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Guest: Tim Pannell, founder of Rocks Gone and developer of the Reefinator.
Host: Kevin Mako, founder of Product Startup and the leading expert in hardware startup consulting. A hardware entrepreneur since 1999, Kevin has advised more than 1,500 founders and built and scaled MAKO Invent through its acquisition by TriMech in 2024.
Developing Heavy Equipment Through Field Knowledge
Tim Pannell shares the detailed process behind the Reefinator, a machine designed to turn shallow rocky soil into productive farmland. He covers early prototyping, manufacturer selection, quality control, and how practical contractor experience gave the product a decisive advantage.
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Filip Valica: Hey, everyone. Welcome to the Product Startup Podcast, a podcast that helps bring your product idea to life by chatting with successful inventors, product designers, and other industry professionals. This podcast is run by Mako Design
Filip Valica: and event and hosted by Filip Valica. Our goal here is to get to the bottom of what makes a product successful, from initial idea to putting your product on the shelf. We're taking you step by step to build a functional product and scale your product business. Now onto the show.
Filip Valica: The product startup, episode 39. Tim Pannell developed the Reefinator and agricultural machine. that converts shallow rocky soil into deep productive soils at an economical cost.
Filip Valica: Hi, everyone, and welcome to the Product Startup Podcast, where we talk about turning ideas into successful products step by step. I'm Filip Valica, and thanks for listening today. In the last episode, we talked to Farah Qureshi about designing and making jewelry and
Filip Valica: precious materials using ethical silver and gold. So make sure to check out episode 38 if you want to hear more about how she used pop-up shops to validate her audience.
Filip Valica: Stay tuned after the interview to learn how your product startup can get free air time on the show. So let's get started. Hi Tim, thanks for joining us on the show today. Thanks, Philip.
Filip Valica: So I'm really excited to have you on because we haven't had anybody on the show to talk about heavy machinery and farming equipment and that type of thing. So I'm really excited to talk about this niche. How did you even get started with creating a product like the reef in the day?
Filip Valica: Well, Philip, it did actually start a long time ago in my mind.
Filip Valica: because Australia is full of very shallow old soil types, some of the oldest in the world, and because of that there have been eroded for millions of years.
Filip Valica: And it's rather a long explanation, but basically in agriculture and in lots of parts of the world, but particularly Australia, we have a lot of bedrock exposed or very close to the surface.
Filip Valica: and I had some of that, I was farming, and there was ideas out there, but none of them were cost effective. It was just far too costly.
Filip Valica: So about 20 years ago, I started thinking about it.
Filip Valica: And then probably only three years ago, I really started doing something about it, and I started making prototypes.
Tim Pannell: and yeah, it went from there. To give people an idea of what this thing looks like, I mean, it's about the size of a minivan. I mean, it's huge. It's essentially a giant roller that gets towed behind a tractor.
Filip Valica: Can you talk a little bit about what it does and what its purposes? The best way to describe the machine is that it's an implement. In other words, it's towed by an agricultural or a large agricultural tractor.
Filip Valica: and it has two main components to the machine. The first piece that engages the rock is a, what we call a grate,
Filip Valica: and the grate is a little similar to a cheese grater in that it limits the size of the rock that it pulls up. It's not a ripper as such, it's more of a grate.
Filip Valica: And then the second component is the drum, which is a ribbed roller and this is nothing new the ribbed roller but it's just a wheel and helps crush up the rock to a fine estate
Filip Valica: and then the machine's designed as a multi-pass high speed and people can't believe that we go fast with this when we say fast it's sort of normal agricultural speeds but you know 10
Filip Valica: kilometres an hour or six miles an hour is sort of a standard speed
Filip Valica: and you start shallow and you get deeper the more passes you do
Tim Pannell: it's cutting the rock from the top down crushing it up and converting it into soil basically
Filip Valica: normally the work that this machine would do was that done by hand or was it done by smaller machines well basically there wasn't anything except a rotary machine there's a few manufacturers in the world
Filip Valica: that have made rotary machines means the Italians were very good at it because Italy's got lots of rocks, but they weren't really agricultural as such.
