In building and growing my ADRL eBay Store, I have been on a constant search for products that would be comparatively unique, unusual and interesting. Of course, the product has to be useful and affordable in order to attract buyers.
In my studies of Entrepreneurship (Asian Centre for Entrepreneurship, Manila), my guru illustrated the process of finding products and services (or in a more general term - business ideas) by comparing two types of fishing. Fishing with a rod and / or deep sea dive fishing .
In the former, one casts a line, hook, sinker, and bait and wait for the fish to bite. In the latter, one goes deep into the ocean, look for the fishes, and once an ideal target is found, shoot it with a spear.
I remember that there was a lively discussion on which is better, with the more aggressive entrepreneurs going for the spear, while the more cautious ones choose the fishing rod.
In the end, everybody was in agreement that a mixture of both, depending on the situation, and the personality of the entrepreneur, would be the best manner of attacking the “problem” of filtering business or product ideas.
As I continue to sell products that I find and purchase in local markets, and online…both used and brand new, in my eBay store, I also send out a lot of inquiries and subscribe to a good number of newsletters that would point me to the right direction and the right fish.
Recently, I found an interesting product calling itself Sugru, which according to the inventor, is based on the Irish Word for play ("súgradh”).
Sugru is described by its manufacturer as a “mouldable glue”. Wikipedia states that is “ also known as Formerol, is a patented multi-purpose, non-slumping brand of silicone rubber that resembles modeling clay.
What Sugru does is it allows anyone to get a “play-dough like” substance and stick it, mould it, shape it into anything that needs fixing or “re-creating”, and after letting it set for twenty four hours, the mould turns into hard silicone rubber.
The makers of Sugru are careful not to claim any guarantee on the materials that Sugru would definitely stick with. It states clearly in its product packaging that “If it’s made of wood, plastic, glass, metal , ceramic or fabric, Sugru WILL PROBABLY stick to it.”
Which is why, in the process of my “entrepreneurial filtering”, I decided to order a few items of the product to test it out. It took a few weeks for the items to be shipped from the USA to where I am in Australia, which gave me a bit of time to think about its marketability, and I even played around with a flyer layout for the store, featuring Sugru. (below)
When the product arrived, I tested it on a shoe that needed repair. The shoe got ripped on the part that touches the ankle and a bit of foam is showing. I opened up a sachet of Sugru (black color) and moulded it into shape to cover the torn part of the shoe. It took me less than a minute to apply it and I let it set for twenty four hours.
The next day, here is how it looked (below), all fixed and ready to use. For a first time Sugru user, I felt it was not too bad a fix. I could have spent more time moulding and scraping it for a better finish, but, I feel it is good enough for my purpose.
I definitely like this product, and have decided to pursue to for my ADRL eBay Store, as a regular item, and even market it to local stores. I have reached out to the Sugru makers for a distributorship arrangement for my area. The Sugru company is being very cautious though, and has informed me that they are taking expansion slowly, focusing on their markets in the UK and the USA at the moment.
In the meantime, I will be putting up the products I have on the store, in the next couple of days, in order to get some measure of interest to DIYers on this side of the world.
So don’t forget to check out the ADRL eBay store for Sugru and other Affordable, Distinct, Rare and Loved items.
Thanks for dropping by, and do drop some comments on what you would like to read about, here in Bacon & Potatoes.
Bye.
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