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Example of create value and solving problems leading to profits

biophase

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Two things happened this week to me to make me write this post. As you know, MJ's book talks about creating value and solving problems. If you do this, your path to making money becomes very easy.

I started a business last July, which began selling on Amazon in September. I'm lucky enough that I have another business that is doing well, so that I did not need this second business to actually make any money. This business was started to solve a problem.

So I set out to solve this problem without any regard for profit. My only caveat was that I don't lose money. In fact, I was calculating a less than $1 profit per sale. My margin has since increased due to my increasing my purchase volume.

In December, I started getting 1 star reviews on my product. I found out that my manufacturer cut some corners on my 2nd shipment which caused some of my products to fail.

So I did 4 things.
1) I informed each buyer that this potential existed during the purchase.
2) I replaced AND refunded any buyer who received a bad product
3) I implemented a lifetime warranty
4) I offered to send all buyers an updated "corrected" version once my next shipment arrived in May

Obviously at a $1 margin, these things would have put me into the negative. But I didn't care, I just wanted people who paid for my product to have the best possible experience. Because I could not deliver a high quality product at this time. All I could do was give them their money back and give them another to try.

So from January to now, I have not been advertising my product. I figured, why advertise it when I DON'T want to sell that many. All I am trying to do is to limp along until my next good shipment arrives.

All I do everyday is check to make sure I don't have any more 1-2 star reviews. If I do, I immediately contact them, give them a refund and offer to send them a new one now, and a new and improved one in a few months.

I don't really check my sales. In fact, I don't care about them. The only reason I haven't pulled all my stock is because it is not all bad. But at Amazon, I don't know what's good and what's bad. Also, I don't want my listing to just disappear. I am just trying to hold my spot as long as possible until I get the new product. My listing ranking has slowly slid back to page 2.

So yesterday I walk into the bank to send a wire to China. I make my wire out and tell the lady, I'll probably have to deposit some money into this business account to cover this wire. I ask her to check my balance. She says I have $23,000 in the account. LOL I thought I had $3,000-$4,000 max. She says that's a nice surprise! Yes it is.

Today, I log into my Amazon account and see one of my biggest days ever.

The reason I am writing this post is that I have done nothing in this business that was profit driven. I have concentrated 100% on value and solving a problem. I have also focused on customer service without regard to the bottom line.

The result of all this work is that I have a business that is now making money without me even trying, $23k in the bank and my best selling month to date.

Now imagine what it would be like if I put some effort into sales!!
 
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Longinus

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Supa

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"Great companies are built on great products." - Elon Musk.

May I ask what you are selling?

So 23k in the last 6 months? Cool.

Why does his product matter to you? It's not about what he sells, but that he sells something of value for others and that he treats other people with love, instead of trying to rip off as much money as possible off his customers..

@biophase good job! :tiphat:
 

TonyStark

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Why does his product matter to you? It's not about what he sells, but that he sells something of value for others and that he treats other people with love, instead of trying to rip off as much money as possible off his customers..

@biophase good job! :tiphat:
I'm just curious.
 
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Supa

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T-K

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IMO solid info+blueprints are the worst enemies of entrepreneurship. I hate when people ask for more details. Which is something I did, not very long ago but took my lesson anyways.

Congratulations biophase! I'm happy to see this kind of examples and I'm happy for you. These accomplishments remind me that what big guys say is true.
 

Supa

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IMO solid info+blueprints are the worst enemies of entrepreneurship. I hate when people ask for more details. Which is something I did, not very long ago but took my lesson anyways.

Congratulations biophase! I'm happy to see this kind of examples and I'm happy for you. These accomplishments remind me that what big guys say is true.

The thing is there are no blueprints or step by step guides.. This all comes down to events vs. process. As long as you are looking for blueprints you're looking for events. Accept that there are no blueprints, and engage in the process.
 

biophase

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So your product sells like crazy without any marketing or the shortcut style fake a$$ reviews? Sounds like a pretty good problem solver.