Filip Valica: They were used in agriculture, but simply because of the physics of the way they work, just too slow and costly. So basically people just put up with the rock.
Tim Pannell: They either went around it or went over it or just put up with it. They didn't do anything with it. it was exposed and limiting their farming. It sounds like a massive problem.
Filip Valica: What made you think that, you know what, I'm the person that's going to solve this? Do you have any type of background in heavy machinery or design or, you know, working with this type of equipment? Well, other than my 26 years of farming, no.
Filip Valica: I am working with that soil type.
Tim Pannell: No, I really didn't. So I just felt that someone had to do it. So, and it was an interest that I had. So I just pursued it, basically. That's really cool.
Tim Pannell: So did you end up doing some of the prototypes yourself initially and putting together some
Filip Valica: things on trial basis, figuring out what worked and didn't? Or did you end up hiring somebody to help kind of form the design for it? Yeah, Philip, I did it myself originally.
Filip Valica: I built the first prototype, or part of the first prototype, and it actually worked in some instances very well but that's that was more of a ripper and it was um had some serious
Filip Valica: limitations and it wasn't until we used that that we went on forward and then i decided to
Tim Pannell: engage an engineer and a draftman and um and go on and build the consecutive um prototypes took you about three years to put this thing together is that right that's correct yeah there's
Tim Pannell: definitely a huge effort that goes into creating something like this. I worked on something very similar for subsea applications, for marine applications. There's companies that are looking to mine
Tim Pannell: the sea floor and prepare it for all sorts of work, whether it's installations of wells or things
Filip Valica: like that. And so I'm familiar with this type of equipment in a way, but, you know, under the water. And it can get pretty complicated. I appreciate the level of effort that's gone into something like that. Yeah,
Filip Valica: it's an incredibly simple machine.
Filip Valica: It only really has one moving part. So it's, you know, it's, but it took a lot to get at simple is what I'm trying to say.
Tim Pannell: It's easy to make something overcomplicated, but in, in that type of work, it needs to be as simple as possible because every moving part is a, is a weakness, basically, because it's very tough work.
Tim Pannell: Well, you find out really quickly what your weakest part in the link is, right?
Filip Valica: That's for sure, yeah. How did you reach out to? this designer and engineer when you were looking to develop this thing. Did you just post a local ad or were there places to go where people were skilled in the craft of making this type of equipment? Well,
Filip Valica: in my first prototype, I bought that ribbed roller that's at the rear of the machine was commercially available already and I'd already purchased that from the engineering
Tim Pannell: firm and because they were good people to deal with and, you know, keen to work with me, I just went on dealing with him and we've got a successful partnership ever since basically. They
Tim Pannell: build all the machines for me now and others. You know that's an excellent tip and this way there was a lower learning curve for the people that you were working with because like you said they were already experienced in the industry with the equipment that they were going to be integrating
Filip Valica: and you didn't really have to educate them on what the application was because they were kind of familiar with it. Were you afraid at all that they were going to run with the idea on their own or did you set up some sort of a partnership agreement or a licensing agreement where your idea was
Filip Valica: protected? I own the patent to the machine, so yeah, that bit's covered. I was never fearful of them, but that's just one of those precautions you take. I set that up very early on, and they were
Filip Valica: very keen for the work in any case. I know I do get some components made elsewhere that go into the machine. I've got it quite secure, but the big advantage of working with other,
Filip Valica: established companies or family businesses, particularly I enjoy working with other family businesses, is that like you said, you bring in their expertise and obviously the more
Filip Valica: minds that work on a project, the better. And I've found them to be exciting people to work
Tim Pannell: with and so productive that we've developed another machine as well. So we've gone on pushing forward to expand our production base.
Filip Valica: It's really great to work with people that are knowledgeable in their field. Did you have to put a lot of money up front to start the process going? Or was it something that you were able to put a little bit in and then see a little bit of output come out of it and make sure that you were heading in the right direction?
Filip Valica: Yeah.
