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How do I make a product? (lemm.ee)

submitted 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I have an idea for a product that I think it is remarkable it's not already a thing. It would be easy to make and produce, and I imagine manufacturing would be cheap, but could be sold at a decent price.

I know I'll need a designer or engineer to help me with a virtual design. I'll also need a programmer as the product is a "smart" product and would link back to an app. So I'd need an app dev and someone to program the functionality of the device.

So assuming I get all that, then what? How does one get something like this manufactured, assuming it gets that far? I have a potential source from which I could get a business loan, but would at least need a virtual mockup and a plan.

I would love to see this become a reality but it feels daunting and I have no idea how to make it all come together. Any insight from the lemmings is much appreciated.

Edit: I've seen some prototyping and invention help companies, but they feel skeevy and Id have no doubt the terms end up with most of the profit going to them.

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[–] [email protected] -1 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago) (1 children)

No. Just no. You're talking about perfectionism basically. Who cares about continuing maintenance? If you get the product out there and working enough to last the 2 years warranty, you're completely fine. One programmer is perfectly capable of learning the most basic things about the disciplines you mentioned, it doesn't need to be good, it just needs to do its job mostly.

You have no clue about the scope of what this guy's idea is since he gave no info. Maybe it's so simple not even one programmer would have to work on it for very long.

Of course, what you say is perfectly possible to be "correct", but you just have no way of knowing.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 hours ago

Well that's why I prefaced what I said with the point about not having enough detail for specifics. I went off a rough idea of what any typical smart home gadget I've come across would require.

Many consumers care about ongoing maintenance of the stuff they buy, especially smart home stuff. I know I personally wouldn't touch a new product if I got any impression it would stop working or be abandoned in the future.

Apps sometimes break in some way with new OS versions and need changes to continue working correctly. New devices come out and the app might operate on assumptions that are no longer true, requiring improvements.

Security researchers might find a bug in your app/API/gadget and now suddenly you're hosting a botnet whilst potentially being on the hook legally and financially. That's gonna need engineer time to diagnose and fix, ideally proactively.

And yes you're right, one engineer could do it all, I addressed that in my original comment. If one engineer can do it all well they are going to be expensive, the implication being you could get it done badly for cheap. If OP's idea is just a scam product then sure, but I'm assuming they actually want whatever their idea is to be successful and not give off a half-arsed vibe to potential customers.