Uncertain CEO? Here’s How We Got His Product Ready to Manufacture

So Chase, thanks for hopping on and talking about your experience working with the firm. I wanted to start off with what was making you looking for this kind of service, kind of give us a little background on why we started working together.

Yeah, definitely. So we were looking around for additional design. We had a product idea. We had already kind of worked through concept and into prototyping phases and thought we were pretty much ready to kind of take it to manufacturing, but there were a few unanswered questions, maybe I would say, or a few couple changes that I wanted to make. So I was entertaining the option of kind of refining the design for that. So I was really looking to get this DFM ready. And I realized after speaking with a couple different people, and then kind of just getting quotes and estimates from different manufacturers that I wasn't quite ready to cross that finish line yet. And there was still some work that needed to be done, some refinements to really make sure that this was going to be cost-effective and work as intended, make this idea a reality at that point.

Right. And as you said, you talked to a few different places, got different quotes and everything. What was it that specifically got you to go, yeah, I want to work with Ian and his team?

Yeah, it was a couple things. I think what stood out to me the most through a couple of our initial conversations, phone conversations, one, you were very expedient and aware of time, I guess I would say. I remember when I reached out email, you responded within 5 minutes via email, and then we actually hopped on a call within 20 minutes later than So there wasn't this kind of like long arduous process of like getting this all started, putting it on a calendar, et cetera, which was really important to me because I had already spent so much time trying to get this product out. I saw that any future delays, you know, was just really hurting my bottom line in the future. So I liked how quickly you were able to respond to me. And then I think most importantly was the transparency and kind of the honesty. There were a lot of other people that I talked to that would've easily just kind of completed the work that I had requested or that I thought I needed. You and your firm were the only ones to really kind of ask me if I was even asking the right questions, to provide a little bit more context. You seemed by far the most knowledgeable with a lot of experience, and it really just seemed like if I went with you guys that I would have the strongest foundation. I really didn't want to go through another process with another firm and then still kind of get this to manufacturing and have it not be the best product it could be because they just did what I asked rather than suggesting or kind of using their knowledge and expertise to make it even better than I had hoped for, that I could have imagined at that first point. So it was that transparency, that honesty, the experience and the knowledge kind of behind everything, and then just the expediency and the respect of time, I would say.

Well, thanks. I appreciate that. It's always our goal. So it was good to hear that we're meeting those expectations for you and then crossing that off. Combined Quish, how was your experience working with us and how you've gone through this process once before? Is that Yeah.

I mean, I wouldn't say that I've gone through this process once before. I've gone through a process once before. So yeah, I worked with a firm to kind of take this from our heads first onto paper and then kind of into a concept phase and then into like an actual kind of working prototype before. And throughout that process and with them, it was kind of just a, like a timeline of deliverables. There wasn't a ton of context or bigger picture about how those deliverables would then be utilized later on. A lot of the onus and kind of work was on me. It almost seemed like I was working more with just just like a freelance designer who was kind of providing me with assets that I would then kind of use, but it was up to me to kind of figure out how it all went together. And a lot of times there wasn't a ton of— I want to say there wasn't a ton of suggestions, but like I would have ideas from my own research, let's say just like material use as far as like what materials to use or what we wanted to use, etc. And a lot of time it was just an acquiesce of that and then kind of just taking whatever I said and kind of making it happen without any real opinions on their matter or kind of ideas that they would have of telling me either why I was wrong or why something might work better or kind of ways to change it. And after going through that process and having a prototype that we thought was pretty good, you know, after testing, it failed in our initial tests. And then I kind of went back to that firm originally and was trying to kind of get some unanswered questions answered to get some details that we needed. One instance is we didn't have any geometric dimensions or tolerancing for some of our assets at that point, which was pretty big when I was talking to manufacturers. And after that initial contract or proposal was completed and those deliverables had been delivered, it was like pulling teeth of really getting any extra support from that company. And it seemed like with them and then with a couple other people that I'd worked with, that they were more focused just on the project itself and seeing that project to completion, where it seemed like with you, you were more— obviously you're focused on your own bottom line and running your own business, but it wasn't just about closing that one proposal or closing that one contract and then moving on to the next. You guys had an emphasis of really just making sure that, you know, if we're going to tackle this problem, if we're going to take on this project, that we want to make sure that the project is successful in the future as well, that it's going to be able to sell in the future and that the business is going to operate well and that it's not going to fail in the customer's hands. So I think, you know, maybe that ties back a little bit to like honesty and kind of transparency and just business ethics and kind of the morals behind Peterman Design Firm. But I kind of just felt hanging or left hanging by some other firms in the past where it seems like you would once again, kind of bring in some of that foundation and we're really focused on seeing the product be a success, not just be able to create the documents that I needed and move on to the next.