Filip Valica: It really was a very expensive process. And developing a machine will never, ever be cheap. and unfortunately I couldn't although I was contracting with the prototype machines
Filip Valica: so not only was I earning an income with those machines I was also marketing the machines before I even fully developed them so we were out there in the marketplace actually using the prototypes
Filip Valica: people were seeing it and in actual fact the first production run I was only going to build a couple of maybe three or four
Tim Pannell: of these machines and we ended up building 12 simply because people were demanding them. It was very capital expensive for that first couple of years to get it underway.
Tim Pannell: You have no wait for that plane to pass by there.
Tim Pannell: You know, that's a really good position to be in because you know,
Filip Valica: understand the market really well. I know you mentioned that you designed it for yourself. Was that the full intent in the beginning is to only design it for yourself or was the intent to eventually sell it to people and you just happen to be in a really good position to test out
Filip Valica: the product and know the market and the audience that you were selling to. Yeah, look, I think that was my strength in that I had a very good understanding of the industry, the farming industry, and I was developing it for everybody.
Filip Valica: So we believe that this machine will be worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the Australian economy every year in production. So it was just always a rewarding, well, I was hoping it was going to be a rewarding project,
Tim Pannell: not just financially, but for everybody, basically. So it was developed so that we could go contracting. And to this day, I still have machines out contracting, but we sell, primarily we sell
Tim Pannell: the machines to the farmers or contractors around Australia. No, that's great. And that sounds like a really good business model, too, because like you said, it's a good opportunity.
Tim Pannell: I mean, not only are you doing some sales on the back end of your contracting, but you're able to, like you said, test out the product.
Filip Valica: And so if there's any issues with it, you're getting that direct feedback, and it doesn't have to be translated through some third-party customer.
Filip Valica: You're sitting there using the machine yourself and you watch the issues with it and you give that feedback directly to the engineering team. That's just immensely valuable. That's exactly right.
Filip Valica: And that's how it happened, basically, you know, because we were using them directly. And also, Philip, we were using them in many different circumstances or places.
Filip Valica: So simply because geology varies so much from place to place, we found that, you know, in one place, one version of the machine worked very well in another. You know, it had to be something different.
Filip Valica: So it really helped us by taking it to different areas and different situations. that helped us develop the whole machine over time. And we got it to a point where if it couldn't handle the rock
Tim Pannell: and actually do the job, you know, give us the end result in a crushed-up soil, at least it wouldn't destroy the machine. So the machine would survive the contact with, say,
Tim Pannell: and we have a lot of granite over here, which is just too hard, basically. So the machine was still cost-effective without being damaged.
Filip Valica: if that makes any sense. You're having to make this judgment call to say, do we incorporate a fix that will make the machine better and maybe it will make it more expensive? Or do we just let this specific case go
Filip Valica: because maybe it's not something that's essential to the success of the machine? How did you make those types of decision?
Filip Valica: Yeah, that's exactly right. It was tough. And just going back a bit in the developing processes, there was many times that I nearly gave up simply because of breakages.
Filip Valica: You know, we were putting it through enormous bleak, we have very tough situations and the machine gets hammered all day. Right. So, yeah, we had lots of failures and lots of breakages.
Filip Valica: And I guess that's part of developing something from scratch is that you have to be ready for those and be aware that that's going to.
Filip Valica: come along and that either you you're going to push forward and make a work or you're just going
Tim Pannell: to give up because essentially there was always the possibility the machine wouldn't work and then I was wasting my money so you know there had to be a point where I said well you know
Filip Valica: do I go ahead with this and really I'd made that decision quite early on and that kept me going There's all these questions that don't have concrete answers.
Filip Valica: You can't Google the answer to the things that are plaguing you. So it's really difficult to have that faith to push forward. How did you dig to find that? No pun intended. It was partly family-orientated.
Filip Valica: I had my eldest daughter working with me, and the fact that she was with me and out in the field developing it helped keep me going. And I think probably, Philip, the truth is all.
Tim Pannell: also that I was in a good enough position financially to do it. If I was trying to borrow the money to do the whole thing or find support, it would have been much more difficult.
Tim Pannell: So even though the finances were tight at times, we were able to afford it without relying on, you know, other sources.
Filip Valica: Yeah, and you bring up a good point because a lot of times people get into product development because they see it as a way to get rich or to hit a certain financial goal.