I did marketing initially in September through December. Now, my customers actually do the marketing for me. They share on FB and mention my product. When I initially launched I tried to giveaway 20 units but only got a few takers. I found that it was easier just to lower my price and sell them to the public.

In January I actually got a #1 new release on my product with zero reviews.
 
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biophase

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"Great companies are built on great products." - Elon Musk.

May I ask what you are selling?

So 23k in the last 6 months? Cool.

Um no, I'm not going to disclose it. lol

Probably more like $20k in the last 3 months. The last time I looked at my bank account was in December and there was around $3k in there. But remember it's not all profit as I had spent money on the inventory months prior.

The point is that my sales are continuing to be strong even though I am actually trying to hinder sales. With a good product, it sells itself.
 

JonnyC

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Two things happened this week to me to make me write this post. As you know, MJ's book talks about creating value and solving problems. If you do this, your path to making money becomes very easy.

...

The result of all this work is that I have a business that is now making money without me even trying, $23k in the bank and my best selling month to date.

Now imagine what it would be like if I put some effort into sales!!

Solid post, great to hear the followup after learning about your new business at the meetup man.

Keep it up! When I'm back in stock I'll hit you up for some shameless cross-promotion if you're up for it :D We have like 10k followers across FB/Twitter/Instagram and ~450 on our email list.
 

Rigged

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"Great companies are built on great products." - Elon Musk.

May I ask what you are selling?

So 23k in the last 6 months? Cool.
He sells gold at the price of silver, please don't tell him I told you.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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NuclearPuma

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What is the potential market size, large or small? Like every home in america, or niche like bass fisherman?
 

Digamma

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How did you deal with the manufacturing problem? Replaced the manufacturer? Or just yelled at them?
What I mean is: how are you ensuring that your product will stop having these problems?
 
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biophase

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How did you deal with the manufacturing problem? Replaced the manufacturer? Or just yelled at them?
What I mean is: how are you ensuring that your product will stop having these problems?

I changed manufacturers. Now I will have a 3rd party inspector inspect each shipment before it ships to me.
 

Ron Dee

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I am currently looking for a 3rd party inspector. I take it you are happy with them? What company are you using?
 

biophase

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I am currently looking for a 3rd party inspector. I take it you are happy with them? What company are you using?

I have not used one yet and my newest shipment from my new manufacturer is not done yet. I am using a company based on a recommendation. I can't remember the company name, but I'll find it and post it once I use them.
 
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JasonR

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I got the point. I just want to know more.

You're over-thinking it.

I know the product. It's not rocket science.

You missed the whole point of this thread. Providing VALUE. You're still chasing dollars - @biophase is chasing value.

That's the difference.
 

Marc B.

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Congrats on the success! I laughed when your banker said you had 6x more than you expected. "This guy seriously has no idea?" What a problem to have...

Takeaway message: Quality never goes out of style.
 
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Ronak

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I am currently looking for a 3rd party inspector. I take it you are happy with them? What company are you using?

I've personally used and recommend V-trust-- it paid for itself in uncovering issues prior to shipment. They're fast but thorough.
 

MJ DeMarco

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Marked NOTABLE, might even be GOLD.
 

JAJT

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Awesome post!

I'm actually going to be getting away from low-value "me too" products this year. I just sold my first Amazon business that was extremely "me too" in a very competitive market full of people selling basically the exact same thing. High stress, didn't feel pride in my products, no differentiation aside from brand, etc... was not happy with it at all aside from the great learning experience it provided.

Although even in the "me too" category I insisted on very high levels of customer service. IMHO there's no excuse for a small business not to offer stellar customer service.
 
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Vannieur

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Thanks for sharing it! Provided a lot of value for me as well.

I'm very interested in start selling at Amazon FBA, I already found a product I think it's viable and found a supplier that accept make it with my label.
Now I need to create a real brand to start selling this product with my label? I'm asking this because (at least in my country) takes a lot of time do register a business, but I see a lot of people on internet that start selling new products everytime. Do you guys create a new business everytime you wanna sell a new product or you can just get your label done and put in the product without burocracy?
 

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