# Maybe I should have asked this question in the beginning?



## Wood_smith (Feb 12, 2010)

I've been making and promoting my Kerry-All Pouches for a little over a year now. I created a website, did some magazine advertising, gave some pouches to tool companies to evaluate, gave a couple away in contests… But my sales are still very low.

I'm selling on my website, on Amazon.com and some free classified sites. I'm posting on Tweeter all the time, Facebook some of the time.

I've been re-doing my business plan, and reading articles on the subject. One quote really caught my eye: Too many businesses think they can provide a product, but are unsure of whether it is really needed."

Maybe I should have looked at this statement in the beginning. On some woodworking forums, people said "I just use a tarp", or "I just wait for a sunny day"…

Am I trying to provide a product where one isn't needed? Your opinions (and feel free to be cold and critical) will be appreciated.


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## richgreer (Dec 25, 2009)

I can only speak for myself and I will identify myself as an active woodworker who only occasionally does conventional carpentry work (i.e. I build more furniture than closets).

I have a topper on the back of my pickup. Usually, when I am buying lumber I don't need full sizes. I just bought some 6' long 1" stock. It fits in my closed topper fine. If I am forced to buy longer stock (because that is all that is available) I carry a cordless circular saw in my truck and cut the long boards in the parking lot to fit in my truck.

In other words, I would not be a customer for your product.


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## brunob (Dec 26, 2006)

I simply don't go to get wood unless it's nice out. I'm 15 minutes from the lumber strore. Maybe if it was more of a trip, I'd be more interested in this type of thing.


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## FatherHooligan (Mar 27, 2008)

I manage to fit the wood I buy into my van so..no I don't need the sort of thing you are selling.


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## DanLyke (Feb 8, 2007)

Like, it seems, the other respondents here, I'm a hobbyist. I also live in a climate where I can generally wait 'til it stops raining (although, December to April, that can be as long as a month and a half…). And I've got a camper top on my truck. It's only 6' long, but it means I have to protect quite a bit less of the wood.

So with that in mind, yeah, I'm not the target market either. Sorry.


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## uffitze (Apr 23, 2010)

Personally, I just use a tarp if I have to. It keeps things dry enough, and even here in Portland in the winter, I can usually find a "dry enough" window to go pick up material.


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## MrsN (Sep 29, 2008)

We have a topper on the truck or just wait until the weather clears up. My husband and I have a running joke between us about the type of people who use truck as truck and those who use them as things to look at. We fall in to the first category; the truck is used for hauling all sorts of work stuff. But there are others in the world, a friend of ours has a truck with a 6' bed and a tool box, so 4' of actual truck bed. We have another friend who is over protective of his truck, he won't put anything in the bed unless it is protected, you wouldn't want to scratch the rhino lining. I know that both of these friends would totally buy your product, if they knew it existed. I don't know where you should advertise to get their attention, but the way I see it those guys are your niche market.


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