We built a work stand, because:
Winters happen every year in Colorado; Standard needs “an alternate source of income” if it is going to thrive year round.
- No matter how much advertising is done for bike repair during the winter, it will make little difference.
- ebay is not a fun winter activity
- Innovation/adaptation is the key to survival in the business world.
- It is straight up, “exciting,” to invent something.
Story of the Metal Plate Stencil
- The original intention of “having a metal plate stencil of Standard’s logo” was to “reduce a manufacturing step”.
- i.e. Instead of having “somebody else” make a new logo every time they make a work stand, what if they could simply “brand one in at the shop”.
- Result: amazing piece of art.
- But not “the original intention”.
- The original intention was to have a metal plate made that was more of a stencil.
- Idea: lay stencil on wood; burn through it with a torch to leave fire stained logo.
“Made a Mistake” and this was the result:
An entrepreneur makes mistakes all the time; assuming “he takes risks”
- Even though, Standard has yet to sell a second Work Stand, Ryan was thinking far into the future. He thought if he could spend a “few hundred bucks” on one metal stencil logo, than he could say goodbye to the “$50 per plaque” price offered by Arrowhead Awards.
- Hindsight is 20/20: Laser logo is fine; people like it.
- It cost more than he thought to make a stencil; and now, he will put the expense in “Research and Development.”
Result: Prettiest Mistake Ryan has ever made
- What can be done?
- It can be hung on the wall.
- There is potential for use.
- For instance, we may use the metal plate as “a branding mark”.
- Or, we may go with the original “torch and burn” idea and “burn around the metal” instead of “inside the stencil”.
Example above is a “Laser Etch” from Arrowhead Awards
- Looks pretty good; why improve it? An achiever is never satisfied.
Here is a late night picture of Ryan testing different lanyards for Work Stand:
- As you can see, in the finished product in the Avery Brewing picture above, “yellow lanyards” were not in the end design.
- Research and Development or “R&D” is an often over-looked cost in a “new product”. So many things cost money that never get used… or lead you down a different, better path.
- We think the product from J & Innovations will lead us down such a path.
In Conclusion: Ryan learned
- Communicating is a difficult task; after all said and done, thinking both parties were “of the right mind,” the result was “opposite”.
- Lesson: life is a beautiful mistake.