Well, that makes sense. You need that support. We've completed the discovery phase. How has that helped you specifically? Obviously we're not to market yet. We got more work to do. We just kicked that off, but the discovery as a process for you, how did that help you in making decisions and being able to move forward?

First and foremost, I think it just gave me a lot more confidence. The discovery phase was very detailed, very comprehensive, deeper in some areas than I even expected. To give you one example, you know, I paid quite a bit of money to do a kind of a market research study in kind of our industry and on a couple competitors, and the consumer insights or, or the market insights that you guys had in your research was pretty much on par with what I paid another firm to do where that was their sole focus, and it was just one small fraction Or one small section of this discovery process. So that's one example of just how comprehensive it was. So it answered a lot of questions for me, felt like it gave me a lot more ammo or kind of tools in my toolkit to kind of use moving forward. And I think because I had more confidence and a little bit less stress in this side of the project and this side of the business being the actual kind of production or manufacturing and getting this design working, frees up my headspace and my time, you know, to focus a little bit more on sales and customer acquisition and some of the other aspects of the business that are obviously going to make or break it in the future and that demand and should really demand priority of my attention. Because I feel as though after the discovery review phase, seeing the depth, the detail, the comprehensiveness, the fact that you're already starting to think about future hurdles that might arise with materials or production cost efficiencies or regulatory compliance, et cetera, all these things that are already kind of being worked on, or at least on the page and part of the brainstorm, really gives me the confidence that at the end of this process, I'll have the best and kind of strongest product that I can that's going to work in the best way for my market. So now I can kind of step back a little bit and focus, you know, on some of the other priorities that the business has.

Well, I'm always glad to hear that it's valuable and really helps our clients to be able to make decisions and have that comfort level of, you know, being secure. And yes, I know that we're doing this and it feels good to move forward, forward with something.

Yeah, definitely.

The last couple of things is, you know, what would you say to someone about the firm that was looking to work with us? What would your recommendation be? And just anything else you want to add about working with us, the experience and everything so far.

As far as just the experience in working with you guys so far and kind of maybe what some other people can expect, you know, if they choose to move forward with you, I would say it definitely feels like you do have a team. I like the openness of kind of being able to contact and work with you directly. But also, you know, on, on different calls that we've had, there's been other designers, other engineers already a part of this process. So it really feels like I do have more support and that there are a lot of heads kind of working on this together. I would also say that due to our conversations and some of the intangibles, just the amount of experience, kind of time in this industry and across the board from all members of your team, but even you specifically, and the ability to kind of answer a lot of these questions and assuage some of these either fears or concerns that people might have with detailed examples or past use cases or kind of just things that have happened in the past. And your knowledge and education on the industry and how the industry operates as a whole has been really beneficial. You know, I'm sure there might be some people that would utilize your services that already have quite a bit of knowledge or kind of time in this market or time in this industry. But for someone like me, or for someone that maybe this is the first project they're working on, or maybe they've never put out something before and they really don't know anything, you know, and then they're kind of like a fish out of water when they're trying to dive into all this. Having you in the corner definitely makes me feel like I have an expert and someone that I can lean on and ask questions to and going to get context and experience-related answers and case studies, et cetera, that really helped me feel once again, like I can kind of have more confidence moving forward. So that's been really nice. I would definitely say that people can expect that when they work with you guys in the future.

Amazing. Well, Chase, I really appreciate it. It's been great working with you so far. Looking forward to continuing this through all the way through launch and Who knows, maybe some more projects after this.

Yeah, definitely. Yeah, it wouldn't hurt to add more SKUs to the line, that's for sure.

So grow the SKUs, grow the brand. That's how it works. Awesome. Well, thanks, Chase. Everyone, this is Ian Peterman. Thanks for watching.

Thank you.