Lean Hardware Development: $300 MVP to Profitable Side Business
Project Info
Sarah's company, Obvious Product Development had an idea that seemed... obvious: a voice-activated child-proof lock. No keys, no fumbling with latches, just say "unlock" and access your secured cabinet. When she approached us in 2018, she didn't have a prototype, technical background, or significant budget. She did have curiosity, a willingness to learn, and the humility to test her assumptions systematically with us.
Six years later, VAL (Voice Activated Lock) is a modest and profitable side-business that's proven demand across multiple unexpected market segments. The real story isn't about building a smart lock — it's about how patient validation can turn a simple idea into a sustainable business without the typical startup risks.
This project demonstrates that hardware development doesn't require massive investment or venture funding when you're willing to start small and commit to learning continuously.
Services we provided
Timeframe:
Ongoing
Child Safety & Smart Lock Markets
The intersection of child safety and smart home technology represents a growing opportunity. The child safety lock market is anticipated to reach $2.5 billion by 2033 at a CAGR of 9.2%. However, most existing child safety products rely on magnetic cabinet locks, cord cabinet locks, sliding cabinet locks that require manual operation.
$3.8B
Combined addressable market for smart locks and child safety
70lbs
VAL's pull-force rating vs. typical magnetic locks
Client's results
The biggest victory wasn't the sales numbers — it was discovering that our core assumption about the target market was wrong. Parents, who we thought would be the obvious customers, actually had significant concerns about needing a phone app to operate a "hands-free" lock.
Meanwhile, entirely different audiences emerged: cannabis users securing their stash, gun owners with quick-access needs, and Airbnb hosts wanting simple guest lockouts. These discoveries happened because we tested demand before building, not after.
Today, Sarah takes orders while continuing iterative development. The business operates profitably as a side project, proving that entrepreneurship doesn't have to be all-consuming to be successful.
The Challenge
How do you test demand for a hardware product that doesn't exist yet without spending thousands on prototyping? Most hardware startups fail because they build first and ask questions later.
Sarah wasn't an engineer. Every aspect of product development had to be outsourced, making iteration expensive and slow. Each design change would mean new quotes, new timelines, new learning curves, and no guarantees.
Bootstrapping on a limited budget meant we needed to avoid traditional product development approaches. We had to find ways to validate demand and test concepts for hundreds of dollars, not thousands.
Our Solution
Instead of following typical hardware development — prototype, refine, manufacture, market — we treated every aspect as a validation experiment with three key strategic decisions:
1. Validation Before Prototyping
Rather than building and hoping people would buy, we tested demand with landing pages and waitlists before investing in physical development..
2. Embrace Constraints as Advantages
Instead of seeing the limited budget as a problem, we used it to force lean thinking, and consider what actually mattered most at every stage. Every dollar spent had to prove something specific.
3. Sustainable Side-Project Approach
Rather than pursuing venture funding or quit-your-job scaling, we designed the business to grow at Sarah's preferred pace. This removed pressure and allowed for patient, thorough decision-making.
Phase 1:
Minimum Viable Website
Before beginning hardware or technical development, we created a simple landing page explaining the VAL concept and collected email addresses from interested prospects via waitlist opt-in. The page cost under $300 to build and test, but it answered the fundamental question: do people actually want this?
Initial Response
We found there was genuine interest, but the feedback revealed our first major insight. Parents consistently mentioned concerns about needing a smartphone app to operate what was supposed to be a "hands-free" solution. This understanding became crucial for development decisions down the line.
Strategic Impact:
This $300 test eliminated the risk of building something misaligned and problematic, while providing specific direction on what potential customers actually valued versus what had been assumed.
Phase 2:
Minimum Viable Audience
Original assumptions about target markets are often wrong, but proper validation helps you discover better audiences before any significant investment. So, with VAL's basic demand validated, and a growing list of R&D tasks, we began testing across different market segments. We created targeted content for parents, but also explored adjacent markets that might value secure, voice-activated access.
Unexpected Interest
What we discovered surprised us. While parents had reservations about app dependency, other audiences showed much stronger interest: cannabis users wanting discrete storage access, gun owners needing quick access with security, and Airbnb hosts seeking simple guest controls.
These findings emerged through small-scale content testing and direct outreach, not expensive market research. Each audience taught us something different about how VAL might fit into their actual workflows.
Phase 3
Minimum Viable Product
With demand proven and audiences identified, we began actual product development. Working with Sarah's outsourced development team, we went through multiple board iterations, each smaller and more cost-effective than the last.
The technical challenges were significant. Achieving a 70lb pull-force rating while keeping the device compact required several design iterations. Production costs fluctuated dramatically based on component choices and manufacturing quantities, forcing constant optimization between performance and affordability.
Technical Reality:
Hardware development is inherently iterative. Even with careful planning, you discover constraints and opportunities only when building physical prototypes.
3D printing works for prototypes and small batches, but scaling to production quantities requires completely different thinking about materials, assembly, and cost structures.
The key is keeping iteration cycles affordable.
Phase 4
Business Model Optimization
With working prototypes, we could finally test the complete offer with real customers. We implemented a direct-to-consumer model, adding e-commerce features to her Wordpress site, allowing Sarah to take orders while continuing product refinement.
The iterative approach meant we could incorporate customer feedback into ongoing development rather than being locked into a fixed design. This flexibility proved essential as we learned more about how different customer segments actually used VAL.
Offer Evolution:
The iterative approach meant we could incorporate customer feedback into ongoing development rather than being locked into a fixed position. This flexibility proved essential as we learned more about how different customer segments actually used VAL. Starting with waitlists and direct-to-consumer sales provided maximum learning opportunity and customer feedback while avoiding the complexity of retail partnerships or distribution deals.
Tech Stack
Wordpress
Google Analytics
Stripe
ThriveCart
The Outcome
VAL continues to prove that hardware development can be profitable and sustainable without following Silicon Valley startup playbooks. Sarah's side-project is now a real business which generates consistent profits while she maintains complete control over pace and direction — proving that entrepreneurship can fit casually and comfortably into life, rather than consuming it.
No matter what she chooses to do with VAL, Sarah walks away knowing the validation framework we developed for VAL can be applied to virtually any product development challenge.
Key Takeaway
Whether you're building hardware, software, or services, the principles are the same: validate first, build only what's proven, and scale at your own pace.
Side-project entrepreneurship is a viable path. Not every business needs to be a venture-funded rocket ship to be successful and sustainable.
Client's Feedback
Working with Wabbit taught me that business-building can be as fast-paced or casual as you like. There's nothing wrong with treating entrepreneurship like a hobby. We've worked together for years, and VAL proves you don't need hustle culture to build something successful.
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