You can check out my prior progress thread here if you care to, but let me give you the quick version: I dabbled in 3 different products, and none of them worked out.
But now that I'm on to something new, it deserves a fresh thread.
How did I find a product/niche?
My business is in personal care consumables. The product is something that I use myself, and I wasn't happy with the commercially available solutions. So I decided to scratch my own itch so to speak.
Which means it already passed the first gate: am I improving something already on the market, or am I inventing a new category? In my last businesses, I was working on things nobody had seen before. That makes it awfully difficult to confirm need. And it makes marketing that much harder because you're trying to educate the consumer on a whole new category.
With my current product, it's not a huge category, but it is established and growing, so the need is there.
The other thing that played into my decision was that I wanted to make sure that I wasn't stepping on the toes of any other forum members. At the forum meetups I've attended, I've met a couple of other people here that are in the personal care space, and so I wanted to ensure that my product is different enough from theirs. The last thing that I would want to do is jeopardize those relationships for a buck. My products are in a subcategory within personal care that none of those folks are selling in. Beyond that, my products have kind of a twist to them in terms of target marketing. So as I say, I'm confident that I'm not stepping on any toes.
What have I done so far?
An afternoon of asking big G how to make what I was looking for left me armed with a whole bunch of instructions. I bought all of the necessary supplies, and got to work testing probably a couple dozen alternatives. I finally settled on 3 varieties that I wanted to start with.
Once I knew what I'd need, I purchased enough raw materials to produce a few dozen of each of the 3 SKUs and I did a production run.
I set up a domain, a Shopify store and MailCheat(Chimp).
After finishing my first round of copywriting for the store, I was pretty pleased with my results, and I ran my work by one of our copywriting experts here on the forum. He convinced me that my stuff is a bit short of professional grade (ok, way short), and suggested I hire out my copy for now.
So on to Upwork. After a few days of sorting through a bunch of applicants who didn't seem able to read & follow simple instructions, I found my guy. Fantastic writer who really resonated with my product line. $60 later, and I had 3 product listings, a front page and an about page.
I set up a Facebook page, and an Instagram account. I started posting relevant content to IG on a regular basis. I haven't really seen much engagement there, so I've kind of dialed that back a bit.
Within about a week of being live on Shopify, I got my first sale. However, I'm pretty sure this customer was a competitor scouting me out. Given that I have basically no presence yet in the SERPs, and that my site visits are so low, it's pretty improbable that he's a legit customer. He's also the only person so far to sign up for my mailing list.
What's next?
So what I've described thus far is pretty straightforward. No rocket science involved. Make the product, sell the product. But I've gotta come clean...I've been pretty stagnant for the last couple of weeks.
My problem in the past, not just with entrepreneurship, but also with life in general, is that I tend to quit things before I finish them. I love the excitement of a new idea, and then I get bored.
So, as if I had a little @LightHouse on my shoulder telling me not to dabble, I promised myself that this time, I have to follow this all the way to the end. I won't allow myself to quit (or switch gears to a different business), until it's making money on a regular basis, even if that's just a few hundred bucks a month.
But honestly, at the same time I'm saying this, I keep hearing a little @snowbank voice on my other shoulder, asking if this business is +EV. If I can't expect this to be big enough to get me to my goal of replacing my day job, then am I wasting my time?
So basically, I'm executing, but not with a great deal of enthusiasm right now. Hate to close the post on such an ambivalent note, but that's honestly where I'm at right now.
Stay tuned for our next episode...
But now that I'm on to something new, it deserves a fresh thread.
How did I find a product/niche?
My business is in personal care consumables. The product is something that I use myself, and I wasn't happy with the commercially available solutions. So I decided to scratch my own itch so to speak.
Which means it already passed the first gate: am I improving something already on the market, or am I inventing a new category? In my last businesses, I was working on things nobody had seen before. That makes it awfully difficult to confirm need. And it makes marketing that much harder because you're trying to educate the consumer on a whole new category.
With my current product, it's not a huge category, but it is established and growing, so the need is there.
The other thing that played into my decision was that I wanted to make sure that I wasn't stepping on the toes of any other forum members. At the forum meetups I've attended, I've met a couple of other people here that are in the personal care space, and so I wanted to ensure that my product is different enough from theirs. The last thing that I would want to do is jeopardize those relationships for a buck. My products are in a subcategory within personal care that none of those folks are selling in. Beyond that, my products have kind of a twist to them in terms of target marketing. So as I say, I'm confident that I'm not stepping on any toes.
What have I done so far?
An afternoon of asking big G how to make what I was looking for left me armed with a whole bunch of instructions. I bought all of the necessary supplies, and got to work testing probably a couple dozen alternatives. I finally settled on 3 varieties that I wanted to start with.
Once I knew what I'd need, I purchased enough raw materials to produce a few dozen of each of the 3 SKUs and I did a production run.
I set up a domain, a Shopify store and MailCheat(Chimp).
After finishing my first round of copywriting for the store, I was pretty pleased with my results, and I ran my work by one of our copywriting experts here on the forum. He convinced me that my stuff is a bit short of professional grade (ok, way short), and suggested I hire out my copy for now.
So on to Upwork. After a few days of sorting through a bunch of applicants who didn't seem able to read & follow simple instructions, I found my guy. Fantastic writer who really resonated with my product line. $60 later, and I had 3 product listings, a front page and an about page.
I set up a Facebook page, and an Instagram account. I started posting relevant content to IG on a regular basis. I haven't really seen much engagement there, so I've kind of dialed that back a bit.
Within about a week of being live on Shopify, I got my first sale. However, I'm pretty sure this customer was a competitor scouting me out. Given that I have basically no presence yet in the SERPs, and that my site visits are so low, it's pretty improbable that he's a legit customer. He's also the only person so far to sign up for my mailing list.
What's next?
- Because of the specific twist I have to my product niche, I believe I have a good opportunity to sell the products on a consignment basis at some local outlets whose focus is completely unrelated to personal care items. Hard to explain, but imagine my product was Superman Underoos, and I was selling them in the comics section of the bookstore. Related by theme, but not by product category.
- Additionally, there might be some licensing opportunities here, as opposed to consignment. Before I go down that path, I'd first like to have some decent volume of sales via my own website. I think that would help my sales pitch to the licensees.
- I'm having 2 infographics done via Upwork. I'll use these as content on Facebook and Instagram
So what I've described thus far is pretty straightforward. No rocket science involved. Make the product, sell the product. But I've gotta come clean...I've been pretty stagnant for the last couple of weeks.
My problem in the past, not just with entrepreneurship, but also with life in general, is that I tend to quit things before I finish them. I love the excitement of a new idea, and then I get bored.
So, as if I had a little @LightHouse on my shoulder telling me not to dabble, I promised myself that this time, I have to follow this all the way to the end. I won't allow myself to quit (or switch gears to a different business), until it's making money on a regular basis, even if that's just a few hundred bucks a month.
But honestly, at the same time I'm saying this, I keep hearing a little @snowbank voice on my other shoulder, asking if this business is +EV. If I can't expect this to be big enough to get me to my goal of replacing my day job, then am I wasting my time?
So basically, I'm executing, but not with a great deal of enthusiasm right now. Hate to close the post on such an ambivalent note, but that's honestly where I'm at right now.
Stay tuned for our next episode...
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
