Cheryl's question answered!...with a question

cheryl said...

"One of my concerns is dependabiity, warranty and repair. Seeing that this is your first attempt at custom flashlight building, what assurances would we have that these light will perform as advertised? Being a one-man operation, I can foresee the possibility of you being overwhelmed if things don't go as planned. 

After reading your resume and accomplishments, I am quite impressed and have great confidence in your abilities. However, this endeavor of yours is monsterous and I would want a guarantee of the light's performance before I purchased."

So, I wrote a big long blabedy blah blog post in response. I deleted it. Let's try something different. What do YOU (as a customer) want the guarantee/warranty to be? That means anyone reading this by the way. Also, try and put yourself in my shoes: what do you think is sensible/reasonable to offer from a business standpoint?

Personally, I'd like my guarantee/warranty policy to be: "no reasonable request denied" I stole that line from Mark Dwight at Rickshaw Bagworks. I like it because it implies the company and the customer are in it together...not that the company is there to "serve" the customer.

I've spent a lot of time thinking about this one and it's a hard answer. It's also the kind of issue where consumers and businesses often find themselves at odds. One of the reasons I'm writing this blog and speaking in the first person is that I represent myself...and I'm trying to manage expectations. You are right, this is a one man operation and I hope my customers will relate to me as an individual and not like a faceless corporation. I'm also a little old fashioned in the keep your word, do your best, deal on a handshake kind of way. I want to attract like minded customers.

A couple more thoughts after the jump but PLEASE WEIGH IN ON THIS ONE !!! :)

DtD Update: Supply chain woes

Hey everyone. Here is a little hiccup: the company I buy my LED drivers from is out of stock till at least mid-March. After completing my pre-production run of 19 lights...I used up all the drivers I had on hand. This was basically a "proving out" run to make sure the plating process worked like I planned, check clearances/fitment, and see how the different surfaces finishes turned out.

I'm starting on my first production run of 20 lights that will be serial numbers 1-20. I should have all the machining done and the next batch off to the plating company by the end of the week...but I'm basically sitting on my hands till I get more drivers.

My bench during the pre-production build out

This is both a common sense and a new business issue. Instead of ordering what I need for the next batch, I've taken note and (though I can't afford it because I don't have the cash flow from sales) ordered a bunch of supplies that I'll need to get through the next 50 lights or so: LED's, batteries, chargers, optics, switches, wire, and rubber switch covers. Things that take time to get delivered or things that I'm not confident will be in stock.

To add to the fun, the aspheric lenses I've been using have been out of stock for about two months. I'm trying to find of if "out of stock" is a permanent condition or not. Fortunately I have a stable supply of LEDs and Boom reflectors...but I have to order them from Austraila which takes about two weeks. :)

Jayson's Question Answered!

Jayson A. said...
"Besides the mechanical aspect of light making, are you considering getting into or partnering with someone who can program to make the UI? I mean, the UI is really important nowadays."

I would love to have my own custom drivers made some day. I'm going to need to sell a fair number of lights before this is possible though. Ideally, custom drivers would be exactly the same size as the current drivers. They could be upgraded by the user, or sent back to me for an upgrade.

Unless you are a flashaholic you probably don't give much thought to flashlight UI (User Interface). The most common flashlight UI is an on/off button. However, we live in the age of micro controllers and the on/off button (or twisting action) becomes an access point and not just a simple switch.

Apple knows good UI

UI is an interesting design challenge and I agree that a good UI is critically important. The problem is...they sky's the limit when you start using programmable controllers. A lot of interfaces are VERY programmable and correspondingly complicated...I think that is excessively complicated for the average user. You thought setting the time on your VCR was hard?

My philosophy is that simple is better. It's just a flashlight. In all, I think the current interface is very solid for a general purpose light. 3 modes and a simple switching scheme. Is it ideal? No. Does it work well? Yes. Who knows what the future holds though!

