The hygienic toilet brush alternative story so far...
It’s been almost two years since my last blog update – sorry about that. If you’ve followed the shiffter before or have visited the site for the first time, you’ll be pleased to know that the mission to deliver a truly hygienic toilet brush is still ongoing. Personally, I’ve been distracted by the day job to pay the mortgage, as most of us have to do, but there has been quite a bit of work going on in the background. Previously I mentioned that we have a patent, but it’s worth nothing until the product exists!
This year, I’m much more focused on my aim of making toilet cleaning much less gross, more environmentally friendly and helping gut-related causes and sanitation projects across the world. If I carry on with the day job, I’ll be in the same position next year, so I’ve taken time off to get on with it and make it a reality. For me, the shiffter isn’t about money. Sure, I’d love to be financially secure, but as mentioned, if I can share the profits to make other people’s lives better, why not? I wish more people took such an approach.
New website shows demand for a hygienic toilet brush
The shiffter website has just been completely revamped to make it look much more professional. The only small thing missing is an actual product that you can buy! It wasn’t easy to put a site together for something that doesn’t actually exist, but it’s helping to gauge what people think about it with thousands of people from all over the world visiting the site.
So far, over 400 site visitors have provided their feedback:
- 97% would buy one now if it was available
- 90% are happy with the price
All of above is great news which shows that there is demand for a hygienic toilet brush alternative, especially when it comes to raising the funding from investors, or the bank, to go into production. Unfortunately, it isn’t cheap to manufacture, so self-financing is unlikely.
Product development
We’re now working with product design agency Bang Creations. They’re currently working on giving the shiffter more of a wow factor – after all, we want it to look as good as possible, as well being the practical product it is.
Bang also add further value to the project as they are B Corp Certified, which means that they are focused on the environment, sustainability and social concerns – so you can see why they’re the perfect match. They’re also great to work with. As a result, we’re already looking at two ways to make the product better:
- having an option with no stand – this would reduce plastic use further and help keep the price down.
- manufacturing it in the UK to save on transporting a bulky product around the world. This is likely to be a little more expensive than manufacturing in the Far East, but we’re sure we can still make it work.
What happens next?
The new design visuals will be available soon and we’ll then create a prototype. Then it’s time to get the funding. It probably won’t surprise you that most investors are obsessed with tech startups. The shiffter is obviously not as whizzy or glamourous, but hey, there are billions of toilets around the world and as far as I’m aware we’re all still gonna use toilets for many years to come!
If you can spread the word on the shiffter please do – the more people who know about it the more it helps.
Thanks for reading and thanks for your support. 😁
