The reason I'm making this thread is because I wish I read this six months ago. Back then, my mindset was that I needed inventory, needed a website, and needed to have something on hand to deliver if anyone ever asked.
And here's what I found: 99% of purchase commitments can be made off of samples.
I currently have 1 product in stock, and 9 samples of other products that I want to develop into. So when I go in for meetings, I show prospects all 10 items. Then, I tell them: "This is in stock now, and I'll sell you this now. These other 9 products I'm planning to expand into. That will be in 3-6 months. If you want those, and make a commitment, then I'll get you a great price."
After that, I have them sign a letter of interest, and toss them into a spreadsheet under interested. I have a markup of 2x on what I'm selling, meaning that 50% of these commitments need to go through for me to break even.
Does this eliminate all the risk? No.
But is there a hell of a lot less risk than having inventory on hand? Definitely.
And here's what I found: 99% of purchase commitments can be made off of samples.
I currently have 1 product in stock, and 9 samples of other products that I want to develop into. So when I go in for meetings, I show prospects all 10 items. Then, I tell them: "This is in stock now, and I'll sell you this now. These other 9 products I'm planning to expand into. That will be in 3-6 months. If you want those, and make a commitment, then I'll get you a great price."
After that, I have them sign a letter of interest, and toss them into a spreadsheet under interested. I have a markup of 2x on what I'm selling, meaning that 50% of these commitments need to go through for me to break even.
Does this eliminate all the risk? No.
But is there a hell of a lot less risk than having inventory on hand? Definitely.
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