The good news is after completing bag number one we have now done thousands and everyone is very happy with the quality and end product. The quality has slowly improved and we are at the point where I struggle to find any faults.
This week we had it confirmed we will be supplying another punching bag brand which leaves only one outstanding giving our business market dominance with a thumb suck guess of anywhere between 80-90%. There is no real data to go by and why this has been a guessing game by all the buyers up till now.
The big problem has always been inconsistent supply and retail outlets were more likely to be out of stock than in stock and would never have a selection of various sizes or colors. This will be the first time in over 20 years a customer can select from the complete range. This highlights how poor the consistency of supply was before with many hits and misses.
The buyers of the various retail chains have no idea what the market numbers are and until we get to a stage of retail outlets being fully stocked for a few months. We are dominating online sales so by Easter we should have a good idea of what the monthly demand for punching bags is realistically.
One of he buyers who I had a meeting with yesterday stated the biggest issue has always been finding consistent filler material and was curious how we have managed to solve this problem that has been around forever. I do think by not being involved in this industry before has helped as you are unware of the problems and maybe look at those issues as they rise differently.
I do think right from the fist day it was rather obvious that the business relied heavily on finding consistent suppliers and where the efforts were concentrated. This took time and did not jut happen overnight and since August/September last year when we first got involved without any real warning. We had an idea the business opportunity was coming, but we had been given no real warning or start dates and were thrown in the deep end.
This new brand has no stock in the their retail outlets and has a his and her punch bag line with one being black and the other pink. This order is like a start from scratch order and exceeds 40 tons so the next month should just be top ups going forward replacing the stock that has been sold. Only from that point will we know the market volumes each month. Maybe an extra month for all this to settle down and become an in stock item finally.
My head tells me we are looking at a 100 punch bag a day business which is roughly across all the various sizes around the 40 tons monthly figure which is the amount of filler I require on a monthly basis. That I can achieve without too much stress and is the target figure of 100 bags daily being achieved. What a good little business all achieved within 6 months which goes to show you sometimes need to believe in yourself and just go with the flow.
I would like to have one or two more suppliers for the filling and at least generate one months supply in reserve or have one months supply of bags ready to go in stock. That is going to take time and guess could take another 6 months to get to that point and where my thoughts are currently.
The skins or outer casings will at some point not be imported and we will be making them from scratch and why I need to make sure we are ahead of the game for now as that will be the next surprise thrown at us. At least for now we are done with the working late and overtime expenses as things have settled down and we know what we are doing.