The Logo Creator – Getting Yourself Into Retail
I've always had the 'entrepreneurial' spirit. I remember, being 9 years old, going down to the local pottery shop and buying a dozen un-kilned coffee mugs. I drew cartoons on them (I was a wanna-be cartoonist back in the day) and brought them back to the pottery shop to have them Kilned (baked).
I then took them to the local fire department and my school and tried to sell them. I did sell a few of them ... but I never made enough to compensate for the cost of the cups, kilning and paints! This is the SAME problem I have with the retail world when trying to sell my logo design software. I've been selling The Logo Creator, in large retail stores like CompUSA, Fry's Electronics and Office Max since 2004.
The software boxes cost about $3.00 to build. This includes the box, the CD and it's sleeve, and the burning of the CD disk. There's also a 'filler' that the retailers want you to include (this makes the box appear stronger on the shelf).
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You can hire a local designer, or find one on the net from companies likes elance.com or moonlighters.com. A designer may charge upwards of $2,000 to $7,000 to design the box! (I'm lucky enough to be able to design my own boxes). A good rule of thumb is that you'll most likely spend $3,000 for 1000 boxes.
Most times, 1,000 is the smallest amount you'll be able to print. This can really add up when a large chain (Office Depot for instance has 1200 stores nation wide). Each store may want a minimum of 5 boxes on the shelf. That's 6,000 boxes. At $3 a pop!).
Once the boxes are manufactured, you have what they call "Shelf Space" to deal with.
Not all ... but some stores don't just take a product and put it onto their shelves. They need cash. ...They always need cash.
Sometimes, shelf space can go as high as $5,000 for one product! You need to sell a boat load of software to make up this 5k. Then, the retail chain takes it's cut. Sometimes up to 10% ...It can all get a bit nutts.
Why the net is taking over
This is why the internet is so great. There's very little overhead other than your own time and talents. I even use an external eCommerce company to handle my transactions. They take 17% of my monthly sales. ...but it's WELL worth it.
This is the beauty of downloadable software - or anything you can create once and have others purchase multiple times. An eBook for example. Retail used to be king, but I'll put my money into Net any time.
It's harder to market yourself online since there's a ton of competition, but that's where SEO and SEM come in (Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing). A great topic for a future Article.
Marc Sylvester - CEO of Laughingbird Software. Home to the Logo Creator, logo design software for Mac and Windows. Visit http://www.thelogocreator.com for more details!