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I really don't know how to find out what product I should try selling...

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Guest931Xfjyx

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I don't know how to find a product that I absolutely know will work and would be a good thing to drop money on.

Remember CENTS, create a productocracy, PULL instead of PUSH... all great lessons. But I really don't get how I know if it will work or not?... Should I sell things on Amazon, or not on Amazon?

The only original ideas I've had are two things which are pretty ridiculous and probably wouldn't work (and I don't think I'd ever want to pursue).

And to make things even more difficult -- I've lived in America all of my life, and I'm gonna be moving to Canada soon... So I have to understand the market there (and a lot about what can and can't be done when it comes to e-commerce there versus America).

Advice? Really how can I find a product worth selling?
 
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sparechange

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Go out and do stuff, find out what problems you encounter.

I went out to shoot some free throws and thought of an idea to make a machine that would just shoot a ball at me so there would be no need to walk back and forth picking up a ball.

Skateboarding my shoes always rip on the bottom.

Hands get cold, or phone dies when I go snowboarding.

Surfing keep getting ocean water in my eyes and it burns.

Doing multiple activities will help fire up ideas in your head, if your lacking ideas, you are not out in the world doing things. Product problems are everywhere.
 
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Guest931Xfjyx

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Doing multiple activities will help fire up ideas in your head, if your lacking ideas, you are not out in the world doing things. Product problems are everywhere.

But how will I know if an idea is worth pursuing? I've never found anything I think is just a phenomenal idea and should absolutely be done (then again, that might just be due to not believing in myself, and not knowing whether the product will work or not).

I am beyond ready to take action on this. I just don't want to wind up with $1000 worth of product in my living room and an absence of any sales or an inability to sell a particular product on Amazon (or wherever) and still turn a profit.

Thanks for taking the time to comment btw.
 

sparechange

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But how will I know if an idea is worth pursuing? I've never found anything I think is just a phenomenal idea and should absolutely be done (then again, that might just be due to not believing in myself, and not knowing whether the product will work or not).

I am beyond ready to take action on this. I just don't want to wind up with $1000 worth of product in my living room and an absence of any sales or an inability to sell a particular product on Amazon (or wherever) and still turn a profit.

Thanks for taking the time to comment btw.


Talk to people in real life, make a poll on a forum, DM people on Instagram, ask people on facebook/facebook pages.

As for dumping 1k into something that can be a part of the risk sure, although you can also pre-sell a product online, believe someone posted about this somewhere on the forum, where you make up a landing page (can be shopify or your own website) and see how many people purchase they product then have a message pop up saying something along of ''oops looks like were sold out, leave us your details and we will get back to you'' Could use that as a proof of concept.
 
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Guest931Xfjyx

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thats because you're so focused on yourself that you don't give a f*ck about actually providing value

Not sure how I've made that impression. But I assure you, I want to provide value.

The few ideas I've had that I think would help people aren't things I'd be happy to pursue (or that I sort of think would not work out). I'll just keep coming up with more ideas...
 

Limitless4Life

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Castillo

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You're looking at things you wouldn't want to pursue, rather than listening to the market.

Have you done anything to validate these ideas? Big money doesn't come from little effort.

Validate your idea with an MVP? Did you spend any money creating a landing page and targeting ads? Posting on forums about the idea if people would be interested?

If you're scared to lose $1000 then you're definitely not ready to lose the thousands more you most likely will before making any money. That's the "risk" (not really risk, just fear) of being an entrepreneur.

Listen to others first, validate an idea and do some work on your own before asking questions. Also, ask better questions.
 
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Guest931Xfjyx

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I think you just proved his point...
The reason I wouldn't be happy to pursue the few business ideas I have is because none of them are businesses a mother or grandmother would be proud of. Not just because 'I don't feel like it' or because 'I have no passion for it'.

It's an industry which isn't considered respectable by most.
 

Castillo

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The reason I wouldn't be happy to pursue the few business ideas I have is because none of them are businesses a mother or grandmother would be proud of. Not just because 'I don't feel like it' or because 'I have no passion for it'.

It's an industry which isn't considered respectable by most.

What industries?
 
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G

Guest931Xfjyx

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You're looking at things you wouldn't want to pursue, rather than listening to the market.

Have you done anything to validate these ideas? Big money doesn't come from little effort.

No I haven't done anything to validate the few ideas I've had. Reason being because I do not wish to be affiliated with the few business ideas I have had.

Overall, I need to come up with a few more business ideas and then attempt pursuing the best of them.
 

Get Right

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You are going to have to get a lot more comfortable with risk.
 
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G

Guest931Xfjyx

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You are going to have to get a lot more comfortable with risk.
The last business I started I spent $8000 and it all went to shit.

Then again, during that time, I also hadn't read anything about the fastlane, nor about pulling vs. pushing, and overall was just attempting to create a business to create a profit rather than actually help people.

Complete blunder on my part.

But yeah, you're right about that I won't deny it.

I'm in the little leagues right now...
 

Get Right

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It's ok man, you are still learning. Just like the rest of us.

I don't know how to find a product that I absolutely know will work

Spoiler #1 - you are never going to know this. It just doesn't work that way. This is where risk lives. You can do your homework and research the best you can but at some point you will have to put yourself out there.

The last business I started I spent $8000 and it all went to sh*t.

Spoiler #2 - You will probably lose a whole lot more than that at some point in your career. Take what you learned and do a better job. It took me 7 major failures to get to this point.
 
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Guest931Xfjyx

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Spoiler #1 - you are never going to know this. It just doesn't work that way. This is where risk lives. You can do your homework and research the best you can but at some point you will have to put yourself out there.

