From Door-to-Door, to Wholesale

This past week Madisell started to do some serious selling. The week started with a table in the Showker Lobby, an ended with us shipping out a case or OVERLOAD to a client. The following pictures are of us selling OVERLOAD in Showker.



We got a lot of positive responses from people walking through the building. And over all had a very successful start to the week.

On Wednesday, Madisell went to Net Impacts event in TDU (Taylor Down Under). Net Impact gave us several minutes during a break to get up and explain our product to the audience. Unfortunately we did not get any pictures of this event, but we did end up with a list of people interested in introducing us to other groups throughout campus.

To finish the week on Friday we shipped out our first wholesale order to MD. We sent our client 20 boxes of OVERLOAD, as well as several samples. We hope this will be just the beginning of these type of sales for the company. The following pictures show both the samples that we sent as well as the box that was shipped out. He will be receiving the detergent Monday, and plans to begin selling it right away.

Production

Madisell made it's first large batch of detergent. The following pictures show some of the steps we have to go through.



First we have to prepare the soap, and turn it into a powder so it blends well with the other ingredients. Once we mix all of the ingredients together, it's time to start packaging.

We took our newly acquired boxes and started filling them with detergent. After a short period of time we had put all the detergent into boxes.

We have printed out instruction labels for the back of the box, and will soon be getting the front labels printed as soon as we decide on a logo for OVERLOAD.

OVERLOAD

Our boxes are out-for-delivery as of this morning. Madisell will be making a large batch of the detergent, which we will then package in our newly arrived boxes. On other news Madisell has decided on a name for our product, which is "OVERLOAD". There is a competition for designing a logo for the box, and the winner will receive a free box of OVERLOAD. Also we now have a Facebook page that people can folow us on, and find out when and where we will be selling. Click HERE to follow us on Facebook.

Venture into UREC

Madisell is currently trying to be the main supplier of laundry detergent for JMU's University Recreation Center. The proposal will be brought up in the board meeting, which will be held tomorrow, October 8, 2009. We will be able to compete with the prices that UREC is currently paying, while at the same time reducing the impact they are having on the environment. This venture would be a major boost for the company. It will bring in large amounts of capital which can be put into researching new products, and will give the company a standing contract.

Let the Sales Begin!

Today we made the first of our many forecasted sales. At a unit price of $5.00 per box, the detergent is only costing the consumer about $0.07 per load. That's still at least half the price of the leading brand names of laundry detergent. And on top of the difference in price, Madisell is offering a product that is environmentally friendly, with no chemicals and boxes made from recycled materials. The detergent is also allergen free, so there is no need to worry about it irritating your skin.

Madisell is still trying to come up with a name for our product. If anyone has any ideas please feel free to give us your input.

Packaging

After our brown paper bags failed to contain the detergent during the free sample give away we decided to continue looking for an alternative. We looked into several different packaging choices. The three major options we had were small brown boxes, large cups, and chinese carry-out boxes. After discussion with both consumers and the companies to see how they should handle the detergent we decided to go with the chinese carry-out boxes.

We decided to go with the plain white carry-out box because we would be able to put our own logo on the box. We also choose these boxes because they are made from recycled materials, and are recyclable themselves. Another deciding factor is that consumers seemed to like this style of packaging the most, because it is both but and different.

Samples for Class

We decided to make a small batch of detergent, so we could give the class a 3-load sample bag. We decided to to give out samples so the consumers would be able to test our product and come back to purchase more. The word of mouth created from this marketing scheme will also bring about new customers that are willing to purchase large amounts of the product. The formula we will be offering to the public is environmentally friendly, with no harmful chemicals, it is allergen free, and is cheaper than it's competitors.