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Give this company a child's drawing and they'll make it into a stuffed toy

childsown.com

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Re: Give this company a child's drawing and they'll make it into a stuffed toy

#21

Post by 0x12 »

plainOldText wrote: post #12

This is a cute idea. I'm wondering if they make any money since on their website it says: "Child's Own Studio has custom made over 200 personal softies". I'm thinking whether a redesign of their website and a more aggressive Facebook campaign (they only have 1000+ fans) would help them sell more. It probably would. No. It definitely would. They could also have a checkbox on the order form to allow other people to ord…

The right scale to operate your business at is not the one that makes you the most money but the one that makes you the happiest.

Re: Give this company a child's drawing and they'll make it into a stuffed toy

#22

Post by 0x12 »

davidw wrote: post #19
thom wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hope we're not far off being able to sit your child in front of a webcam, sample their voice, click a button and stream the latest Pixar film with them as a protagonist. In the meantime, a 99designs for people with time, knitting needles and sewing machines seems like a lovely idea, and easy to achieve.

> I hope we're not far off being able to sit your child in front of a webcam, sample their voice, click a button and stream the latest Pixar film with them as a protagonist. The little brats (well, my own), are already the center of enough attention. If they want to make their own stories, they should go outside, play and invent them themselves.

Can I nominate this for HN comment of the year?

Re: Give this company a child's drawing and they'll make it into a stuffed toy

#24

Post by cookiecaper »

ck2 wrote: post #3

It's a fantastic idea - but I would point out what a child sees in their head vs their drawing capabilities are probably very different. Still, I guess they could recognize it as something they created and it might encourage them to keep being creative?

I think it's probably much more valuable to the parents than the children. While your kid might get a kick out of it, this is a pretty good alternative to keeping the same pictures on the fridge for several years at a time.

Re: Give this company a child's drawing and they'll make it into a stuffed toy

#25

Post by latch »

martincmartin wrote: post #20
latch wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you read her blog you'll see that she's at capacity. If they really want to turn this into an enterprise (and I absolutely think they should!), they need to figure out how to handle more volume before getting more volume.

If they really want to turn this into an enterprise (and I absolutely think they should!) Why's that? What if she's happy doing what she's doing now (sewing, turning fabric and stuffing into something amazing for a kid), and doesn't want to be a business woman? In other words, if she wants a lifestyle company, why should she turn it into an enterprise?

I'm projecting. Besides, she could keep doing what she's doing and hire someone to take care of the business side. It's more than just the money, I think what makes this so appealing is how great it is for children...I think the more she can reach, the better.

Of course, I agree it's her choice.

Re: Give this company a child's drawing and they'll make it into a stuffed toy

#26

Post by tintin »

latch wrote: post #7

My question would be: assuming you want to, how do you scale it? There's such an individual toy-by-toy creative aspect to it. Also, the potential for building brands seems pretty spectacular. Stuffed toy is just one step, you could add stories, games, episodes...this could be to disney what 99designs is to graphic designers :)

Maybe this should and will not scale well. Most of the time the work of an artist does not scale well.

Re: Give this company a child's drawing and they'll make it into a stuffed toy

#27

Post by plainOldText »

theaeolist wrote: post #17
plainOldText wrote: post #12

This is a cute idea. I'm wondering if they make any money since on their website it says: "Child's Own Studio has custom made over 200 personal softies". I'm thinking whether a redesign of their website and a more aggressive Facebook campaign (they only have 1000+ fans) would help them sell more. It probably would. No. It definitely would. They could also have a checkbox on the order form to allow other people to ord…

Maybe what they like is making toys, not running a business.

People that like what they do make the most money. And you don't necessarily have to run the business yourself. Plus, I believe 90+% of people like money as well :-)

Re: Give this company a child's drawing and they'll make it into a stuffed toy

#28

Post by FrojoS »

dspillett wrote: post #13
latch wrote: post #7

My question would be: assuming you want to, how do you scale it? There's such an individual toy-by-toy creative aspect to it. Also, the potential for building brands seems pretty spectacular. Stuffed toy is just one step, you could add stories, games, episodes...this could be to disney what 99designs is to graphic designers :)

> My question would be: assuming you want to, how do you scale it? Franchising perhaps? Quality control would be an issue once you start farming the job out like that, but it would be a good way to better cover international markets. They could keep the designing local to the current HQ, hiring designer types there to supply demand and farm out the physical work. Though I suspect a project like this might be a person…

Why would someone pay the franchise instead of just opening up their own competitor?

Re: Give this company a child's drawing and they'll make it into a stuffed toy

#29

Post by Murkin »

plainOldText wrote: post #12

This is a cute idea. I'm wondering if they make any money since on their website it says: "Child's Own Studio has custom made over 200 personal softies". I'm thinking whether a redesign of their website and a more aggressive Facebook campaign (they only have 1000+ fans) would help them sell more. It probably would. No. It definitely would. They could also have a checkbox on the order form to allow other people to ord…

Very cute idea, but at 100$ a toy (thats what the giftcard is worth), this is not for the mass market.

Tho if you are willing to take it down a notch (or two) on quality, china can probably produce them at >10$

Re: Give this company a child's drawing and they'll make it into a stuffed toy

#30

Post by DanielStraight »

plainOldText wrote: post #12

This is a cute idea. I'm wondering if they make any money since on their website it says: "Child's Own Studio has custom made over 200 personal softies". I'm thinking whether a redesign of their website and a more aggressive Facebook campaign (they only have 1000+ fans) would help them sell more. It probably would. No. It definitely would. They could also have a checkbox on the order form to allow other people to ord…

You might be able to make something based on this idea a phenomenon, but if all your suggestions were followed, the result would not be this at all.

First of all, who is they? It seems like this is an individual woman. That's part of the appeal, that this isn't a mass market product, but a work of love made by a real person for a real person.

The uniqueness of the toy is part of the appeal as well. If other people order the same toy, first of all, what is the point? You can buy stuffed toys anywhere. What you can't do anywhere is order custom stuffed toys. But more importantly, what does duplication do to the appeal of the original toy?

Adding competition would be equally disastrous I think. It makes the whole process a game, and anything that can be gamed will be gamed. If there is any reward at all in having the most popular toy, even just recognition, then you can bet that adults will start making drawings and saying they were from children. Further, the competition will distract the children who draw from focusing on the specialness of having their drawing come to life and instead turn their focus to how well their drawing is performing.

Your ideas may make a popular and profitable business, but it would be fundamentally different from the business here. You can't scale personal connection, and you can't duplicate uniqueness.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's great that you thought up all these ideas. I just don't think this woman should apply them. What she has is special, profitable (probably even enough so to live on), and makes a positive impact on the lives of her customers.

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