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257 | Success in the Niche World of Balisong | with Lucas Cao

Honest Ecommerce
Honest Ecommerce
Episode • Dec 25, 2023 • 36m

Lucas Cao is the President and CEO of Squid Industries, an American manufacturing company with a focus on the butterfly knife and trainer industry.

In This Conversation We Discuss:

  • [00:49] Intro
  • [01:48] Getting interested with the idea of balisong
  • [03:00] Becoming a collector & joining the community
  • [03:57] Seeing the barriers for interested newcomers
  • [04:44] Trying to make a balisong trainer
  • [05:37] Discovering the popularity of balisong
  • [06:30] Testing the waters and the success rate
  • [07:37] Gaining traction bit by bit
  • [09:03] Planning things ahead and investing on manpower
  • [10:27] Running the business remotely
  • [11:15] Purchasing their first manufacturing equipment
  • [12:29] Continuing the business full time
  • [13:09] Vertical integration and quality control
  • [13:53] An unexpected success in hindsight
  • [14:32] The meticulous process of picking a brand name
  • [17:26] Investing on passion and in the community
  • [18:34] The goal is to make the best product possible
  • [20:05] Sporadic growth, full of highs and lows
  • [21:26] A shift on the velocity of production
  • [22:18] Leveraging the resources available to you
  • [22:52] Episode sponsors
  • [26:17] The challenge in manufacturing and prototyping
  • [27:46] The importance of versatility
  • [28:50] Maximizing influencer marketing
  • [30:20] Standing out from the competition
  • [30:54] Trying different avenues of advertising
  • [31:39] Effectively conveying your idea to manufacturers
  • [34:05] Talk to manufacturers with different processes
  • [35:14] Where to find Squid Industries Co.

Resources:

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