What it Took – My Journey Launching a New Business and Becoming a New Father

By randy • January 17th, 2009

This is the first post of a new series that I am starting here at our SurfShelf blog. The series is called “What it Took – My Journey Launching a New Business and Becoming a New Father”.

Because I had absolutely no idea of what I was doing, I had to start from scratch. And now that we’ve come this far, it’s easy to look back to see the successes and the mistakes, and to use the SurfShelf as a case study on the do’s and don’ts of how to bring a product to market and build a new business.

As far back as I can remember it has always been a dream of mine to be an entrepreneur. Another dream has always been to be a father. It just so happens that these two dreams came into my life at the same time.

We’ve all had “great ideas” for new products… but what does it really take to turn these crazy ideas into real products and bring them to market? And once they’re on the market, how do you build brand awareness so that people know you exist so they can buy from you?

In a nutshell, here’s what it took for me…

Coming up with the crazy idea • the first prototype • the provisional patent • the testing • the tweaking • the market analysis • the business plan • the product design • the industrial engineering • the simulations • the stereo lithography rapid-prototyping • the product evaluation • the mentor • the consigliere (my wife Emie) • the patent attorney • the official patent application • the patent specification • the patent drawings • time to get investors • the investment proposal • the pitch • the deal • quitting my job • reading books and articles on what the heck to do • the manufacturing agent in Hong Kong • the manufacturer in mainland China • the Polycarbonate • the injection molds • the logo • the photo shoots • the website • the packaging design • the instructions • the lawyers • not sleeping • being scared to death • the production samples • the PR firm • the product sheets • the product brochures • the pricing analysis • the first fitness trade show • our booth • our sales • the new website • the warehouse • the contracts • the online shopping cart • the merchant account • the merchant gateway • the shipping boxes • the cargo forwarder • getting stuck in U.S. Customs • shipping • the recession • running low on money • maxing out credit cards • freaking out majorly • getting the SurfShelf into stores • developing store sales displays • ecommerce • investigating infomercials • working with HSN • working with commercial health clubs • the new website • social marketing • the blog • working with new marketing consultants • building brand awareness • Facebook • Twitter • YouTube • Flickr • becoming a non-resident importer to Canada • expanding to international markets • coming up with new product ideas…

…all while trying with my wife to get pregnant, having some difficulties, trying IUI with no luck, getting as healthy as possible, stopping drinking (just when I really needed a drink), working out like crazy, doing IVF, getting lucky and having our beautiful daughter Skye.

So this is what I’ll be posting about. Step by step. It’s a lot of stuff no doubt. But don’t worry; we’ll break it all down to make it all manageable.

What I’ve also found along the way is that in order for me to keep my sanity, keep my stress to a manageable level and reduce my overall fear factor, I need to always make sure to enjoy the journey. Each and every day. Sure, we all want to be millionaires, but if you don’t enjoy the journey you will totally freak out, it’s just too much.

So the first thing on the list was the crazy idea. And then building a rudimentary prototype.

So that’s where my story will begin next time. Please come back and join me for my next post where I will tell you how I came up with the idea for the SurfShelf and how I built and tested the first SurfShelf prototype.

Then we’ll go from there…

Cheers,

Randy