Branding of generic items. How do I scale?

[ActionMonth]

The title is meant to say: Branding a generic item. Is it worth it?

I'm writing this as a very novice fast laner. In this post you aren't going to find anything about funnels, click ads or other fancy terminology. My numbers aren't substantial and is quite hysterical. I just want to share my story of how I created my first brand that sold. How I first got a taste of the fast lane and experience my first slow lane job loss when I thought nothing could go wrong.

The Beginning

A year ago I started a brand for an accessory item. The market was saturated as hell, but there were a few little things I noticed that would make me stand out. Some of these items were being sold for $20-$30, others were selling it for $100+. People were buying as much of the $100+ ones as much as they were buying the $20 ones.

Same exact items, different brands.

The other thing I noticed is that even though this market is completely saturated, not one of these brands were efficiently branding their products. Almost all of their photos they used were stock photos besides the odd, low quality photo of their cousin or friend wearing it...

Well, they're doing something right because they have a few hundred to a few thousand reviews! Either that or these products are selling themselves.

I happened to stumble upon the fast lane while trying to create my brand and order my products. I had a hand drawn design and was trying to figure out how to create it in reality.

Thanks to TFLF I found a manufacturer in China and ordered 30 samples for $400 with my logo on them.

The Struggle

My decent paying warehouse job went under new management and fired me. Perfect timing because I had just put a down payment on a used car.. I needed it because my old one constantly broke down leaving me stranded multiple times.

Ordering them was tough, there was a language barrier and I had trouble paying him. The bank kept refunding my money for some reason and paused my account. I was beginning to get suspicious, but we worked it through and I made the payment.

It had been a month, he's a week past his shipment deadline. I'm pissed, I've been scammed... I sent an angry email and told him that I would get Alibaba involved if he didn't give me a refund or send me my product.

He wrote me a story on how there was a monsoon in his area and caused a flood that damaged a few homes, businesses and factories. BULL SHIT so I looked it up and it turned out that it was true...
I gave him another chance, he said he would overnight ship them to me so I accepted it, but informed him that if I do not get it within 2 days then I will contact Alibaba. I had screenshots, photos and everything to prove it.

I got them 2 days later and was euphoric. Something I drew on a piece of paper that was in my mind has manifested itself into reality.

Work hard, party easy

With newfound free time, I went to the lake in 100 degree heat to take professional pictures with my DSLR camera and almost passed out from heat exhaustion. The photos looked great and I spent an hour or two editing them.

I had enough lot of money saved up so I took a budget-friendly road trip to Austin, TX to enjoy myself, clear my mind and celebrate my first attempt to start a brand/business venture. Of course, I had to take a few more pictures of my product with the awesome scenery.

Back home and back to work, first thing's first, I need a new job. I applied like crazy 30+ applications in one day and ended up getting a full time job at a grocery store for minimum wage...

That night I posted all the photos of my branded product and copy wrote on facebook, woke up and went to work the next day. During my lunch break I got on facebook and saw that my post got over 100 likes and about a dozen shares. People were already contacting me about grabbing some!

My job hired more people and cut me down to part-time. It's ok I'm making sales right!? WHO CARES!

RESULTS

It's amazing what branding a generic item can do! In my first week I made $600 so that's $200 profit so far. People I didn't even know were sending me messages asking if they could buy a pair! The next week I made $800 and by the end of the month I had $1200 in revenue. All sales were done locally.

I know $1200 isn't a lot to many of you on here, but at the time, it was a lot to me.
Seriously, I know this number isn't astronomical, but it especially meant a lot more to me because of how little effort I put into earning that much after I received and posted my products. That was more than what I made in a month from my grocery job.

This was my first taste of the fast lane and I fell in love.

This was all from posting it on facebook. No paid advertising, no social media page, no website. If I had actually tried by paid advertising, creating an instagram and a personalized website, who knows how well they could have been.

The end of times

I didn't see it coming

Unfortunately this parade was coming to an end. My bills were around the corner, payments were due and I was getting hungry. My plan was to sell out and reach $1800 so I can buy the next batch. My job gave me back full-time hours at the worst possible time so I couldn't go downtown to meet up and sell the rest of my products. I had no choice but to use the $1200 to help pay the bills and necessities.

