22 Year old with a system problem..

[Fassina]

<div class="bbWrapper">Brazilian, 22, male.<br /> <br /> I&#039;ve tried several things, most of them failed, I &#039;know&#039; why or at least think I do.<br /> Mainly, lack of proper market research and a tendency of rushing things and a lot of sunk cost fallacy to tie me down.<br /> <br /> Current business &quot;profited&quot; 50$ this month with 5 sales. This is sales profit mind you, not actual profit.<br /> Main issue is it doesn&#039;t scale, these are not products people buy again often enough (it&#039;s furniture*) with a small margin and cost. Could pay for backlinks to increase profit margin, I&#039;m thinking about it, not sure if it&#039;s worth it.<br /> <br /> ..(Improper market research)..<br /> <br /> My issue isn&#039;t in setting businesses up, I can do that, and have done it several times. My issue is getting to profitable.<br /> <br /> If I have a clear next action I get it done, the problem is when you have to wait for the results to do the math. This ruins my momentum and slows me down tremendously. I&#039;d rather have something specific to do everyday than this vague &#039;check numbers and wait for the marketing to work, do the math optimize and wait again.&#039;<br /> <br /> I optimize in 3 hours, now I have to sit around waiting for a week. It&#039;s hell. I understand the appeal of a brick and mortar biz now, you can at least go to the office and fake action all day to keep your momentum up, not so much online.<br /> <br /> Any advice on building systems for this type of inconsistent action requirement tasks ? <br /> <br /> Should I drop this current biz and spend the time opening a better one with better market research ? Or should I spend the next 6-12 months building this into a small income source ? Sunk cost ?<br /> <br /> Any advice on dealing with a parent that wants you to inherit his biz, but you don&#039;t want to because you want to move to a different country and his biz can&#039;t be automated ?</div>

 

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[Akeem]

<div class="bbWrapper">Once upon a time, not very long ago, I came across a product on eBay and was amazed at how many were sold by the seller. I did a bit of research, market research and every other form of research and decided to jump on board the train to sell this product. Within the first 3 days it started selling like crazy. I was hitting 15 sales a day, then 21, then 44 and even reached a peak of 75. It was a product which I could sell without needing to physically post anything (virtual item) so I decided to bulk buy the product and automate the entire process. In my first week I made a 4 figure profit (yeah, really). Now I&#039;m not going to go into detail as to why it was eventually taken down as that&#039;s a story for another day, however, I learnt something very valuable once it was taken down.<br /> <br /> The first thing I learnt was <b>easy money, more often than not, is wrong money</b>. I wasn&#039;t selling an illegal item but I just didn&#039;t research the background of this item accordingly and as a result the copyright owner notified eBay and eBay obliged in taking my listing down.<br /> <br /> The second thing I learnt was that <b>once you start making money, it becomes habitual and you naturally start learning from the trends and end up scaling to increase that profit.<br /> </b><br /> The point behind my story is, since my accidental bump-in with a 4-figure salary per week, I have become more confident in knowing I am able to make a success out of myself. Don&#039;t sweat the small stuff. If your products aren&#039;t selling, research and do what you can do and if it still fails, it might just be time to move on. Learn from your mistakes and ensure you don&#039;t make the same ones again. Take up your father&#039;s (non-automated business) just to learn. Learn about cash flow, profits, profit margin (and the importance of profit margin) and learn about scaling etc. Get a few lessons in the bag before you go ahead and start another business. Learn before you earn, that&#039;s the motto.<br /> <br /> P.S. I used my failed &#039;business&#039; and all the lessons it taught me to start another one, this time learning from the past, and I can safely say, it paid off. Just be patient. Patience is key.</div>

 

[lowtek]

<div class="bbWrapper">Welcome to the forum. Since you&#039;re Brazillian, I won&#039;t make the mistake of thinking my advice, from an American perspective, is particularly insightful. Best I can advise is to sit down and talk with your parents and see what can be done.</div>

 

[MJ DeMarco]

<div class="bbWrapper"><blockquote data-attributes="member: 62269" data-quote="Fassina" data-source="post: 736194" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-title"> <a href="/community/goto/post?id=736194" class="bbCodeBlock-sourceJump" rel="nofollow" data-xf-click="attribution" data-content-selector="#post-736194">Fassina said:</a> </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-content"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandContent js-expandContent "> Any advice on dealing with a parent that wants you to inherit his biz, but you don&#039;t want to because you want to move to a different country and his biz can&#039;t be automated ? </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandLink js-expandLink"><a role="button" tabindex="0">Click to expand...</a></div> </div> </blockquote><br /> And yet you started a business that also can&#039;t be scaled?<br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: 18px"> <blockquote data-attributes="member: 62269" data-quote="Fassina" data-source="post: 736194" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-title"> <a href="/community/goto/post?id=736194" class="bbCodeBlock-sourceJump" rel="nofollow" data-xf-click="attribution" data-content-selector="#post-736194">Fassina said:</a> </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-content"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandContent js-expandContent "> 22 Year old with a system problem.. </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandLink js-expandLink"><a role="button" tabindex="0">Click to expand...</a></div> </div> </blockquote></span><br /> System problem, or a scale/production/distribution problem?<br /> <br /> Sales indicate people like your product.</div>

