I think it’s more of an issue with the domain than the actual brand itself. When read as the letters all together, it feels like one of those Amazon brands that sell generic products without a pronounceable name.

It’s likely less of an issue for the clothing itself, although your designs without the prominent brand name are more appealing to me personally.

Definitely not AI, but my response was somewhat generic as I don’t have familiarity in this industry. I did some market research back in the early oughts on CDRs (casual dining restaurants) for a hedge firm I was interning at. I read quarterly and annual reports for a few of the large public companies that own multiple chains. That’s where I remember there being operational metrics.

My industry is Real Estate, specifically multifamily. Some of the key metrics in this space are occupancy (physical and economic), resident retention (measured by rate of renewals), y/y rent growth, renovation premiums (think the ROI of renovating a unit measured by the increase in rent after the renovation), and many more. I have this knowledge from having worked at privately held companies in the industry, but the filings of the public companies in the industry generally align with this.

My point is that when you don’t have firsthand knowledge public filings are a great starting point.

So, I’ve dipped my toe into those waters. I hired an intern (grad student) over the summer. It worked out okay, but they required a bit more oversight than I’d hoped. There was also a lumpy period of demand where I had to find internal work for them due to lack of client work at their skill level. All-in-all the intern just barely paid for themselves, which felt like a success in itself.

One of the partners I’m considering could jump in, take on the work that I’m doing that an entry-level or even mid-level associate could not. Honestly, they’d make a great senior employee, but they’re at a level where I can’t compete with their market value with salary alone. With the added capacity, I’d feel comfortable ramping up marketing/sales efforts that I’ve held back on thus far, even bringing on a dedicated salesperson.

The name may be off putting.

Not the scale of what you’re doing, but I’m in a similar position and giving the dev 25%.

Rich Dad Poor Dad

I don’t have direct experience (underfunded bootstrapping ftw), but I would do some research on SBA loans. They seem to be a good alternative to traditional financing for young companies (or so I’ve heard).

As I understand it, MedTech is full of startups trying to solve inefficiencies and pain points in the medical realm. If there’s an area you’re very familiar with (i.e. pharma, prescriptions, etc.), that might be a starting point for research.

There’s a lot to unpack, here. First, the cost of a product alone has little to do with the ideal sales price. The price should be a function of the demand for the product and the price customers are willing to pay.

Many of your manufacturing questions are going to be answered by the agreement you sign with your manufacturer.

Unless you have the means to manufacture at a small scale without being reliant upon a third-party manufacturer, this seems very risky.

I’ve had very little success with cold emails. After carefully identifying prospective leads, we get 1-2% response rate.

Each industry likely has its own operational metrics that are a standard for performance analysis. I would do some research via public company reports as these will often have reports dedicated to these metrics as well as comparisons and definition of methodology for measuring the metrics.

Unless you can get it at a 30%+ discount to comps, I wouldn’t buy right now.

If you do, I would manage it yourself. Use Google/Craigslist/etc. for determining market rents.

See if you can get the seller to finance or assume their loan if they have a good fixed rate (assuming you’re not paying cash).

Read, read, read and come up with your investment plan. I’d recommend Bigger Pockets pod and community.

Good luck!

Unless you can get it at a 30%+ discount to comps, I wouldn’t buy right now.

If you do, I would manage it yourself. Use Google/Craigslist/etc. for determining market rents.

See if you can get the seller to finance or assume their loan if they have a good fixed rate (assuming you’re not paying cash).

Read, read, read and come up with your investment plan. I’d recommend Bigger Pockets pod and community.

Good luck!

Stitch me up

Stitch me up

Great post. I’ve followed a similar path. I became an expert in a specific area of a large industry and went out on my own.

YMMV, but I try to put myself in the shoes of my target customer, start with a pain point (that I can address), and then provide enough info to make it apparent that I can be of use to them.

This has been my strategy thus far and it’s working out okay.