James Chapman
155,750
Insider Points
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I went to the Pet Smart yesterday to get kitty food and in the cat section I expected to see the “Emery Cat” to show my GF as an EN success story. To my surprise there were 5 product lines that featured sand covered corrugated cardboard cat scratch posts and toys and no “Emery Cat”. Either Emery Cat was sold or there are some IP issues taking place. Granted they were not exactly like Emery Cat so they were versions of it.
In software development there are constantly new versions being developed and released because as soon as one version is released other companies will see your ideas and expound on them. Microsoft Mastered versioning… Every 18 months a new version is released and every 24 months a newer, better, flashier operating system comes out.
Are our products set up for a 2.0 and 3.0 release?
Hence, Versioning is critical or else a once-innovation becomes obsolete pretty quick, flash in the pan.
Is our time better spent keeping an idea fresh or do we focus on creating innovative “New” products?
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Roger Brown
∞
Insider Points
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I would not always rely on the other person to do it all. If I had a product they pisked up and were licensing I would contact EN if I had any additional thoughts for improvements or items that could extend my products line.
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James Chapman
155,750
Insider Points
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Xcellent Roger,
Now in this system that we are in does that effor belong to the “business side” (Edison NationY or the “creative side” (the inventor)? Should we have those versions ready or not?
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Roger Brown
∞
Insider Points
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One area that needs exploring is adding extensions to the original product to build a line of products. This helps extend the brand, adds shelf presense and puts something fresh in front of the consumer. You can always improve the original product bringing out version 2.0, 3. etc. The best way to grab a larger portion of market share is extending the line. Look at Coke and Pepsi they did not stop with the first drink, They kept adding flavors taking more and more of the shelf space. Look at any soft drink isle who dominates those isles? You want the same for your product. You want to expand and drive the competitor to as little shelf space as possible. It is all marketing
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James Chapman
155,750
Insider Points
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I am bringing this to the top because there is a serious opportunity to observe the shelf life of products we develop here. We watched the inception of Emery Cat. Does EN help create versioning of the products? That would make sense because they have a 50% interest in the venture or is the the venture limited to just the first-round. Or, does EN just handle initial introduction to the market and the responsibility fall on the shoulders of the inventor?
This dynamic very interesting.
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greg bruce
111,750
Insider Points
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Chappy, personally I have product extension ideas in mind and some have been tested specifically to address that issue. if your product is successful there will be knock-offs for sure. Staying one step ahead of them is a good strategy to build in up front during your initial design stage.
Emery Cat should have those next generation designs waiting for the right time to make the knock-offs obsolete.
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