I'm a (reformed) idiot

So I had a moment of clarity recently. Some current students from my old MBA program sent out a survey on rechargeable batteries. Expecting to feel really smart in a few minutes I dove into the questions because I assumed we'd be talking about really specialized batteries that I use in some of my lights. It didn't take long before I realized "feeling smart" was totally going the other way. The questions were all about "standard" rechargeable batteries like AA, AAA, C, and D size batteries. You know...the ones we use all the time? I hadn't given those any thought in years!

Somehow, over the last several years, I've totally let "standard" rechargeable batteries slip my mind. I have a well stocked drawer full of disposable alkaline batteries. I often buy the "big pack" of AA's when I see a good price...cause I'm smart right? Nope. So why doesn't my drawer contain exactly zero AA batteries because all of my AA devices are filled with rechargeable AA batteries and I don't need extras?

Sanyo Eneloops are considered to be "best of breed" and will
store 6 times longer than a typical NiMH (Nickel Metal Hydride) battery.

Good question. I did some self reflection and I realized I have been actively ignoring "standard" rechargeable batteries because of past experience with NiCad (Nickel Cadmium) batteries of yore.

Behind the scenes: site statistics

Hi folks, so I hope that from time to time I can show you some behind the scenes stuff that companies don't think about showing the public, or even things that are considered "confidential and proprietary." My plan is to be as transparent as possible for fun, educational purposes, and so you can get a sense of what starting your own venture feels like. (hint: right now it feels scary/fun/easy/impossible) This is no big deal but here is a brief look at my web stats since I launched the blog.

Blogger's web stats or good but if you install Google Analytics...even better

In many ways the number of visits and pageviews is comically low. I would like to say this image is "tad" dated and I'm up to about 5,700 page views as of today. See, I have a complex about showing you my page views...but I'll press on. I keep telling myself that 5,000 is a lot more than zero :)

Finished parts from the plating company

I'm a little behind on the blog and I've been using the last few days of being sick to try and catch up. It's really hard to divide my time between the shop and sitting at home typing :) In any case I sent out some parts to get plated a few days ago and now I have them back!

Ready to go and hoping for no damage on the other end of the process

Aluminum is incredibly soft and nicks, scratches, and dings if you look at it wrong. Drop a part on the floor and it's probably headed for the recycling bin. It's also incredibly difficult to get all these parts through all the various machining and finishing steps without damaging them. THEN I have to send them out to get plated and the same rules apply for the folks handing the parts at Amex Plating. Fortunately they always do an amazing job. You'll have to read on after the jump to see the results :)

Erik's question answered

Erik E said...
"Jason, What do you see as the "opportunity space" in this (lighting) market? Both in terms of "un-met user needs" and emerging "technological affordances" that are expanding the bounds of the possible?
It looks like you are pushing into both these areas. If you had greater resources, what additional capabilities would you like to have so you could develop further into the leading edge of this space?"

Hey Erik, I guess I've already answered some of your questions tangentially in other posts. However, I think an opportunity exists because of the combination of "unmet user needs" and "technological affordances." In other words, the technology is making it possible to meet new user needs.

Everything is a matter of perspective. Sometimes not having the technology makes it hard to see needs which that unknown (or simply new) technology might address. Take cars for example; when they first appeared on the road a lot of people were still asking, "why would you need to travel faster than a train or horse?" Just three or four years ago it was unfathomable that a single LED could produce over 750 lumens, let alone a small hand held light. I think we are just beginning to understand the possibilities.

The next factor, from an economic standpoint, is the cost/availability of that technology. Many markets follow the "sweet spot" example I'll give, and the LED lighting market is now in the sweet spot...in my opinion. They easiest example is the cell phone. There was a tipping point, in the past, that allowed the cell phone to become mainstream. I attribute this to the pure economics of, not only the final consumer cost, but the cost of the ancillary resources required to support the final product...network capacity, battery energy density, individual mobility, the internet, etc.