Packages Arriving

Packages are coming in which means we are right around the corner from selling. Hope everyone is excited and looking forward to us selling. We also got approved to sell on campus which we think will help improve our sales. We did not get MADD's support but we did however get JMU Safe Rides support and will be donating a percentage of sales to them. We will be selling in Showker and the Commons hopefully starting Wednesday next week. Hope to see you all there.

Time to Promote

At last the square we are going to utilize for credit card payments is in and products are ordered and final assembly will begin shortly.  After much research and consulting with various distributors we have finally found the perfect small plastic container we have been looking for!  We have ordered 100 of the containers (costing about .30 per container) and the breathalyzers.  Now we will be able to attach taxi numbers to the container without jeopardizing the instructions on the product; maybe not perfection but most definitely progress!

In addition to these production efforts we have been constantly been updating and revisiting our business model canvas.  We have contacted MADD and are attempting to add them as a new Key Partner to our business.  If they agree to our proposal, we would love to provide them with 5% of out proceeds and attach their label to our product.   It is our hope to save his or her life and the lives of others, while also contributing to the fight against drunk driving.

While waiting for the product to finalize we are beginning to seriously market and advertise the product, via making a facebook page for people to see with fact about the dangers of drunk driving.  We are also going to begin pitching to bars to buy our product and are trying to get approval to sell on campus due to the fact that the product isn't a breathalyze in the sense to see how high one is, but a device that is pass/fail.

Struggling For Containers

Hey all, so we are trying to get the ball rolling with a final prototype, but this is actually much harder than we conceived it to be.  While originally we thought we would simply make the breathalyzer into a key chain, we are risking the product being damaged, so now we need to find a container of some sort to help keep the product both safe and able to be easily carried around.

 

We ventured everywhere from Michaels, to Walmart, to the Dollar Store brainstorming and attempting to be crafty, but the breathalyzer is a bit longer than we expected cutting out most plausible containers.  With this delay, we have finally decided we need to make an initial large shipment (since it is also most cost effiecient), and attempt to begin selling and marketing without our ideal container and continue working to better the product in the NEAR future.  After all its better to start an initial sell and receive some profits than to wait for perfection!

Developing the Prototype

We plan to have a prototype of our official product in about a week. As we develop this prototype, we are already actively engaging in asking around to see what people think, and test it out to see if this goes well before we make our first big order. We are thinking we will be able to sell starting by October 11, 2011. We are currently working on our business model and have engaged in an active process to see what we have tested and failed (red), what we have tested and confirmed (green), and what we need to test (black). (Colors indicated on the model.)

We are still trying to further our connections; if anyone knows anyone or any group that would be interested in our product please let us know. We have discovered the real value of key partnerships and know that they could be the potential component to our success in helping us distribute and market this product

For those that are checking out our blog we appreciate it and we will keep you updated where and when we are selling.

The Breathalyzers are in!

We have finally received our first batch of Breathalyzers and now plan to test and use the product ourselves. We want to ensure effectiveness prior to distribution.  Additionally, now we can focus on finding ways to add our additions including key chains, and labels for alternative rides.  We have realized there is not going to be room to actually put the label on the device.  As a result, when we attempt to attach a key chain we are going to make a little card to go with it with the numbers, hopefully attached to it.