- Joined
- Jun 6, 2013
- Messages
- 347
Rep Bank
$1,430
$1,430
User Power: 250%
Hey guys,
I've been around the forum a while now, and generally my projects are weird and wonderful. They're the kind of ideas that get people over-excited, and seem like a blast to work on, like our last project (all of which is in the INSIDERS Section, if you're not in there, get in there!). Well, unfortunately this style of project has an inherit high-risk of failure. This became obvious during my 1-on-1 call with the legendary @JackEdwards last week.
My business partner is @bane, and we're ready to finally hit the Fastlane!
Our Idea
Our idea is simple. We found an old industry, basically, just tradespeople in a particular category, most of which buy all of their day-to-day items from their local trade store. We're now planning to bypass retail, and sell direct to these businesses at a discounted rate. We're also aiming to take the best features of our major competitors, and combine them into one product. We'll make over $200 profit with every one sold from what we can tell, but it will all depend on volume .etc.
Our Execution
After tracking down suppliers, and finding out we can easily get our hands on this product (just not confirmed on quality yet, but we'll get to that), we decided we had to talk to some businesses, while trying to find out the following information:
We started calling on Monday, and we've called 23 people in this industry so far. Our original plan was to just target small towns, but we found that we can actually sell to guys in major cities, so it's a much bigger market than we realized!
I've got plenty of experience with cold-calling, Bane got his first chance to hit the phones though, and totally killed it. Our script started off like this:
"Hey mate, my name is Jared, I'd love a minute of your time just to ask you a few questions, *I'm not trying to sell you anything*, have you got a minute?" Then firing away.
Just some notes for anyone doing this. You say "I'm not trying to sell you anything" because they are waiting for a reason to hang-up if you are. This cuts through that.
You also need to quickly establish that this is NOT a customer call, they will get excited that it's a new customer, then when you take that away from them, they'll just want to get off the phone as they've been let down.
Overall, the majority were happy to talk to us. I ended up getting creative at the end and have a guy that would have bought 10 off us immediately. As soon as we have stock, he'll buy. We had 2 other calls go the same, they'll probably buy immediately, plenty of others are very likely to convert as soon as we have the item in stock.
The Next Steps
After such a successful start, we have no doubt we can sell this product. So now the issue is making sure we have great quality. I've dealt with China before, and it can be hard to get decent quality.
Does anyone have any tips for this? We need a very high quality, and for them to honor any warranty they give. We'll be asking for references in English speaking countries so we can follow them up, and double check the quality, we'll also do independent testing, but can anyone think of any other tips for ensuring we have great quality?
Anyway, thanks for reading guys! A very special thank you to Jack, he's made this all possible. Our focus was definitely in the wrong direction, there are far easier ways to make a million dollars than to invent the next Facebook, we had just never thought about it the right way.
We confidently concluded that the dudes are not loyal to the trade store or the current brands, they will switch to us for the right price even if it means having to hold some in stock (since we won't have a physical store for them)
I've been around the forum a while now, and generally my projects are weird and wonderful. They're the kind of ideas that get people over-excited, and seem like a blast to work on, like our last project (all of which is in the INSIDERS Section, if you're not in there, get in there!). Well, unfortunately this style of project has an inherit high-risk of failure. This became obvious during my 1-on-1 call with the legendary @JackEdwards last week.
My business partner is @bane, and we're ready to finally hit the Fastlane!
Our Idea
Our idea is simple. We found an old industry, basically, just tradespeople in a particular category, most of which buy all of their day-to-day items from their local trade store. We're now planning to bypass retail, and sell direct to these businesses at a discounted rate. We're also aiming to take the best features of our major competitors, and combine them into one product. We'll make over $200 profit with every one sold from what we can tell, but it will all depend on volume .etc.
Our Execution
After tracking down suppliers, and finding out we can easily get our hands on this product (just not confirmed on quality yet, but we'll get to that), we decided we had to talk to some businesses, while trying to find out the following information:
- How many do they buy per month
- What do they pay
- The exact type they use most often
- Where they buy from
- Payment terms, warranty, anything else we could get out of them.
We started calling on Monday, and we've called 23 people in this industry so far. Our original plan was to just target small towns, but we found that we can actually sell to guys in major cities, so it's a much bigger market than we realized!
I've got plenty of experience with cold-calling, Bane got his first chance to hit the phones though, and totally killed it. Our script started off like this:
"Hey mate, my name is Jared, I'd love a minute of your time just to ask you a few questions, *I'm not trying to sell you anything*, have you got a minute?" Then firing away.
Just some notes for anyone doing this. You say "I'm not trying to sell you anything" because they are waiting for a reason to hang-up if you are. This cuts through that.
You also need to quickly establish that this is NOT a customer call, they will get excited that it's a new customer, then when you take that away from them, they'll just want to get off the phone as they've been let down.
Overall, the majority were happy to talk to us. I ended up getting creative at the end and have a guy that would have bought 10 off us immediately. As soon as we have stock, he'll buy. We had 2 other calls go the same, they'll probably buy immediately, plenty of others are very likely to convert as soon as we have the item in stock.
The Next Steps
After such a successful start, we have no doubt we can sell this product. So now the issue is making sure we have great quality. I've dealt with China before, and it can be hard to get decent quality.
Does anyone have any tips for this? We need a very high quality, and for them to honor any warranty they give. We'll be asking for references in English speaking countries so we can follow them up, and double check the quality, we'll also do independent testing, but can anyone think of any other tips for ensuring we have great quality?
Anyway, thanks for reading guys! A very special thank you to Jack, he's made this all possible. Our focus was definitely in the wrong direction, there are far easier ways to make a million dollars than to invent the next Facebook, we had just never thought about it the right way.
We confidently concluded that the dudes are not loyal to the trade store or the current brands, they will switch to us for the right price even if it means having to hold some in stock (since we won't have a physical store for them)
Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member:
Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)
Membership Required: Upgrade to Expose Nearly 1,000,000 Posts
Ready to Unleash the Millionaire Entrepreneur in You?
Become a member of the Fastlane Forum, the private community founded by best-selling author and multi-millionaire entrepreneur MJ DeMarco. Since 2007, MJ DeMarco has poured his heart and soul into the Fastlane Forum, helping entrepreneurs reclaim their time, win their financial freedom, and live their best life.
With more than 39,000 posts packed with insights, strategies, and advice, you’re not just a member—you’re stepping into MJ’s inner-circle, a place where you’ll never be left alone.
Become a member and gain immediate access to...
- Active Community: Ever join a community only to find it DEAD? Not at Fastlane! As you can see from our home page, life-changing content is posted dozens of times daily.
- Exclusive Insights: Direct access to MJ DeMarco’s daily contributions and wisdom.
- Powerful Networking Opportunities: Connect with a diverse group of successful entrepreneurs who can offer mentorship, collaboration, and opportunities.
- Proven Strategies: Learn from the best in the business, with actionable advice and strategies that can accelerate your success.
"You are the average of the five people you surround yourself with the most..."
Who are you surrounding yourself with? Surround yourself with millionaire success. Join Fastlane today!
Join Today
