Be so good they can’t ignore you. – Steve Martin
This project began as a personal project aimed at solving an annoying (and potentially dangerous) problem that I had with my car’s aftermarket air suspension. My particular air suspension kit uses a small, phone-like device to control and monitor various aspects of the air suspension system. It’s important to have your controller in a convenient location so that adjustments can be made on the fly as road conditions change. Unfortunately, there were no controller mounts on the market that would place my controller in a location that was easy to see and reach. So I made my own.
Project One
I posted this picture on social media displaying the controller mount I had designed and printed specifically for my 2015 Volkswagen Golf. By the end of the day, I had almost 30 people reach out to me asking if I could make one for their car too! I was shocked by the response, to say the least (And I don’t have a large social media presence by any stretch of the imagination). This is where my small personal project turned into an obsession
I quickly got to work on finalizing all of the design details, creating a production process, figuring out shipping logistics and building a website. I did all of this while working full time as an Industrial Engineer and going to school full time for my Mechanical Engineering degree. For the first 1.5 months of this, I wouldn’t sleep on Tuesday and Thursday nights so that I could get everything done. In hindsight, these sleepless nights led to some of my most productive work.
Version 1: A step in the right direction
Technical Details
my original product has gone through 3 major design changes and a few dozen small adjustments. All of the changes have been driven by improvements to the manufacturing process, waste reduction, quality improvement, functionality and customer feedback.
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Technical Details…
Since launching my product, I’ve gone through 3 major redesign that contained many small adjustments.
Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.
Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.