Filip Valica: Did you find the pressure was off of you a bit because you didn't set a lofty goal? Even obviously, you know, you had the goal to change the Australian landscape. You didn't necessarily tell yourself that you have to make a certain amount of money by a certain date. Not really, no.
Filip Valica: And I never expected the machine to be so popular and so well accepted. In actual fact, I never, when I did that initial break design,
Filip Valica: I was never expecting it to work anywhere near as well as it did. So when I first saw it work, I was astounded, you know, and I was so thrilled that it was working as well as it did.
Filip Valica: And it was only over time that I worked out that, gee, there's going to be some market for this machine.
Filip Valica: So I sort of came out at it probably from the opposite end of most people, you know, in that I was not doing it to make a lot of money, but to solve a problem also and hopefully make some money along the way.
Filip Valica: I've been in business all my life, so that helps a lot. You know, I've had a lot of experience in running sort of a medium-sized business.
Filip Valica: And a lesson I've learned all along is that money or borrowing money is fine, as long as you've got a good solid case to borrow that money.
Tim Pannell: But borrowing money on something that isn't yet proven, you know, or is still quite out there, can be very dangerous.
Tim Pannell: And unless you can get a support of somebody else, if you need that money to come from another source, other than a financial institution, yeah, it's quite dangerous, I believe.
Tim Pannell: seen lots of people come unstuck in that regard.
Filip Valica: Yeah, you almost get into a gambling type situation where you're hoping that the money that you're borrowing is going to do something for your returns and you have these high expectations
Tim Pannell: and like you said, if there's no business case for it, then the cards fall and you're left with a huge debt. Well, congratulations for doing what you did and taking it to the point where you have now.
Tim Pannell: As you've developed the product, has the same firm that you've been working with done the manufacturing for the reefanator? That's correct, yes. They're manufacturing the refinators. They're building approximately two a week.
Tim Pannell: And, yeah, we've built over 100 machines there. Oh, congratulations.
Filip Valica: And, you know, I have a soft spot for working at companies that do their own design in manufacturing because you get to go out in the shop and smell the welding fumes and the raw steel being worked on and the paint, in the adjacent paint bay and see something
Filip Valica: take shape. Like you said, in a matter of days or weeks. So it's really great to have that really close by so you can keep an eye on quality and an eye on making sure that the changes
Filip Valica: are incorporated properly into the manufacturing. Yeah, that's correct. And that physical presence of a machine that appears out of steel and, you know, bits and pieces is very rewarding.
Filip Valica: And the most rewarding part for me now is my clientele.
Tim Pannell: They come to me and shake my hand, they're thrilled to bits that there's a solution. We find that many of the older generation, they've been putting up with that rock for, you know,
Tim Pannell: 40, 50 years, and they are just so thrilled to bits to see something that can solve the problem
Tim Pannell: that they're excited, and that excites me, and it's very rewarding to have that experience.
Filip Valica: Yeah, it could certainly pull you out of bed. in the morning. You mentioned that your customers are really excited about taking delivery of these units. Talk a little bit about maybe your quality program. It's something that we didn't really
Filip Valica: talk about a lot on the show, but since you control the engineering and the manufacturing in-house, I suspect that you probably have some sort of a plan that says when you're done manufacturing, it needs to go through these set of tests, these factory acceptance tests or quality
Filip Valica: assurance tests to make sure that it does the work that we designed it to do. Yeah, that's exactly right.
Filip Valica: Initially, it was a little ad hoc. It was check it after we've made it, and we found that that wasn't particularly successful because, you know, you've already spent the money. It's cost a lot of money to build the machine.
