Is my invention fundamentally flawed?

[jamiemurrayiii]

I own an invention that whenever anyone hears about it they immediatly say "why hasn't anyone done that before". This may seem like an encouraging statement but maybe its pointing at a fundamental problem in the market for my invention; meaning no-one has done it before because it has no market...

The idea is a beer keg tap called The Uber Tap, www.ubertap.com, which can fill three beers at the same time. We sell a few of them a week but I'm begining to think that people like the concept in action but have no need for it in their lives.

Any thoughts about this would be greatly appreciated!

[Grayman]

That's a pretty cool product. In my opinion, while there may be a be a small market I'm not sure the market is large enough. How many people really want to fill three beers at a time and then also feel the need to go and buy a solution to that problem? My gut feeling says not many but then again I'm not so smart.

In the end there's only one way to find out, market research! 4HWW goes into plenty of detail on this and this board is a great resource for that as well.

[badhank]

this is a perfect niche product. I know a few ppl that enjoy maintaining draft systems as a hobby, well actually as a secondary hobby to their beer drinking hobby:
Anyhow, you need to use ur imagination and find out who keeps draft systems and where do they get their info about new stuff, bar owners, brewers, suppliers of kegs, etc find out what magazines they read, pick out the key terms, and go from there.

[nghs22]

Well your website looks professional...

I'm not sure of the market either. I understand college kids and all that but I'm not sure how many poor college kids want to spend money to fill up 3 beers at the same time when one will work just fine....

hmmm...

[squeegee]

this question is best directed at the potential buyers of the product.

"I'm begining to think that people like the concept in action but have no need for it in their lives."

you probably already know this - what people need is irrelevant. what matters is whether they want it enough to buy it.

"Man is a luxury loving animal. Take away play, fancies, and luxuries, and you will turn man into a dull, sluggish creature, barely energetic enough to obtain a bare subsistence. A society becomes stagnant when its people are too rational or too serious to be tempted by baubles."
-Eric Hoffer

[Marcie]

I do think this is a great niche product, but you need to do a lot of work to determine the market - maybe more affluent beer drinkers, and honestly the college party crowd may be some...I can see where some parties get slowed down by the meager single tap :) good luck!

[nghs22]

You might try talking to some frat guys. Frats would be all over this!! You might could do this at football games. Buy a keg and offer every frat dude you see a beer from this thing and have your product for sale or you card right there. Drunk college kids will buy it

[badhank]

thats right, tailgate parties @ football games, u'l make a mint
i dont know how likely it is, but maybe look into getting team logo licensing to slap on them... try to keep them in stock if thats the case

[iamwe]

i wouldnt say your product is flawed. like others are saying, you would need to seek out your target market. i think this would go over well with homebrew enthusiasts who want to show off more than having the commen one tap system. look for beer craft magazines and like others said, college frats could be a good place to start too. this is definitly a product for anyone who wants to have the coolest thing at the party or at home. also might be good to contact smaller craft breweries that do a lot of beer fests and such where this would help in getting pours done faster for all the people in line for tasters, etc. i live in san diego and there is a huge craft brewing community here as well as numerous craft brewers popping up: stone brewing company, port brewing, green flash brewing, alesmith, etc. i have a friend who has been in the industry a long time now and may be a very good resource for you for help. his name is Lee Chase. he was one of the original brewers at stone brewery and is now a consultant to start up breweries and beer industry companies around the world. i'm sure he can either recommend some resources to you or help you personally. here is his website: http://www.brewingconsultant.com/ . tell him Hiel (like kyle with an H) sent you.

my personal opinion is the product seems pretty awesome for a niche brewing market but your website seems very tedious and the online store is a total pain with the website locking it into that very small frame on your site. it is really a pain to have to scroll around in the little framed box you have for the store. i would suggest freeing the store to its own page so that people can actually see it. right now its like trying to look at a normal web page on an iphone, having to scroll around just to find where to go to next. for me personally, if the website store in it self is a pain in the ass to navigate, i'm moving on unless i reall really really want the item you are selling and i cant find it anywhere else. the website itself is nice and flashy but it might have too many bells and whistles and not enough ergonomic design for the user. just my 20 cents.

hiel 3

[Vagabond]

well.. besides the fact that i think the women are by far the greatest part of your website (seriously howd you get those girls?).. I think you have a great product I just wonder how you are marketing it.

