JogAlong Stroller Update
Image by Phuong Dresher
And now, here’s the JogAlong Stroller update…well wait a second, I have some personal news to share. My sister-in-law and brother made me a very proud uncle a month ago with the birth of their daughter, Coco. After my first visit over the July 4th holiday, I am completely enamored with her. She stuck her tongue out at me and even smiled a couple times. That’s my first official uncle boast!
However, during one of her naps when my brother and I were talking, he said, “so when is the stroller going to be ready?” Based on the look on his face, it wasn’t a curiosity check as it had been in the past. Now, it was an inquiry from a father wanting to be outdoors with his daughter. So, to all of you who have been patiently waiting and occasionally writing, you now have an inside man and family member no less putting on the pressure!
Since our website and social media went live, we have had a great response. All the positive comments you send are very much appreciated. Through the process, we have gained a large base of followers which we will need to have a successful crowdfunding campaign. One of the things I learned along the way is that in order for a campaign to be successful, it needs to start with momentum and commitment from people who already know you. One of the statistics I read says that if you have 30% of your crowdfunding goal committed by people in your direct chain then your likelihood of success is above 80%. On the contrary, if you start with 0% committed, the success rate is around 15%. Recently many of you completed our survey regarding the value of the ergonomic feature of the JogAlong Stroller. Thanks to all of you who sent it in; it was extremely helpful to us. The information in the surveys gave us an idea of the percentage of people who have already signed up for our newsletter who would support a campaign and at what price level. That data will be invaluable to us as we plan our campaign and pre-campaign marketing.
Some people have asked me why the campaign has not started. We want to get as many of the manufacturing details figured out ahead of the campaign as we can. I love the crowdfunding process and have supported numerous campaigns. But I have also been frustrated and likely some of you as well, by having to wait a long time for a product to be delivered. As crowdfunding has become more popular, the level of expectation has become higher in terms of delivery time. Some campaigns use the money raised to continue development and then transition into figuring out how to get it manufactured. That adds a significant amount of time between when you make the commitment with your credit card and when you actually receive the product. We are doing all we can to reduce the delivery time by working on the details now, before we launch the campaign. It’s even more critical with the JogAlong Stroller because we realize if we made you wait too long for a product delivery, some of you may not be running with your child anymore.
Here’s what we’re doing right now:
- working with suppliers to determine tooling costs;
- working with suppliers to determine manufacturing costs;
- identifying and securing suppliers for various purchased components, for example wheels, brake cables, and grips; and
- adjusting designs to better fit suggestions from manufacturing input
Much of the above is a repeating cycle to arrive at the best process and design, but we are making good progress. Our goal is to complete this process in two to three months and then begin work on prepping for the campaign. Once all of us, including our manufacturer and component suppliers, have confidence in the processes and the costs, we’ll be able to run the numbers and determine the size of the campaign needed to ensure success.
Thank you again for your patience, and we will keep you posted.