Do you have any advice on how to do good product research to validate a product and determine whether it's worth selling?

I may never be absolutely sure... but any advice on how to do the browsing and testing to be more sure?
 
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Get Right

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I look for markets first. Where is the raving market ready to throw cash at you? In my case it was new home buyers.

I look for needs second. New home buyers need new homes in certain areas and at certain prices.

Lastly I look for/make a product. 3,000 square foot new homes in Florida under $1M

Currently you are doing it backwards.
 

sparechange

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Bad product => fail=> learn ...repeat....Good product => succeed

Pretty much this, entrepreneurship is like baseball. Everyone only sees people hit home runs on ESPN highlights, have they ever shown that same person practicing in the cages for hours and hours every day for years and years?
 
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sparechange

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I just thought of another invention, more comfy bike seats (just went for a bike ride)
 

MaxKhalus

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Firstly, you will have heard it lots of times, but you need to have a bigger confidence in your product. There are simply no win/win products. If you have enough confidence, you would look for items which success chance may be 70% or less. The more lucky you believe you are, the more you try thing with higher risk (and higher reward oportunity). It's not any secret, any entrepeneur usually fails at some point. Even if they haven't, they still keep trying more stuff.

Secondly: What to sell?mmm... such a broad question. Can you expect nothing but a broad answer?
Anyway, what I think that would work is using software designed for Amazon Sales Tracking. Amzn is the greatest market in our planet, so knowing what people usually buy there will give you good info about what you should be selling. Even if you want to make a business without FBA, you still can use it as a tool.
 
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minivanman

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It sounds as though you haven't done anything..... you need to do something.... ANYTHING. So do this, make small pieces of paper. Write all the names of things you want to do on each piece. Draw 1 piece out and what ever is on that piece.... DO IT and do it within a week! If you don't do something by January 10th, try to think of a good way to decorate your cubicle so you will be happy there the rest of your life. In the time you've spent wondering what you could do, you could have at least tried a few of them to see if any work and to learn lessons along the way..... but all you've done is sit there and wonder....... You're not Stevie.....
 
G

Guest931Xfjyx

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  1. Go to a store you like.
  2. Look at products.
  3. Find something that you think you can improve and want to improve.
  4. Confirm that there's market demand and potential for profit.
  5. Improve that product.
  6. Sell it.
Great advice.

Will be looking back at this (amongst the other pieces of advice I've been given) whilst I'm searching for a great product idea that helps people and that isn't out there and that there is a market for.

Cheers mate.
 
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NuclearPuma

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You can take my advice with a grain of salt since I'm still a wage slave, but what I have been focused on is:

1. Find problems (not "products")
2. Find a better way to solve it than what already exists.
3. Sell the solution.


Hell, a guy raised $100,000 on Kickstarter selling $100 pens he designed. Basically "The pen that will last a lifetime." All he did was make a pen where cost was not considered in the design, highest quality materials with more stringent manufacturing tolerances and made in America. A pen! $100.

A guy made multiple millions selling an improved sponge "scrub daddy."

You don't have to reinvent the wheel. Just serve a specific market better than what is out there.

I think it was Tim Ferris who said to be wildly successful you need to be one of 3 things: either be 1st (new market or invention), be the best (the $100 pen, high margin low volume). Or the cheapest (most value, high volume low margin).
 

Bekit

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I look for markets first. Where is the raving market ready to throw cash at you? In my case it was new home buyers.

I look for needs second. New home buyers need new homes in certain areas and at certain prices.

Lastly I look for/make a product. 3,000 square foot new homes in Florida under $1M

Currently you are doing it backwards.
Love this, @Get Right !

I think this is the approach that leads most reliably to a profitable outcome.

Example: I just read this article on how scary and painful it is to be an "elder orphan," i.e. a single older adult who has no relatives. This is a growing epidemic and this lady looks like someone who would not only be ready to throw money at someone who could solve her problem, she's also connected to loads of other people who are in the same boat.

What It Means to Be an Elder Orphan – Member Feature Stories – Medium

This is like a flashing neon sign: BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY!!!

Right here, you've got a market with needs. And their needs do not appear to be "nursing home care." What this lady is worried about is not having a trustworthy emergency contact, not having someone who would advocate for her wishes if she got sick, you know, POA stuff.

If you spent a month or two conducting interviews with this lady and others in her Facebook groups, brainstorming solutions, running prototypes by then, and hearing their feedback, I have no doubt you could come up with a valuable service that lots of these older, healthy adults with money would be happy to pay you a monthly fee for. And if it was just the peace of mind that someone was "on call" to be an emergency contact if they ever needed it, you could probably enjoy pretty decent profit margins.

It doesn't have to be serving elder orphans. It's just an article that I happened to read that illustrates the point.

This is just an example of how flipping your thinking can bring you in tune with all kinds of opportunities that are right in front of our faces. It's not, "What do I want to do that will fulfill the mysterious inner part of me that craves meaning and purpose and enjoyment"; it's, "Where are there people who are willing to pay for a solution that I could develop to a problem that already exists?"

Go and do that thing, and the satisfaction, purpose, and fulfillment will follow.

Here's another thread that contains some gold nuggets on product selection:
Fastlane - You don't need a big idea
 
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ShamanKing

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I look for markets first. Where is the raving market ready to throw cash at you? In my case it was new home buyers.

I look for needs second. New home buyers need new homes in certain areas and at certain prices.

Lastly I look for/make a product. 3,000 square foot new homes in Florida under $1M

Currently you are doing it backwards.


Golden words. Thank you for sharing.
 
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