Originally Posted by
blacklistedbully
Though I wish you luck as a fellow Bulldog...i'm not feeling it.
Here's why:
I believe most of our fans treasure their cowbells because they are personalized. The user paints it, or buys it painted maroon or white (I realize there are exceptions, but do you really want to invest in a company based on exceptions?), and adorned with decals/stickers of the owner's choosing. They are passed down, sometimes for generations, with the coolest and most highly regarded/treasured not the fancy chrome-plated, etc ones but rather the beat-up painted/decal-laden ones with their "war wounds" and their, "story to tell", as in, "this was my grandpa's bell back in the 60's, and my dad's in the 80's"...or, "See that dent there? I put that there the day Dick Pace screwed us with that BS PI call in the '81 Egg Bowl".
IMO, those old, beat-up bells are held in higher esteem than the fancy ones, and look a lot better/make a better conversation piece than a fancy, dual-function engraved one.
The one you are proposing is something anyone can have who is willing to fork over the dough so that they can have the exact same thing as anybody else who was willing to pay....even if it stays a limited edition. The ones with far more value are the same ones that have been popular for decades, and involve a high degree of personalization done by the original owner, and perhaps passed down through generations.
I think the idea of higher-quality, including leather-grips is a potentially good one, as long as you keep it as a bell either pre-painted, or ready to be painted and covered with decals. The built-in flask may also be appealing to many. But at $400 that, IMO would not fly. If you could offer the improved product at a price point that works for broader appeal, I think you may have a market that does't rely on people with "money-to burn".
Also, given our school's culture of unpretentiousness, as opposed to our rival up north, I don't see many of our folks choosing your product over the traditional ones. Afterall, MSU cowbells are absolutely closely connected to tradition and history. I think yours strays too far, and takes away from the very things that make ours special.
Anyway, that's my 2 cents as a Dawg that has been in sales, marketing and business development for over 4 decades. That said, there are CEO's out there with more success than I who might disagree.
Whatever you do...give it a lot of study, a lot of thought. Continue to seek input, but more from professionals and people you know and respect. And if you decide to go forward, be prepared to fight for what you believe in, even against the nay-sayers. But at the same time, have the wisdom to know for yourself if and when it is time to cut-bait and run. Don't risk more than you can truly afford to lose, though at your age, you do have more time to dig yourself out of any hole you might dig.
And in the case you should fail, never forget the most successful humans in history have had any number of failures before they eventually succeeded.
ETA - I also don't think the fancy box is a good idea. Why would one buy an expensive, nice-looking bell only to have it hidden in a box? If someone were to buy this, I would think they would want to display it...not the box. I'd consider losing the fancy box with coasters, and lowering the price. The person who buys this is gonna have coasters. There's also gonna be fancy decanters and coaster-holders in the kind of bars that might be willing to pay $400 for a MSU Cowbell.
If nothing else, consider offering the box with coasters as an accessory and the bell at a lower price without the box.
