As an inventor of products, a moniker in which I claim in writing with great anxiety and hesitation, I have learned that it is astronomically difficult to create something from nothing. Creating a product is simple however creating a product that would be accepted as a viable and desirable one by its intended target market is incredibly difficult. Add to that equation a target market which has been saturated with existing products and procedures dictating how to use them, and you’ll get just a minute understanding of the challenges that lay before me.
This article is not being written to discuss the products themselves nor the process of discovery that led to their creation. It will not be covering the painfully slow and difficult process of sourcing possible manufactures using prototypes made from folded paper and a few staples. It will not be sharing with you the continued financial struggles nor the emotional toll that one endures when weeks, months, and years pass by garnering only exhaustion and very few tangible indications of success. The aforementioned subject matter along with so many more shared tribulations have already been captured in great detail within countless articles, books, and public forums discussing successful ventures in history. I dare not to include myself in that category just yet.
The intention of this article is to convey to you just how impressed I have been with and to give thanks to those whom I have encountered along my recent journey. I cannot even begin to give an accurate account of the professionalism and hospitality that has been afforded to me nor will it be possible to document here for you all that which has taken place regardless of my desire to do so.
Just over eighteen months ago I came to the conclusion that if people were going to find value in my products and also be able to understand how each of them worked, I would need to personally demonstrate them to as many people as possible. In order to make that happen I would need to create a dedicated vehicle to transport myself and the products around the country. It would also be necessary for this vehicle to have surface areas incorporated into its design which I could use to demonstrate each of the products. After contemplating numerous vehicle options and the costs associated with each of them, I decided that simply customizing my current personal vehicle was the best option at the time.
Over these last eighteen months I have driven this vehicle to as many conferences, police stations, and relevant armored product manufacturers as I could. I have been to the Connecticut SWAT Challenge, the New York Tactical Officers Association Conference, the National Tactical Officers Association Conference while in Wisconsin, the Rhode Island State Police 5K Foot Pursuit Road Race (not as a vendor but as a strategic visitor), the Ohio Tactical Officers Association Conference, the National Tactical Officers Association while in Florida, and to wrap up this first leg of the journey an amazing product demonstration in Washington DC. The vehicle and how it was modified for this mission can be seen at: www.tacticaltacoma.com
Numerous leaders in the Armored Vehicle Industry have opened their doors allowing me to not only expose them to my products but also upon my visits allowed for images and video to be captured using one or more of their vehicles as my demonstration platform. At this point I think that it is fair to estimate that I have blindly approached hundreds of Police Officers in random locations while en-route to a destination with all but the tiniest of fractions found to be refreshingly open minded and incredibly helpful. That being said, even those in Law Enforcement, Emergency Management, or other related industries that I have not met personally whether our correspondence was online or speaking on the telephone have shown no less professionalism and a willingness to learn about the products with both groups manifesting a willingness to promote them without compensation.
In closing, nothing, not a single other result of my efforts even remotely competes with the gratification that I have felt when people within the Law Enforcement community understand how my products work and excitedly confirm their viability. That being said, landing firmly in at second place would be how I have been treated by all of you while on this journey of mine. I wanted to pen this letter to thank each and every one of you for your kindness, generosity of resources, willingness to listen, and for the officers out there, your service. Stay safe out there, I hope to meet many more of you in the coming year while on the second half of this journey!
