With a New Year underway it’s a great time to get our heads focused and actually implement those plans we have had bubbling away for months and maybe years.
In just our first week back to work we have had two clients come back to us who we had long discussions with in the past – both of them have clever ‘problem solving bag’ ideas, and on top of that we have had three new enquiries on completely different product areas. All of them are interested to start new bag brand business’s.
The main main areas of interest in just the first few weeks have been
- Golf bags.
- Expensive fragile equipment carrying bags.
- Fashionable ladies work bags.
We can’t tell you what the unique ideas each customer had – but let’s just say every customer had a clever angle they feel will make a difference in the marketplace.
Honest transparent advice
We love this job – every month brings us new bag design challenges. Of course not every sales enquiry turns into business – but as shown by the people who have come back even after over a year – sometimes it takes a while for “things to come to fruition”.
If the client has got a good idea and we have offered good honest advice in the first place the most entrepreneurial customers will always come back.
Our policy is to give every enquiry to design and make bags quality time – even the simplest of enquiries from someone today can turn into an exciting design project later.
Uh oh! The B Word!
In the last year – we can be honest and say the whole Brexit thing certainly stifled business in the first quarter of the year – but even the early enquiries in the year soon turned into design and product development projects by the summer and Autumn.
We ended 2019 with a full order book, and four clients projects all coming through to prototype fulfilment at the same time. It was so exciting getting the samples in, and working with the clients and factories to refine the products so they can be brought to launch during 2020.
Ethically sourced fabrics
We also continued to invest in our knowledge of the latest performance fabrics and visited a top textile show in Munich as in a market where so many people are looking for ethically sourced fabrics we have to keep up to date with the latest developments.
When people ask for Eco fabrics – this really opens up a big area of discussion – there are so many standards worldwide, and while it is easy now to source recycled polyester fabrics if you want anything that is not a standard basic fabric it can still be very difficult to buy such fabrics in the quantities that start up businesses can afford.
Design IQ work on a wide range of new products
We are not just a bag design company with a leaning to “stylish products that work” – in the last year we have worked on products as diverse as:
- Medical bags.
- Commuter Cycle bags
- Soccer bags
- Mothers (and Fathers) bags
- Travel bags
- Tools and Equipment bags
- Fashionable gym bags
- Pet bags ….and more…..!
Of course we cannot divulge the details of any of these confidential projects – but suffice to say every single one of them has been based upon our client’s clever market observations and original ideas – and have been developed in teamwork between us – so we are creating really interesting products that will be news-worthy and appealing.
So now we must get back to work and bring more product ideas to life – if you have a product idea – no matter what it is – if it is primarily a sewn product made of fabric or leather – please do give us a call on (0)1531 640118 or email info@design-iq-ltd.com .
it’s going to be a really exciting 2020!