I just wanted to introduce myself to the group. I am an entrepreneur of the last 10 years who has seen the highs and lows of it many times before. I had previously built an IT consulting firm from 2008-2015 which I sold to a competitor for a very good sum of money. I treated myself to the nice car, the vacation and then felt like I needed to get back to work. As I was spending a lot of time in the USA (I'm from Canada) I noticed a lot of people using e-cigarettes and vape shops popping up all over the place. I thought this was a good opportunity in an emerging industry so I used some of the funds to build a lab and start manufacturing e-liquid.
During the start-up phase I encountered a lot of issues with getting the product to sell due to border restrictions which kept the product price high and the margins very good. Over time the margins continued to shrink and more competition came into the market which caused our overall profits to fall. As I was inexperienced in manufacturing and distribution I burned a lot of capital on equipment, advertising, and product development costs.
Fast forward to today... The vape industry is in ruins, I haven't shipped any orders in 3 weeks and many of my customers are closing shops or will be only able to last a few more months. My manufacturing and distribution competitors are slashing prices (almost giving stuff away) which is a losing strategy.
I'm at this weird point in my business where I don't know if I ride out the downturn, pivot to another business using the current space (possible natural health supplements) or close the business completely. Part of me wants to go back into the IT consulting world, but the other side of me also doesn't want to lose the investment I've made in my facility.
I hope to learn from everyone and I have very much enjoyed the Fastlane book. Looking to gain more knowledge as I go forward.
During the start-up phase I encountered a lot of issues with getting the product to sell due to border restrictions which kept the product price high and the margins very good. Over time the margins continued to shrink and more competition came into the market which caused our overall profits to fall. As I was inexperienced in manufacturing and distribution I burned a lot of capital on equipment, advertising, and product development costs.
Fast forward to today... The vape industry is in ruins, I haven't shipped any orders in 3 weeks and many of my customers are closing shops or will be only able to last a few more months. My manufacturing and distribution competitors are slashing prices (almost giving stuff away) which is a losing strategy.
I'm at this weird point in my business where I don't know if I ride out the downturn, pivot to another business using the current space (possible natural health supplements) or close the business completely. Part of me wants to go back into the IT consulting world, but the other side of me also doesn't want to lose the investment I've made in my facility.
I hope to learn from everyone and I have very much enjoyed the Fastlane book. Looking to gain more knowledge as I go forward.
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