Questions Answered – Feel Free To Email Me

Feel free to contact me

Hello from somewhere in the middle of North Carolina.  I stopped here last night on my way down to Atlanta for the upcoming tradeshow.  I wanted to take today and show you an exchange of emails I had with an aspiring entrepreneur this past week.

I wanted to show it to you for a couple of reasons:

1.  The content will be of use for you to read.

2.  Encourage you to contact me for a variety of reasons, even just to introduce yourself. I am more than happy to receive your emails and questions (although I prefer article related questions to be posted in the comments section of this blog). Email: brian@sandshack.com. Follow me on twitter @brianlinton.

Thanks Scott for letting me post your email!

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Hey Brian,

I really can’t say thanks enough for taking the time to write me these long emails. You’re the only person that I know of, doing what I’d love to be a part of. In short, you’re very much an inspiration for me right now. That said, I could probably read & ask questions to your emails back and forth for a long time, so if you need to do other stuff don’t feel like you need to write me back all the time . As for the article on BL.com regarding motivation, I read it this morning and enjoyed it. Particularly the part about not reading the doom & gloom type news, as my dad and I had a fun conversation about that the other day. Well, it sounds like my idea will most likely not come to fruition in the next month of two, but when I get my first prototype I’ll take some pics and send them to you to get your feedback. I hope to have something worth showing by the end of January.

What I struggle to see clearly in mind is the whole, I have an idea, maybe I’ve developed some tooling to make my parts, but where do I make them, market them, what does the business (Legal) side of things look like from paying taxes and so on. You mentioned a trade show, is that how you got the Sand Shack started? Who comes up with your designs? What about manufacturing them? Do you have employees? When you say sales reps, what do you mean by that? have you hired a company that sells based on commission?

Sorry for the load of questions.

I found myself in Barnes & Noble the other day with Jen (my wife), reading a book on inventing & the patent side of that. I started looking for patents that might apply to my idea this morning but didn’t come up with anything.

As for Rich Dad Poor Dad, that was HUGELY inspirational to me! I read it the first time 5 years ago and have read it a couple more times since then. Thanks for the other book suggestions.

Thanks again,
Scott

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Scott,

Not a problem at all. There will never be a time that I won’t want to respond…having discussions like this is one of the reasons I started brianlinton.com. What’s the purpose of going through something like starting a company if you don’t share what you learn with friends? That being said, I would really love it if we had future discussions on general topics in the comment sections of relevant articles on brianlinton.com, that way everybody else can see them too (and I think comments add value to an article and the site)… Emails or facebook are totally fine though if it is sensitive info or detailed things like your product info that should not be out on the net. So if you ever have one or two questions or just a remark about a topic mentioned in an article, put it in the comment section, if it is something more detailed don’t hesitate to contact me here or at linton.brian@gmail.com.

Here are answers (to the best of my ability) to your questions:

What I struggle to see clearly in my mind is the whole, I have an idea, maybe I’ve developed some tooling to make my parts, but where do I make them?

–Well, I would say it really depends on what it is you want to make. If it is technology based you will probably need to be able to do it yourself or get engineers or other experts to help develop it…if it is something less complex you can probably make a prototype yourself. I do a lot of the designs for Sand Shack myself…I ‘borrow’ designs from similar companies like J Crew or Vineyard Vines. Clothing is fairly simple. I just have pictures of similar products and drawings that I’ve done on the computer. I send them to my manufacturer in China and have samples made. I’ve written a lot about outsourcing if you go here all the articles are listed: click here. So for my products I don’t really need to develop a prototype because it is not complex, and if your product is not complex, pictures and designs may be enough to get a manufacturer to make you samples (click here). Once you have samples made you can start taking orders. I always talk about making products in Asia, but if you do a google search for manufacturers in the US, you can find them here too… I may be able to help you locate a manufacturer once you have your concept finalized.

Where to market them?

–Tradeshows, Store-to Store Selling (click here), getting sales reps, and having a website are all ways to market your product. An entrepreneur should be the best salesperson for their products, and you would be surprised at how receptive stores are to hearing about and possibly buying your new product if you just walk in and talk to them. That is how I’ve made most of my sales, and gotten my largest accounts, for Sand Shack.

What does the business (Legal) side of things look like from paying taxes and so on?

This really depends on what type of product you are selling and where you will be doing business. I would recommend incorporating your company so that it has a legal status as a separate entity, so that you are not personally liable if your company gets sued (or anything bad happens). Sand Shack is a LLC (Limited Liability Company). I think an LLC is usually the best fit for a small startup company, but you will have to read a little bit about the other forms (S Corp and C corp) to determine what is best for your company. Consider registering your company in Delaware though, it is the most favorable state to have your company in…just google Delaware corporation to see why. You will pay taxes based on your profits…that’s something you can worry about once you have money starting to come in.

You mentioned a trade show, is that how you got Sand Shack started?

I actually started Sand Shack by just going into stores in Cape Cod, MA with product in hand and giving a sales pitch. That was probably the most exciting part of starting a company, selling. Tradeshows are expensive and not completely necessary at first. When you start, consider approaching people or stores you think may be interested in your product. It is free. And the worst that could happen is they say no. I am going to Atlanta in 2 days for a show that is running me almost $6,000 followed by another one that is over $3,000 the very next week. Tradeshows therefore come into play once you establish your brand and have a little money to work with. There are however smaller, cheaper shows you could find and consider attending early on.

Who comes up with your designs?
I come up with them and so do some freelance designers…but mostly me…from outside ‘inspiration’ (aka, going to the mall and looking at what the big guys are having success with).

What about manufacturing them?

China, India, and the Philippines. It’s not as complicated as it sounds, and I will be writing a lot more about this topic on my website…and I am launching an eBook about it on brianlinton.com as soon as I finish writing it.

Do you have employees?

I get a lot of freelance help. Employees are trouble because of taxes, benefits, and salary…so I hire people for projects such as web design, tradeshow help (this weekend I’ll have part time employees in Atlanta), summer help, and sales reps. They are not employees, they are subcontractors. Check out this out: click here. At the end of the year you simply report how much you paid each subcontractor on a 1099 tax form. It’s very simple. But I am getting to the point where I will be hiring full time staff this year.

When you say sales reps, what do you mean by that? have you hired a company that sells based on commission?

Yes, I have a number of sales reps. Most are from a company that approached me to represent my products. They are subcontractors too and work solely on 15% commission. They get 15% of whatever they sell. They don’t get paid until I get paid so it is a great scenario.

I hope that all helps, I know a lot of what I just said is pretty general and maybe not exactly what you were looking for. Articles about what I learn will be posted at least every couple of days (but not weekends), that will go into more details about a lot of what you need to know to start your entrepreneurial endeavor.

Keep on hanging out at Barnes and Nobles. I’m there a lot and learn so much from reading books I pick up in their business section.

Also, please feel free to tell other people about brianlinton.com who may be interested in entrepreneurship, I would love to get more people reading it.

One more thing, I just looked up at what I wrote and thought that this would make a great blog post latter this week. Would you mind if I post this on BL.com? That is, just the last email from you and my response. I can cut it down and take your name out if you want. It might be of interest to some other readers. You ok with that?

Thanks again for your email, and never feel hesitant to ask more questions.

have a good night,
Brian

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