Filip Valica: So we developed another system where there's a schedule and a checklist, basically, and each piece is numbered, and that number relates to them, and the person who's doing that job
Filip Valica: and not only do they have to check it off but so does the guy next to them when they both sign off on it. So it's an ongoing through every stage of the process and since we took on that system
Tim Pannell: we've not had a problem. So the guys are constantly checking themselves and checking the guy next to them simply because they have to and they know that it'll come back to them if it fails. And obviously with a machine,
Tim Pannell: like this, it's in such severe conditions. I mean, the whole, you know, there's, when it's fully ballasted, it's over 20 to 26 tons and vibrates all day long. If there's a fault
Tim Pannell: somewhere, it will fairly quickly show up. Yeah, definitely. And I really like to hear that you've got some checks and balances. A lot of smaller companies, and I say that with deference, because I'm sure
Filip Valica: that you consider yourself to be midsize or large. But, you know, a lot of companies that aren't corporate companies with a lot of people that work there skip over this quality step because they feel that they don't have the time or the manpower to devote to it. But like you said,
Filip Valica: it pays dividends because one problem in the assembly line or in the manufacturing process will just magnify. And the worst thing that you could have is a customer calling you because
Filip Valica: the machines broke down halfway across Australia and now you've got to send a tech out to repair an issue at a much greater expense. exactly correct, Philip, yes, you've hit the nail on the head. And also the agricultural sector,
Filip Valica: and I assume, I think this is probably quite common across the world, because the numbers
Tim Pannell: of people are actually relatively low, the communication is actually quite good between the farmers and the people in agriculture. So bad news spreads very quickly. Right. Yeah, and good news spreads as well.
Tim Pannell: So the last thing you want is bad news running around.
Filip Valica: So it's so important, particularly an ag here in Australia, to be putting out good stories so that they, well, you know, a good case so that there's nobody complaining. And generally, we've achieved that.
Filip Valica: Yeah, so talk a little bit about that. How are you able to spread the word? I know that you go out and do jobs with it and you do demonstrations, which I imagine is just a huge part of your marketing strategy, being able to demonstrate.
Filip Valica: the benefits of your product. A lot of businesses don't have that benefit other than doing
Tim Pannell: you know demos and stores and things. You're able to show tangible proof. What are some other
Filip Valica: tactics that have worked for you on the marketing side to really get the word out? We find that the most effective method is the demonstrations simply because it is so physical
Filip Valica: and visual. I mean, it's very simple. You've got a big slab of rock and all of a sudden that gets turned into soil. So that's very self-explanatory. Um,
Filip Valica: the, um,
Filip Valica: we actually find the, um, you know, the Facebooks and the Twitters and all those very effective as well. That's interesting.
Tim Pannell: Yeah, you wouldn't think that since this is more business to business than business to consumer. Yeah. Yeah, he's amazing. And, um, we've been surprised how, you know, our rock's gone, Twitter or Facebook has
Tim Pannell: become, you know, those people that have that problem and have heard they, they, it's just self-generating. I don't really understand how it works, but it developed quite a
Tim Pannell: following. And as soon as we put something on there, people are straight onto it and responding
Filip Valica: to us. So we've even got an owner's group now in Facebook so that we can give them relevant information. It surprises me every day. No, that's a great idea. And especially now that a lot of
Filip Valica: the social networks are prioritizing video, I bet you guys could do some really great weight work and taking one or two minute clips of, you know, sort of before or after of the machine
Tim Pannell: doing its thing or even the process, some detailed steps of rock going through the machine and crushing it. I bet that would make some shareable video that people would just kind of forward around and say, hey, check this out. Yeah, and that's pretty much what we do. We've got videos,
Tim Pannell: you know, YouTube and so on and even just stills, you know, if you get the before and after photos with the same background and so people can see it's the same position because people like
Tim Pannell: to see don't they you know we can all listen but the truth's in the seeing so we find that to be
Filip Valica: the most successful marketing strategy no absolutely like you said you rely on the on showing the benefits of the product and the more tangible they are you can kind of clear the slate so to speak
Filip Valica: and you don't have to worry about all the fancy marketing i don't want to say gimmicks but tactics that some other people rely on. So good for you guys to focus on the demos. I'd be curious to see
Filip Valica: when it comes to making sales, you know, and converting some of this marketing into a sales lead, do you find that some farmers might be on the fence about purchasing the unit and do you
Tim Pannell: ever do a little drive-by if one of your machines that ends up in the area, do you offer to work a bit of their land for free just to kind of show them the benefit?