I was still getting messages about my products, it was a hit item.

Lessens learned

- Be financially stable is a must under any circumstance.
- Personal branding works when done correctly even in a saturated market
(Other brands that I've studied)
- Set up advertising, personal pages, social market ASAP.
- Constantly stay updated
- Don't count on job security
- Ego is the enemy

Feel free to rip me a new one.

 

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[Merging Left]

How long ago was this? It sounds like you're sitting on a gold mine here and the only miracle in this thread is that you justified jumping ship!

You said you're selling this locally. Could you start a "wait list"? Maybe take money up front to fund the purchase of new products and then just deliver them out when they arrive. You have proven sales. Maybe take on an investor or borrow some cash from friends? You have people literally begging to pay you! What are you doing?!

Maybe your supplier will dropship? If you can justify the longer shipping times to your customers, it literally pays for itself.

 

[ActionMonth]

The timing was just all bad and my finances were out of order after I lost my job.

I am planning to attempt another go once I save enough money. This time I will create a shopify, instagram, paid advertising and fb advertising ASAP.

 

[Merging Left]

The timing was just all bad and my finances were out of order after I lost my job.

I am planning to attempt another go once I save enough money. This time I will create a shopify, instagram, paid advertising and fb advertising ASAP.

Looking forward to hearing about that venture!

 

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[ruzara5]

The title is meant to say: Branding a generic item. Is it worth it?

I'm writing this as a very novice fast laner. In this post you aren't going to find anything about funnels, click ads or other fancy terminology. My numbers aren't substantial and is quite hysterical. I just want to share my story of how I created my first brand that sold. How I first got a taste of the fast lane and experience my first slow lane job loss when I thought nothing could go wrong.

The Beginning

A year ago I started a brand for an accessory item. The market was saturated as hell, but there were a few little things I noticed that would make me stand out. Some of these items were being sold for $20-$30, others were selling it for $100+. People were buying as much of the $100+ ones as much as they were buying the $20 ones.

Same exact items, different brands.

The other thing I noticed is that even though this market is completely saturated, not one of these brands were efficiently branding their products. Almost all of their photos they used were stock photos besides the odd, low quality photo of their cousin or friend wearing it...

Well, they're doing something right because they have a few hundred to a few thousand reviews! Either that or these products are selling themselves.

I happened to stumble upon the fast lane while trying to create my brand and order my products. I had a hand drawn design and was trying to figure out how to create it in reality.

Thanks to TFLF I found a manufacturer in China and ordered 30 samples for $400 with my logo on them.

The Struggle

My decent paying warehouse job went under new management and fired me. Perfect timing because I had just put a down payment on a used car.. I needed it because my old one constantly broke down leaving me stranded multiple times.

Ordering them was tough, there was a language barrier and I had trouble paying him. The bank kept refunding my money for some reason and paused my account. I was beginning to get suspicious, but we worked it through and I made the payment.

It had been a month, he's a week past his shipment deadline. I'm pissed, I've been scammed... I sent an angry email and told him that I would get Alibaba involved if he didn't give me a refund or send me my product.

He wrote me a story on how there was a monsoon in his area and caused a flood that damaged a few homes, businesses and factories. BULL SHIT so I looked it up and it turned out that it was true...
I gave him another chance, he said he would overnight ship them to me so I accepted it, but informed him that if I do not get it within 2 days then I will contact Alibaba. I had screenshots, photos and everything to prove it.

I got them 2 days later and was euphoric. Something I drew on a piece of paper that was in my mind has manifested itself into reality.

Work hard, party easy

With newfound free time, I went to the lake in 100 degree heat to take professional pictures with my DSLR camera and almost passed out from heat exhaustion. The photos looked great and I spent an hour or two editing them.

I had enough lot of money saved up so I took a budget-friendly road trip to Austin, TX to enjoy myself, clear my mind and celebrate my first attempt to start a brand/business venture. Of course, I had to take a few more pictures of my product with the awesome scenery.

Back home and back to work, first thing's first, I need a new job. I applied like crazy 30+ applications in one day and ended up getting a full time job at a grocery store for minimum wage...

That night I posted all the photos of my branded product and copy wrote on facebook, woke up and went to work the next day. During my lunch break I got on facebook and saw that my post got over 100 likes and about a dozen shares. People were already contacting me about grabbing some!

