This week my guest on the podcast is Laura Seago from Futliit. Futliit makes LED backpacks that use tech to make you properly visible. Our smart light-up backpacks are ideal for kids walking to school, commuters and in fact anyone who needs to be seen at night.
Laura is a wonderful example of someone who saw a problem, and created a product to overcome this. Once she started looking into road safety stats she found that the majority of pedestrian accidents were between 3-6pm, when people are walking home from school and work.
Laura worked with her family and carefully assembled team of teen testers and parents to develop the Futliit LED backpack. Laura shares the challenges and rewards of designing a product for teens, sourcing suppliers, dealing with covid delays, and marketing a new product that people do not know to look for.
We also cover the specific mindset challenges of setting up your own business in mid-life, and navigating new technology and marketing platforms.
Listen in to hear Laura share:
- An introduction to herself and her business (01:14)
- The inspiration for creating Futliit (01:44)
- The seriousness of the problem (04:31)
- Researching the market to see if there was anything else that solved the problem (07:09)
- Putting together a test group of teens and parents (09:01)
- Finding a manufacturer (15:55)
- Dealing with delays in getting hold of samples (18:36)
- Teaching herself the skills to run the business (22:12)
- The challenges and rewards of creating a product for teenagers (26:08)
- Marketing a product which people don’t know to look for (31:06)
- Learning about SEO (32:32)
- Choosing the right social media platforms to be on (33:56)
- Using your network (39:11)
- The importance of mindset and confidence when running your own product business (42:42)
- Her number one piece of advice for other product creators (51:48)
USEFUL RESOURCES:
Coventry & Warwickshire Chamber Of Commerce
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