Business Study

CICADA FORGE PRODUCTION SWORDS

PRODUCT CHARACTERIZATION

IMPLEMENTING
Having been defined the five first products, it is important again to stress their main and common qualities that will make them very marketable. This will have to bear in mind that have to be a breakthrough both in a steel composition which will guarantee a hard edge as well as a shock absorbing mune. In short, and once more, here are the different qualities and characteristics of the production Cicada Forge swords that will qualify them as front-runners:

Fully defined steel composition for the buyer as well as Rockwell hardness.
At least one sword should incorporate Swedish powdered steel for Market reasons.
All of the swords described should bear different kissaki lengths.
Standard production polishing of the blades should be of high quality.
All swords should bear a very important quality: lightness for one hand maneuverability. This is a very important qualification that will attend all markets. It is a subject of praise.
Promotion of the 5 swords lines.
Full definition of sales prices.

Note:

I have had the experience of handling a Shinken in a Kyoto store and it was the lightest sword I have ever handled. This point is to be stressed so as to compete with the Hanwei Bamboo and Lion dog blades which are indeed very well balanced and light.

Acknowledging the competition characteristics and qualities is a very important asset to use in one’s own benefit.

Once this established, the Implementation Period in which all the qualities of the blades and their koshirae should be well spread and acknowledged, and the sword’s names being learnt by customers and potential customers, this Period should be targeted to last six months always under a Statement in Steel slogan.
It is what should be considered as the Promotion Period in which, a full emphasis on these production swords backed by Rick Barrett should have a reorganized and individualized website, where important reviews should be obtained by well known martial arts practitioners such as Guy Power, Toyama Nakamura Ryu 6 th. Dan Renshi. Other Martial Artists and sword specialists should also be contacted for reviews to be placed in your website.

Personal presence of Rick Barrett, and tameshigiri tests performed by specialists under the view of editor’s of specialized Magazines, would be much more effective then advertisements, and should be targeted as first priority.
Offering of a katana as a PR item for a Magazine for access to an interview should be one of the main promotional targets. A SUCCESS STORY or A SUCCESS STATEMENT OF STEEL should be the type of headlines you should be looking for in the interviews.
Taking whatever examinations to attain Master Blade smith Status would also be an utmost recommendation, as well as keeping photographic records of all possible swords.

Another very important action is to contact your clients and ask them so send you their testimonials and their pictures, with authorization for placing them in your homepage and Cicada’s, as well as in printed form.
Links to The Cicada Forge website should be negotiated on e-zines, such as Sword Forum International and others.
Remember, you and the products should blend into a single identity. That is, Cicada Forge should mean Rick Barrett, but Rick Barrett should be more then Cicada Forge. This is the equation you should aim for.
Historical research on Japanese history as well as names of the blades and the history behind the names, such as Furinkazan and Takeda Shingen, or Budo should be used abundantly as support for the swords interpretation. Build up as much possible talk about, but only when all the products are ready.

Once the prototypes are ready, a catalogue and a leaflet should be produced. Both should emphasize in the Statement in Steel slogan. The Catalogue should be available for sale, while the leaflet should be free of charge and the homepage should be immediately updated and changed once the pictures are available.
It is important that the catalogue and Cicada website show pictures of the production forge. Not quite the type of forge that it is depicted at Bugei’s maoist hat forge man, but pictures of the forge, of the blades at different stages, of the saya making, the koshirae, etc. This will serve to implement a positive image not connected to rail tracks iron bars.
Instead, a no nonsense production line, in which there is nothing to hide will be much positive. Psychologically speaking, those who have something to hide are afraid of something.

Golden Rule: Do not talk about the swords line without having prototypes to show. While they are not ready, continue to sell Cicada Forge semi-customized swords. They will serve as promotional items, preparing the ground for the implementation period as well as income for you.