My job hired more people and cut me down to part-time. It's ok I'm making sales right!? WHO CARES!

RESULTS

It's amazing what branding a generic item can do! In my first week I made $600 so that's $200 profit so far. People I didn't even know were sending me messages asking if they could buy a pair! The next week I made $800 and by the end of the month I had $1200 in revenue. All sales were done locally.

I know $1200 isn't a lot to many of you on here, but at the time, it was a lot to me.
Seriously, I know this number isn't astronomical, but it especially meant a lot more to me because of how little effort I put into earning that much after I received and posted my products. That was more than what I made in a month from my grocery job.

This was my first taste of the fast lane and I fell in love.

This was all from posting it on facebook. No paid advertising, no social media page, no website. If I had actually tried by paid advertising, creating an instagram and a personalized website, who knows how well they could have been.

The end of times

I didn't see it coming

Unfortunately this parade was coming to an end. My bills were around the corner, payments were due and I was getting hungry. My plan was to sell out and reach $1800 so I can buy the next batch. My job gave me back full-time hours at the worst possible time so I couldn't go downtown to meet up and sell the rest of my products. I had no choice but to use the $1200 to help pay the bills and necessities.

I was still getting messages about my products, it was a hit item.

Lessens learned

- Be financially stable is a must under any circumstance.
- Personal branding works when done correctly even in a saturated market
(Other brands that I've studied)
- Set up advertising, personal pages, social market ASAP.
- Constantly stay updated
- Don't count on job security
- Ego is the enemy

Feel free to rip me a new one.

Many options to regenerate. With the customer data you already have I would get this system up and moving again. Maybe even expand the line and gain more feedback loop from your customer base.

 

[Walter Hay]

"It had been a month, he's a week past his shipment deadline. I'm pissed, I've been scammed... I sent an angry email and told him that I would get Alibaba involved if he didn't give me a refund or send me my product."

Not a good idea. Your angry email might have resulted in a short term result, but would likely have damaged any hope of long term Guanxi (relationship).

I suggest you look at this post in my AMA GOLD - Sharing my lifetime experience in export/import. Product sourcing specialist. and then read the two following replies.

Walter

 

[ALC]

@Walter Hay Hi Walter,
As i am stuck in my way to open my Coffee Shop here in France, i told myself that what if i became a Coffee Roaster at home and try to get my name out there (Facebook ads, Instagram...), i would need custom Coffee Bags and custom Coffee Capsules bag (Capsules sell are growing so fast) and the only way to get a good margins is to get them from Alibaba, do you think it's a good idea or should i do with local suppliers and reduce my margins but be sure of the final result ?

Thanks,
Alessio.

 

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[Walter Hay]

@Walter Hay Hi Walter,
As i am stuck in my way to open my Coffee Shop here in France, i told myself that what if i became a Coffee Roaster at home and try to get my name out there (Facebook ads, Instagram...), i would need custom Coffee Bags and custom Coffee Capsules bag (Capsules sell are growing so fast) and the only way to get a good margins is to get them from Alibaba, do you think it's a good idea or should i do with local suppliers and reduce my margins but be sure of the final result ?

Thanks,
Alessio.

Hi Alessio,

I would always recommend buying locally if possible, but cost might be a problem so you would need to shop around locally and overseas.

You can buy capsules in China for 2 or 3 cents each, plus freight, but then you will also have to have them filled locally. This could mean that using a local supplier that makes the capsules and fills them would be a better proposition than importing the empty capsules.

Filling machines from China would cost you $7,000 to $8,000 for ones designed for small volume filling.

I would also consider using paper capsules because they are biodegradable, and that could provide a better Eco-friendly image for your brand.

Labeling paper capsules offers less opportunity for presenting a quality image, so you also need to consider that if you want to sell at the higher end of the market.

Walter

 

[ALC]

Hi Alessio,

I would always recommend buying locally if possible, but cost might be a problem so you would need to shop around locally and overseas.

You can buy capsules in China for 2 or 3 cents each, plus freight, but then you will also have to have them filled locally. This could mean that using a local supplier that makes the capsules and fills them would be a better proposition than importing the empty capsules.

