Shipped a globe: challenges of physical products

I shipped my first ever wood-carved globe to a crowdfunding backer in New Zealand... about 3 months behind schedule!

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9M0beHJhIu/

Why did I choose to sell physical products? As a software developer, I could have avoided so many challenges - raising money to buy a CNC router, working out how to create and assemble a physical product, dealing with packaging, postage and customs - by making something out of bits rather than atoms.

Why? Well, three reasons:

1. By working on something that's not software, I've made sure there's zero conflict of interest between this side project and my day job working at a software startup.

2. By creating something that's never been made before, and requires an expensive CNC router to manufacture, I've achieved a product that's not easily replicable by others.

3. I'm fascinated by the possibilities of software developers like me (and so many others on Indie Hackers) programming machines to create physical products.

It has been a long journey, but now that I've shipped my first ever wood-carved globe, it feels like it has been worth it!