Tim Pannell: Yeah, we've done a little bits like that and quite often we'll offer to pick them up and bring them to the farm next door where we are working or a client's working his machine but you know the truth is if they've got the problem
Tim Pannell: and enough of it they'll want the machine and it's how it works we sell one machine into an area and within you know months if not a year and then it's there's several machines in that area I mean there's viral yeah
Filip Valica: well there's one patch in particular where there's 14 machines that all bander, the farms bander each other. Wow.
Filip Valica: Well, congratulations on making such a infectious product. We've talked to other small business owners that have been on the show that had similar results from their product. And you can really tell the people that have spent so much time refining their product
Filip Valica: and like you said in the beginning, editing it down to its most simple. And by simple, I mean effective and elegant design. So it just works.
Filip Valica: those are the businesses that have some of the greatest successes because it like you said
Tim Pannell: I don't want to say that it sells itself but it definitely gives you a huge boost in marketing oh that's correct you know and because it's the only machine out there doing it um it makes
Tim Pannell: it you know obviously it's a very easy thing to market we're not we don't have competitors in reality and um that that that side of it is incredibly easy um just getting there to
Filip Valica: to the new areas is sometimes a little tough like it's a it's not a cheap machine to move around so you've got to be prepared to go out and spend the money to go to those new areas
Filip Valica: especially when you start to go interstate but it's always worth it well that's really great so congratulations sim for creating a product that's just had such great success before i let you go
Filip Valica: i wanted to ask if you could give some advice to someone that's looking to launch their own product then there might be kind of struggling along the way. They might be in that dip that we talked about. What would you tell them to keep them pushing forward
Filip Valica: or to help them work out the questions that you can't Google? Yeah, look, I think having a belief in the product is very important, but make sure you do your homework. You use someone else to say, is this practical, is it really going to work?
Filip Valica: You know, is this business model really truly worth continuing with?
Tim Pannell: and find a business partner, I think, is a big part, too. If it's too big for you, don't go out and borrow the money. Find someone who's in the industry or got a lot of experience, but obviously they've got to be careful.
Tim Pannell: They've got to try and protect their ideas, but doing things on your own is incredibly tough. So business partners, good people. If you can, work with family business. it's the best way I can recommend it.
Filip Valica: They tend to have more compassion and are more involved in the outcome. So, yeah, and borrowing money is a trap if you haven't got that security there.
Filip Valica: You really do need security. And who wants to mortgage their house on an idea that may or may not work? Right. Yeah, you don't want to roll the dice on that. No. Good tips there about finding a partner. Most of the time, the people that we have on the show don't mention.
Filip Valica: on partners because it's such a difficult thing to do. It's you're getting into another relationship. It's almost like marriage, right, on the business side where you're sharing expenses and you're counting on this other person to make decisions for the business. Any advice
Filip Valica: on picking a good partner other than just finding someone in the industry that is knowledgeable that maybe is good at some of the things that you're not? Yeah, look, it's never going to be
Filip Valica: easy. Like I said, family business tends to be a bit more compassionate and have a bit more more passion in their business, but I'd definitely be doing some homework on them before I've invited them in.
Filip Valica: But I think I was, I tried probably at least two other manufacturers before I went to these guys and I found they just lacked a lot of interest, you know, they weren't really that interested
Filip Valica: in helping.
Filip Valica: So as soon as I felt that little bit of negativity, I just walked away and went somewhere else. and it wasn't until I hit these guys and I were keen.
Tim Pannell: They weren't going to drop everything and help me at no cost. You know, obviously I was paying, but I could tell that they had, you know, ethics.
Tim Pannell: That's, I think, probably critical in that they have the same sort of ethical ideology as you do
Filip Valica: so that you're somewhere near the same field to start with and that they're not just interested in the money. I mean, obviously that comes first in business, but you do need to be very careful.
Filip Valica: But at the end of the day, if you don't share it, if you haven't got the resources and you don't go down the road of sharing or using, bringing other people in, you
Tim Pannell: probably won't succeed in any case. So you've got to take a risk. That's correct. So you've just got to take a risk. And business is full of risks. There's no doubt about it. Well, Tim, thanks again for sharing so much knowledge.
Filip Valica: I'd love to stop by.
Tim Pannell: I wish that you guys were less than half the world away so I could come by and check the machines out. Where can people go and find Rock's Gone and your refinator? Yeah, rocksgone.com.com.com.