Filling machines from China would cost you $7,000 to $8,000 for ones designed for small volume filling.

I would also consider using paper capsules because they are biodegradable, and that could provide a better Eco-friendly image for your brand.

Labeling paper capsules offers less opportunity for presenting a quality image, so you also need to consider that if you want to sell at the higher end of the market.

Walter

Thanks for your advices Walter,

Actually my plan was to get the capsules (full package) from China with an eco friendly review and then i wanted to buy a Roaster (Professionnal but can be used at home ~700 euros) and Roast the beans at home, Grind the coffee to the right size to allow the coffee to flow perfectly and fill them myself.
I also wanted to make custom capsules box with my brand and the informations on it, like the picture below, i do think it's better...your thought ?

(Or maybe try to reach this business as you've said before ?)

 

[Walter Hay]

Thanks for your advices Walter,

Actually my plan was to get the capsules (full package) from China with an eco friendly review and then i wanted to buy a Roaster (Professionnal but can be used at home ~700 euros) and Roast the beans at home, Grind the coffee to the right size to allow the coffee to flow perfectly and fill them myself.
I also wanted to make custom capsules box with my brand and the informations on it, like the picture below, i do think it's better...your thought ?

(Or maybe try to reach this business as you've said before ?)

The Polish business you have found looks highly suitable. Not only contract packaging, but also all the certifications you would need. I would certainly investigate what they are willing and able to do for you. They might also produce the box for you, but I must say the one you illustrate doesn't look very impressive to me.

You might like to have a look at what my labeling book has to say about packaging.

If you are to roast and grind the coffee, and then send it to Poland for packaging, you might consider preserving its freshness by either simply vacuum filling your bulk container before shipment, or by vacuum filling and then adding a layer of nitrogen gas to exclude oxygen that is the primary cause of deteriorating quality.

Nitrogen is harmless, being about 70% of the air we breathe.

Walter

 

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[ALC]

The Polish business you have found looks highly suitable. Not only contract packaging, but also all the certifications you would need. I would certainly investigate what they are willing and able to do for you. They might also produce the box for you, but I must say the one you illustrate doesn't look very impressive to me.

You might like to have a look at what my labeling book has to say about packaging.

If you are to roast and grind the coffee, and then send it to Poland for packaging, you might consider preserving its freshness by either simply vacuum filling your bulk container before shipment, or by vacuum filling and then adding a layer of nitrogen gas to exclude oxygen that is the primary cause of deteriorating quality.

Nitrogen is harmless, being about 70% of the air we breathe.

Walter

Actually, these coffee box (same as the photo) are great because once you've putted the capsules in it, you just have to close the box and remove the paper which is above the sticky part of the carton and you're good to go.
Even if i don't custom these one, i need that system to be able to do all of these steps at home and don't lose time.
And you can fill the capsule at home now that Nespresso has lost their right on their creation in 2012, anyone can do it.

Basically, it's THIS (Capsul'in), this website is where i order my coffee for home, it's a french e-commerce. (would have loved to build something like that)

 

[Walter Hay]

Actually, these coffee box (same as the photo) are great because once you've putted the capsules in it, you just have to close the box and remove the paper which is above the sticky part of the carton and you're good to go.
Even if i don't custom these one, i need that system to be able to do all of these steps at home and don't lose time.
And you can fill the capsule at home now that Nespresso has lost their right on their creation in 2012, anyone can do it.

Basically, it's THIS (Capsul'in), this website is where i order my coffee for home, it's a french e-commerce. (would have loved to build something like that)

The empty capsules with adhesive tops would appear to be ideal for DIY at least on a small scale. Maybe after your business grows, it might pay you to buy a professional filling machine.

Most packaging companies could supply a box similar to the one you illustrate, and print it to your design.

It seems to me that you are on the right track.

Walter

 

[ALC]

The empty capsules with adhesive tops would appear to be ideal for DIY at least on a small scale. Maybe after your business grows, it might pay you to buy a professional filling machine.

Most packaging companies could supply a box similar to the one you illustrate, and print it to your design.

It seems to me that you are on the right track.

Walter

Thanks for your support and advices Walter,
I've ordered couple coffee beans and Capsul'in and i'll try to get the most out of this capsules system/extraction

 

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