 

[biophase]

<div class="bbWrapper"><blockquote data-attributes="member: 62269" data-quote="Fassina" data-source="post: 736194" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-title"> <a href="/community/goto/post?id=736194" class="bbCodeBlock-sourceJump" rel="nofollow" data-xf-click="attribution" data-content-selector="#post-736194">Fassina said:</a> </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-content"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandContent js-expandContent "> Current business &quot;profited&quot; 50$ this month with 5 sales. This is sales profit mind you, not actual profit.<br /> Main issue is it doesn&#039;t scale, these are not products people buy again often enough (it&#039;s furniture*) with a small margin and cost. Could pay for backlinks to increase profit margin, I&#039;m thinking about it, not sure if it&#039;s worth it.<br /> <br /> I optimize in 3 hours, now I have to sit around waiting for a week. It&#039;s hell. I understand the appeal of a brick and mortar biz now, you can at least go to the office and fake action all day to keep your momentum up, not so much online.<br /> <br /> Any advice on dealing with a parent that wants you to inherit his biz, but you don&#039;t want to because you want to move to a different country and his biz can&#039;t be automated ? </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandLink js-expandLink"><a role="button" tabindex="0">Click to expand...</a></div> </div> </blockquote><br /> 1) What kind of furniture has a $10 margin? Scale doesn&#039;t mean people have to buy it again, do enough people want it in the world?<br /> <br /> 2) Not sure your scenario of a brick and mortar is any better. Action fake while paying rent and utilities all day?<br /> <br /> 3) Are you sure the business cannot be automated?</div>

 

[Fassina]

<div class="bbWrapper"><blockquote data-attributes="member: 1" data-quote="MJ DeMarco" data-source="post: 736347" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-title"> <a href="/community/goto/post?id=736347" class="bbCodeBlock-sourceJump" rel="nofollow" data-xf-click="attribution" data-content-selector="#post-736347">MJ DeMarco said:</a> </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-content"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandContent js-expandContent "> And yet you started a business that also can&#039;t be scaled? </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandLink js-expandLink"><a role="button" tabindex="0">Click to expand...</a></div> </div> </blockquote>I started this one on a whim, after my previous attempt failed.<br /> <br /> As an aside, dropshipping doesn&#039;t work in brazil unless you are willing to be scammy and *hide the 40-60 day shipping and import tariffs the customer is going to have to pay on delivery.<br /> <br /> I just slapped these things on my previous store and tested some ads on it. Also I did before reading Unscripted, but yes it wasn&#039;t a great idea.<br /> To be 100% honest, this biz could be scaled to ~100k profits per year max. It&#039;d take 2-5 years and require employees, managers and large sales volume but it&#039;s doable I just don&#039;t think this ROI is good enough.<br /> <blockquote data-attributes="member: 1" data-quote="MJ DeMarco" data-source="post: 736347" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-title"> <a href="/community/goto/post?id=736347" class="bbCodeBlock-sourceJump" rel="nofollow" data-xf-click="attribution" data-content-selector="#post-736347">MJ DeMarco said:</a> </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-content"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandContent js-expandContent "> System problem, or a scale/production/distribution problem?<br /> <br /> Sales indicate people like your product. </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandLink js-expandLink"><a role="button" tabindex="0">Click to expand...</a></div> </div> </blockquote><br /> By system problem I meant that I find it really difficult to build a system to work on my business because the actions aren&#039;t repeatable or frequent enough. I can&#039;t treat it like my other systems i.e exercising everyday at a set time. Because most of the time you can&#039;t do much other than wait for results or lack thereof so you can adjust and optimize.<br /> <br /> That&#039;s the main advice I&#039;m looking for. Do you create a fake action routine for those days when there&#039;s nothing to do just to keep momentum going ? Do you add a weekly or 2x/week checklist task you have to complete ?<br /> <br /> ...Actually I think I got that ;P</div>

 

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[Fassina]