I bet theres a PR angle at college newspapers and get this into liquor stores around big colleges! It's more of an impulse purchase than something people are seeking.

If I was having a keg party I would totally buy this if i was reasonably priced... how much is it?

[webgal]

The whole key is directing the site to your target market. That is usually what goes into any new product development before anything else. But you can do it afterwards.

[nghs22]

Also mate, after checking out your site, it is somewhat cluttered and the pics of the product are small. It is not totally clear to the consumer imo

Also, maybe think about setting up an affiliate program. I know do some ads and I could go to UGA on gamedays and sell those like hot cakes. I'm sure there are many ppl who would be willing to do that at big drinking schools for a cut

just some thoughts :)

[Ali]

Have you considered getting in touch with the major breweries? Lets say they included it in cases of beer. If your production could handle it you could make some serious money out of just one good deal.

I saw an episode of dragons den where one of the guys pitched this tiny tray that fit underneath three beers (they could be pyramided to make six). He distributed it with a major brewery and netted around £500,000. One contract.

[balopp]

Well your website looks professional...

I'm not sure of the market either. I understand college kids and all that but I'm not sure how many poor college kids want to spend money to fill up 3 beers at the same time when one will work just fine....

hmmm...

Having gone to school in Michigan, personal experience says outdoor keggers in the winter would definitely be interested. No need to take the gloves off nor wait in line :)

Just out of curiosity, have you sold any on Ebay? Perhaps would help with price discovery?

[brianmaxwellkern]

Thats an excellent invention. I can't count the number of times ive waited in line for 20 minutes to get a beer at a party. I'd say your only problem is marketing it. Your ideal target for your product is college students. That's also your real problem. I cant imagine anyone googling for beer taps. You need to market it in gas stations near college campus's where people will realize that your product exists. Once people begin seeing this at partys, they'll want to get it for their own partys. Just my two cents, but I think you've got an excellent product. Good luck

[lolpie]

If you're marketing on campuses, how does that remove YOU as a bottleneck and automate the process?

[brianmaxwellkern]

Hire other people to do the marketing, Facebook has resources that would allow you post part time job openings in which you could pay college students to market around their campus'. That or craigslist

[TOBRIENIV]

I think you already know your target market; it’s college kids. College kids will spend money on a couple of things, but partying out weighs them all. You just need to make your product look like it will add to the partying experience.

If I were you, I would shoot some staged party videos and put them on youtube. Don’t make it to obvious that your video is a commercial, just have the tap be part of the action. After a few party shots have one guy run in and shout out, “It’s UberTap Time!” (or something like that) and have everyone start the ubertap chant and then move on to the rest of the party. A while later cut back to some kind of speed drinking game where having three taps helps out. Like three guys racing to finish 4 beers, but they have to drink from the same cup, so having their own spout helps out. Just make it seem like it adds to the party and people will buy it. Then post it under crazy party, party games, great party, beer. All the good stuff. Underground gorilla marketing. Start a little bit of a buzz.

Offer a frat a couple kegs of beer and they will let you film whatever you want. Good luck.

[brianmaxwellkern]

advertise on collegehumor.com, that'll get your product some attention

[padma]

I think it is a great product and the presentation is very professional. I think that scrolling on the website is an issue and I'd like to see the flash rotation a bit slower, but other than that it is a great site.

I think the price is a bit high for the "keg party" type of crowd and that you'd have more success selling to bars/clubs.

[kapogoVP]

your invention is nice. vegabong made a great point: advertise around liquor stores!
in your case you have created an invention you have had a passion for, my advice is dont stop now! lets be honest, people will buy anything its a matter of getting it infront of their face. your sales have more potential than you can imagine.

[webgal]

I think the business to business market is your best bet. Bars. The more they pour using less labor, more money they make.

[Mojo]

very interesting and good for you, very enterprising. Definitely slow down the rotating pics and flashing

[bhake]

Hey great product! Ok, don't waste too much money on marketing to college kids, let word of mouth and sites like myspace handle that. That audience is sooo broad to market to.

My suggestion is to market/sell to the source, as in the brewers that supply the kegs. That way, every keg comes with your tap! Or, if sold seperately, whoever makes and sells the standard keg taps, sell/license your idea to them. They already have the market, let them offer the customers another option (your tap).

Good luck with that, I will spread the word for you on a cool product.

[dking]

This is a great product, and I know the perfect market for it.

PM Me.