manufacturer.
We started cold calling local manufacturers in the US and were basically told to "f*ck off" as we were too small.
We finally got a lead by contacting another business with a "similar" product (or at least process). They referred us to their manufacturer in China, and we jumped on it.
We ordered generic samples of similar products they make and were happy. We then had samples made (after paying for the "mold" to be machined) and those looked good (we lucked out) and then finally ordered our first 750, and then subsequently higher quantities.
We then had another business owner who had experience with importing help us with customs/importing etc.
Ask for help! Find other small biz owners, they're usually eager to assist.