<div class="bbWrapper"><blockquote data-attributes="member: 23" data-quote="biophase" data-source="post: 736369" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-title"> <a href="/community/goto/post?id=736369" class="bbCodeBlock-sourceJump" rel="nofollow" data-xf-click="attribution" data-content-selector="#post-736369">biophase said:</a> </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-content"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandContent js-expandContent "> 1) What kind of furniture has a $10 margin? Scale doesn&#039;t mean people have to buy it again, do enough people want it in the world? </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandLink js-expandLink"><a role="button" tabindex="0">Click to expand...</a></div> </div> </blockquote>Small stuff that has cheap shipping. I can improve the margin with SEO instead of ads, and by using some shipping contracts that reduce shipping costs by 1/3.<br /> I could maybe profit 20$ per sale of this specific product. <br /> It&#039;s easier to scale if people buy it frequently, it lowers conversion costs by a lot, and helps ads increase / grow the business instead of just keeping it afloat.<br /> <br /> <blockquote data-attributes="member: 23" data-quote="biophase" data-source="post: 736369" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-title"> <a href="/community/goto/post?id=736369" class="bbCodeBlock-sourceJump" rel="nofollow" data-xf-click="attribution" data-content-selector="#post-736369">biophase said:</a> </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-content"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandContent js-expandContent "> 2) Not sure your scenario of a brick and mortar is any better. Action fake while paying rent and utilities all day? </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandLink js-expandLink"><a role="button" tabindex="0">Click to expand...</a></div> </div> </blockquote>I agree it isn&#039;t better, but I can understand the appeal of it.<br /> <br /> <blockquote data-attributes="member: 23" data-quote="biophase" data-source="post: 736369" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-title"> <a href="/community/goto/post?id=736369" class="bbCodeBlock-sourceJump" rel="nofollow" data-xf-click="attribution" data-content-selector="#post-736369">biophase said:</a> </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-content"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandContent js-expandContent "> 3) Are you sure the business cannot be automated? </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandLink js-expandLink"><a role="button" tabindex="0">Click to expand...</a></div> </div> </blockquote>Both technically can, but not 100%. I&#039;d have to live in the area to put out occasional fires because they aren&#039;t 100% digital. But that&#039;s not ideal if you want to move to a different country.<br /> <br /> The point is, I want to have a comfortable income before I move. I don&#039;t want to move to a different country to work for less and live worse than I do here.</div>

 

[FreedomforEarl]

<div class="bbWrapper"><blockquote data-attributes="member: 62269" data-quote="Fassina" data-source="post: 736383" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-title"> <a href="/community/goto/post?id=736383" class="bbCodeBlock-sourceJump" rel="nofollow" data-xf-click="attribution" data-content-selector="#post-736383">Fassina said:</a> </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-content"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandContent js-expandContent "> Small stuff that has cheap shipping. I can improve the margin with SEO instead of ads, and by using some shipping contracts that reduce shipping costs by 1/3.<br /> I could maybe profit 20$ per sale of this specific product.<br /> It&#039;s easier to scale if people buy it frequently, it lowers conversion costs by a lot, and helps ads increase / grow the business instead of just keeping it afloat.<br /> <br /> <br /> I agree it isn&#039;t better, but I can understand the appeal of it.<br /> <br /> <br /> Both technically can, but not 100%. I&#039;d have to live in the area to put out occasional fires because they aren&#039;t 100% digital. But that&#039;s not ideal if you want to move to a different country.<br /> <br /> The point is, I want to have a comfortable income before I move. I don&#039;t want to move to a different country to work for less and live worse than I do here. </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandLink js-expandLink"><a role="button" tabindex="0">Click to expand...</a></div> </div> </blockquote><br /> I heard from a farmer that Brazil are buying all our soybeans and then selling to China! I got some hookups</div>

 

[Fassina]

<div class="bbWrapper"><blockquote data-attributes="member: 45388" data-quote="FreedomforEarl" data-source="post: 737592" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-title"> <a href="/community/goto/post?id=737592" class="bbCodeBlock-sourceJump" rel="nofollow" data-xf-click="attribution" data-content-selector="#post-737592">FreedomforEarl said:</a> </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-content"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandContent js-expandContent "> I heard from a farmer that Brazil are buying all our soybeans and then selling to China! I got some hookups </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandLink js-expandLink"><a role="button" tabindex="0">Click to expand...</a></div> </div> </blockquote>That&#039;s possible, idk if it&#039;d be profitable with our current super inflated currency. Also I don&#039;t think &#039;farmers&#039; here have that kind of global mindset. There might be commodity traders doing some interesting things with it though.<br /> I&#039;m not really informed in this subject, so you could likely know better.<br /> (They might also do it to launder money, i.e they got this money illegally and need to find a way to make it legal even if at a loss, that&#039;s quite common here.)<br /> <br /> What do you mean by hookups ?</div>