Still motivated

Hi, After the few downs of last week, things are getting better. We did a new bag this week and it looks great. What do you think? We've made a few changes on the products design and the bag is much stronger.
I've also decided that my first collection's theme (for fall/winter 2007) will be "Black & White". The border around the bag will be black (as in picture) and the front of the bag will be in a black and white shade. I really like the b&w tweed with a touch of purple and brown on this picture. I will attached more pics of the other design when chosen.

As for my motivation, it is even stronger... I really beleive in this product and everything that is happening is just such a great learning experience. I sounds a little cheesy but it is true. By having my own business, I learn so much about legal, accounting (which I hate), financing, government bureaucracy, fashion and retail industries, production, logistics, customer service, etc. It is all about connecting the dots and I love it.

I was also surprise about the amount of people reading this blog. This is great! Pass the link along to friends ;-) If you have questions or comments, just add a comment here.

See you next Friday

gen ;-)

www.jupiterfreedom.com

Bad news and good news...

Alright, the bad news first...
I got my mini-production bags and I freaked out about the costs but most importantly I'm disapointed with the quality. I say most importantly because to me the costs can always be negociated and find a way that both parties are happy but quality is non-negociable. They are not horrible but not good enough for me and for my future customers. As for the costs, I need them to cut it by half !! So right now, I'm back to square two (not one since I don't have to redo everything ;-)) I'm basically looking for seamstresses with experience that could assemble my bags at home. Know anybody?

The good news...
I finally got an answer from the employment insurance (after 9 weeks!) and the nice lady told me they will give me a weekly allowance for 23 weeks. My cat will finally be able to eat...
So now I can go wait in line to get another grant from the provincial that might give me another one from another instance... Vive Asterix et Obelix!!

Hopefully I'll find a solution for my bag production soon...
cheers
gen

Hoping for the best

Alright, last week was a slower week because I was waiting for my mini-production of 20 bags to get done so I can get a pricing. While waiting, I looked around Montreal to find better prices for some of my material and I am pretty happy that I was successful by meeting some great local people.

Today I'm going to St-Jerome where my mini-production was done to talk about production costs. They had to time every steps of the bag making to provide the best estimate. I'm looking forward to see my first 20 bags. It is now real and I'm hoping for the best...

Everything else was kind of on hold because I want to be sure to have a product before moving forward. I think alot of people starting their businesses spend money on non-essential things when the most important element is having a product. You can have the best marketing and website but if you don't have anything to sell, your not going anywhere...

I'll keep you posted.
gen

Hard time...

Yesterday was a hard day...
I had to run around getting my raw materials everywhere so we can do 20 bags to test the production time, costs and quality. Although it wasn't easy, that wasn't so hard.

The hard part is the time I'm waisting waiting to go into production. We keep doing one prototype at a time every week because the production place can't go quicker. I wish we would have spent 2 weeks every day and bang! the bag would have been ready to go... It is frustating but I really like the people there. They are really helpfull and generous. I really want to work with them but I'm hoping the costs of production won't be too high... It is important for me to produce my product here in Canada but the price needs to be low enough for all my customers.

So now I have to wait until end of next week to have news about the costs...
Until then, I try to stay focus and not spend too much money...
cheers
gen

Another prototype done

Seem like getting armbag prototypes done is the story of my life... It is exciting however to produce something and show it to friend that reacts positively not because they are your friends but because they really like your product.
I was very dispointed this week to learn from one of my supplier that one the fabric that I use is out of order... It looked so good... I will try to find a similar one but it will not be the same ;-(
I also realized that I prefer the armbags with prints on it then the plain color one. I will still make a black one just because black is pretty universal but I'll go crazy with the other ones...

As for my website, we have started the work. I'm looking forward to have a prototype for this to. I will have cool Flash application to add some pizzazz to the site.

Will keep you posted
gen