Tim Pannell: And hopefully our new website will be up soon and they can Google Refinator. You have a refinator name in Canada, I believe. There's a, I think it's a kids cartoon show. But it's the only other refinator name in the world
Tim Pannell: that I know of. And we were first, which I'm most pleased. Nice. But,
Tim Pannell: yes, rock's gone.com.com. Tim, thanks again for coming on the show and being so transparent and sharing all your knowledge with us. So I wish you all the best and your continued success. And you've obviously are on a really great track.
Tim Pannell: So I hope you take over Australia.
Tim Pannell: Thanks, Philip. All the best. I hope that you enjoyed that interview with Tim. So here are three of my takeaways. number one have a deep understanding of the problem that you're solving with your product
Tim Pannell: Tim understood just how difficult it was to farm rocky soils and he worked as a contractor solving new problems in different terrains every day his confidence in creating his product
Tim Pannell: stems from living and breathing the same pain as his customers so he was able to make those tough decisions during the design process because he understood the impact of adding or removing a feature number two set up a
Tim Pannell: quality program no matter how small. Defects will happen. That's just how life is. The worst thing that we can do is force our customers to be our quality control. Implement a basic inspection checklist
Tim Pannell: with sign-offs to start with. And if you've got a lot of units that you ship out, this doesn't always mean that you have to check every part of every product. Perhaps there's a final test of
Tim Pannell: each product that will work. Number three, word of mouth advertising isn't just for B to C. It's interesting how social media works really well for Rock's Gone, even though they're not a typical consumer product company.
Tim Pannell: So people who working agriculture tend to be physically separated by broad distances, and it makes sense that online social tools would be effective in bringing them together to share information.
Tim Pannell: What other issues are our customers looking to solve, and where are they going to find those answers? Isn't that where we should be marketing? If you'd like to get these takeaways in your inbox every week, just go to the product
Tim Pannell: startup.com and scroll to the footer of any page and sign up to the weekly wrapup.
Filip Valica: At the end of the week, you'll get my three takeaways for each guest, along with interesting articles, free tools, and inspiring innovations that help you with your own product startup. If you have any questions or comments, as usual, I've put all the links that I've covered
Filip Valica: under the show notes posted on the product startup.com slash 39. and also some listeners have asked me about alternate options to the one-on-one consulting that I provide
Filip Valica: clients. I've had some interest in a weekly group Q&A call where I would field office hours, so to speak, and everyone could just call in and ask some questions. I've had interest
Filip Valica: in a DIY product development book, as well as a training course on the same topic. So I'd really want to help you move forward with your products and take that action. And if you want to get into a
Filip Valica: beta test group on any of those options, just contact me through the site. We talk a lot about validating our target audience here, and I'm certainly not going to build anything just because other people online are doing the same thing. So if you have been struggling with getting your
Filip Valica: product going and you need some extra help, let me know. Join me next time as I speak with Diane Gardner. Her goal is to make sure entrepreneurs across the United States are paying the least
Filip Valica: amount of income tax that they can legally pay. And we talk about small business. tax deductions. So tune in next week to hear that episode. I've set up a phone number for you to call
Filip Valica: and leave a question or feedback about the show. You can also pitch your product startup to the show audience. So leave me a message at 681-321-1-1-5. And if you're going to pitch the product startup
Filip Valica: audience about your product-based business, please keep your pitch to 30 seconds or about the time that we would have to talk to somebody on an elevator. Don't forget to include the problem you're
Filip Valica: solving and the call to action, what you need us, the audience to do for you. So thanks again for joining me today, and I'll see you guys next week.
Filip Valica: Thanks for tuning in to this episode of the Product Startup Podcast, the show that teaches you what it really takes to bring your product to market and turn it into a big success. This podcast series is brought to you by Mako
Filip Valica: Design and Invent, the first firm in North America to provide global caliber end-to-end physical consumer product development to startups, inventors, and small product businesses. If you're looking for product development help on your invention, head over to macawdesign.com.
Filip Valica: That's m-a-k-o-design.com for a free consultation from one of Mako-design for design studios from coast to coast. Thanks for listening and see you next time.
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