Consumer products demand design, marketing, user research and testing because people see them as an extension of themselves. Commercial products can be much more functionally driven — less marketing, less complex design — which let Ben build a financial base and move a lot more material.
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The first product was a chalk bag for indoor climbers — a consumer product. But selling out a run of 50 small chalk bags a month wasn't going to pay them long term. The turning point was an old freelance client asking for protective packaging for electronics equipment. Ben realised the commercial space "simplifies a lot of the design work, because you're just doing it very functionally" — there's not a lot of marketing, complex design, user research or testing required, which are time consuming but essential for consumer products. Commercial work also moves more material: many of the materials they get are super pretty and designed for extreme environments, so they work perfectly as protective packaging.