Product Development 2025

Early last January 2025, our Dad passed and my sister and I started talking about how we should use some of the money from his life insurance to develop a business. It may be risky but it could be a good venture for both of us and if successful he would definitely be proud. We could use my already established shop and URL but develop new branding and introduce a new product line. We brainstormed several ideas but came around to talking about puzzles, how I’d still like to revisit that idea.

A little background, in 2024 around this same time I tested two embroidery designs on puzzles. Unfortunately a lot of one-off printers charge $40+ per puzzle which does not work for resale. The company I tested had a 50% off sale that I took advantage of but $25 each is still too high. I thought the samples were successful but I didn’t like their ugly packaging design or pricing for retail. Also didn’t trust the printer to be consistent with color quality, they had to reprint both puzzles for me bc the color was way off on both designs. Reds looked brown and grays looked purple. Thank god the customer service rep was so accommodating and the 2nd run was better. It gave me experience on what to stay on top of from a vendor! However, I was unable to peer test bc I have limited samples (2) and if I don’t reuse that company is it worth testing further? It did confirm the art makes a cool puzzle, the embroidery stiches are a great detail addition, and I prefer the 1000pc experience -though 500pc is not bad.

Test puzzles next to original embroidery

I then researched a company in China where I would be able to completely customize my box but communication was confusing about minimum ordering etc. In the end I think what I gathered is that in order to customize my packaging and add a poster, I would need to order 100 puzzles minimum. The cost would be $330 per design (w/ box & poster added) and it’d be the same price whether they shipped me 1 or 100 puzzles. Price would go down more if I ordered higher volume. Not a horrible price but I don't want only one design option and I’m not ready to get stuck with 300 puzzles if the designs don't move. I need a smaller minimum to test out the designs. I would consider using this company as they do puzzle printing for a lot of big puzzle companies, so I do trust the quality, but I need to be further down my business plan to make it worthwhile. Lesson learned: the key to lower pricing is buying in bulk. I hate that I can't charge the lower prices that big companies offer customers but I also don't have their budget or space to store bulk.

The packaging designs I came up with if we used the company in China

So fast forward to January 2025, I started researching more custom puzzle companies closer to home. I found one that had a super informative website and more reasonable pricing. They even let me do a test puzzle for only $30. Colors were amazing, totally blew the old puzzle tests out of the water. The sales rep is a saint, I can not rave enough about him. They have a minimum order of 64 but I can do up to 4 different designs within that quantity. I was planning to do an initial run of 4 designs but my sister nudged me to double the order and do 8 designs. They have a box template that you have to work within but it's much more modern and stylish than the other companies offered. It still feels "me". They ended up sending me the files and I did my own layout within their guidelines. I could have used their designers, as its included, but it felt good to do it myself.

Of course right as we're placing the order in March 2025 with this Canadian company, our US president decides to hit all our ally countries with tariffs. We were so paranoid our boxes would be detained or held hostage for more $$. Luckily all arrived safe and sound three weeks later in April. Our minimum retail price is higher than I'd like to be able offer but hopefully our customers can appreciate the value of supporting an artist owned small business and all the work and investments behind the scenes. Not to mention political impacts on manufacturing and shipping in our current times.

I next did a test assembly of each puzzle design. All eight 1000 piece puzzles. Honestly, it was really enjoyable and flew by way too fast. Afterwards I slipped each into a poster frame so we'd have completed demos of each design. It is amazing to see these smaller embroidery pieces enlarged to 20 x 28" framed art pieces. Unfortunately, I haven't figured out a good way to photograph these without glare but in person they look great. I had someone see the piece in person and immediately order a puzzle when they got home.

My next project was sourcing shipping materials. I wanted a domestic company to avoid tariffs and extra shipping fees. I wanted sustainable packaging, preferably recycled, and I wanted to custom size it so we could reduce packing material. (I did find a cool company owned by another Buffy, that I'm not ruling out.) I eventually stumbled onto a green company that is all about sustainability. They are slightly more expensive than some competitors but not by much and I feel for sound mind totally worth it. Again, another great sales rep. She sent me several box and packaging samples until we nailed just the right size and ,style for one, two, and four box boxes. There's also no minimums, unless you're getting printing, so we can order as we go.

Meanwhile I also sourced addon products, like stickers. I ordered a batch of our circle logo from a sticker company but was not overly impressed with the quality or quantity and shipping tacks on much more cost. This was an instance where making inhouse was more to our advantage. We purchased an EcoTank Epson printer, which I had read lots of great reviews about, and may I add has proven much more sustainable than my previous printers. Then I borrowed a Cricut Joy Extra paper cutter from a good friend to test out. This thing is so fun and we're able to print on demand which saves wasting money on guessing which designs may sell and we can launch new designs immediately. So far I've done die-cut and kiss-cut vinyl stickers in glossy and matte and magnets. I would like to find a thicker magnet stock but so far this one works in both the printer and cutter safely without damaging the equipment. I did an initial test of card stock to develop a line of corresponding greeting cards but the printer failed miserable, smudgy and crooked. On all other materials I've tested it does amazing though. I need to play more with settings and such but until then that line is on hold.

So in recap, our first year we relaunched my site with new branding. We copyrighted the series artwork. We added online shopping directly on our site as well as on Etsy. We've begun selling puzzles, vinyl stickers, magnets and the 3 Sisters enamel pins. We've explored advertising on Etsy, Meta (facebook and instagram) and Google Search. Google gets more traffic but their minimums are high and it eats your funds fast!! We're still taking baby steps on how much we spend, I am not a good gambler and I feel like advertising is such a crapshoot for success. I know you need to do it but I wish it could be with someone else's money! Goals for 2026 are to continue the business registrations, add more products, see if we can add more inhouse production (equipment & supplies), try more online advertising and marketplaces, and at least start amassing physical booth setup (banners, tablecloth, tent, etc.) so we can do live markets. Oh and most importantly, MAKE SALES.

Keep following our progress! -Buffy