CONSOLIDATION
This is a time when, after a strict and well disciplined campaign of seeking recognition under the above mentioned six months, for which I forecast a global sale of 150 swords, you should approach distributors such as CAS IBERIA for a sole contract on distribution exclusive for US and Canada soil and. However bear in mind that you can exercise the right of non-exclusivity and negotiate with Tuscany, Blade Art, and other Retailers. Always have in hand two alternatives. You must have a second way out.
This is what I call the Consolidation phase, when Cicada Forge has been well recognized and even picture depicted and clearly identified, as stated before.
The contract with CAS IBERIA should require this company to buy a certain amount of stock in advance that would allow you to renegotiate with Fred Chen the unit cost, while maintaining your sales price, your Cicada Forge website, as well as giving the 40% discount rate.

Consolidation means in fact selling at cruise altitude, without much effort. That means selling more through intermediaries, which does require a re-negotiated production cost so as to keep both your profits well balanced and as well as future products under same cost range.
Using distributors is setting up business at its best until you have amassed enough capital to go out alone like Bugei. However, let us think that the despite the huge amounts involved in Amazon’s sales and stocks, they still use the Pyramidal process of Amazon Associate’s which you can also find at my own website www.arscives.com.
This is indeed a very lucrative form of selling more with less profit but still amassing a significant profit based on quantities.
Hence my statement that: is better to sell 1.000 swords at a $500 profit, then 100 swords at a $1.000 profit.

IMAGE
We know that business in the US is basically show business. Organize your workshop also as a display room and a forge, showing total organization and method, if that is not already done.
Quality has to marry show business to attain success. It’s a reality and it is not worth fighting the system.

SMALL INVESTMENTS IN IMAGE
Have a couple of professionally done photos and slides of you at the forge, near your display area, at your favorite corner of the living room. Present yourself as a full time blade smith. And note that pictures are very important, especially good pictures. Do not pose, better to have natural pictures.
Act always with your natural kindness at all times. Your customers will like it.
These type of small investments are worth having as they will show the person behind the swords and will constitute a very important asset for your business launching.
Having some pictures with Mrs. Barrett will provide an image of stability, which is of paramount importance to the overall business as much as it works for politics.
When having these pictures taken, have them both in negative film and slides. You can always make copies of both, but never let the originals leave your hands.

FINANCING
It seems that using imagination is the best way for financing this venture of yours. I don’t foresee the need to advertise in Sword Magazines if you can have an interview that is to become most favorable. An interview states a specialist’s opinion and not your side of the facts. So that is worth a hundred advertisements, and can be placed in your website.
Use all resources at your disposal to your benefit, as an Aikidoka uses the other’s power to win.

INTERNATIONALIZATION
The very first moment where the Cicada Forge Production Swords can reach Internationalization is exactly at the MACAU FESTIVAL OF THE BODY AND MIND (http://www.arscives.com/festival/) where hopefully I will be able to sell in SE Asia Territory the Cicada Production swords.

Here you will be able to get international exposure both through the Internet and be ranked at same blade smith level as Howard and Randal, though actually nobody cares much about if you are Master Blade smith or just Blade smith. What is important is that you are leveled at the same demonstration event.

Strangely enough, this little city has all the great potentialities that large cities or even countries don’t have.

Having sword forging televised as well as sword polishing and sword mounting as well as a lot of pictures taken will be something that not even in the U.S. you would get such an opportunity or event.

CONCLUSION

The whole strategy that has been explained here is based on strict planning, very accurate timing, and strict follow up of all the stages, from IMPLEMENTATION to CONSOLIDATION and INTERNATIONALIZATION.

It is of paramount importance that you are able to renegotiate production costs at a time when more then 50 swords have been sold in a short period, because you may have to downplay the price if the competition tries to drag their products price down, such as the Musashi Daito costing already US$450.

It is up to you to adopt my ideas, concepts and designs. I do carry an experience on different fields of 23 years, and having an interface in Asia to assist you deal with Fred Chen would be an advantage for you.

The only question remaining is: am I trustworthy? This is up to you to decide, judging from all information, study, designs etc. that you have been provided at no cost.

And remember: each day of delay, is a day lost to the competition.

END