"I don't know what product to sell" How You Choose A Product-Based Business

[DeletedUser0287]

This is a great video example of someone launching a new product and crushing it.

View: https://youtu.be/LvDYgSWT8F0

I watched this guy waayyy back when I was deep into fitness. His skew is like 90% marketing, 10% remarkability. Better to max product remarkability than being forced to compensate with marketing in my opinion of course.

Once you stop the marketing on a product like this, it dies. These packaged goods are all the same: shampoo, food, shaving cream. It is the packaging that sells which falls under marketing bit.

 

[Xeon]

This is a great video example of someone launching a new product and crushing it.

View: https://youtu.be/LvDYgSWT8F0

He sold out $120k of inventory in under an hour. So that's probably what, $500k in sales in 30 minutes?

I don't think that guy is a good example. He already has a base of 398,000 Youtube subscribers (and God knows how much more on Twitter/FB/Instagram). This is basically a case of Kylie Jenner or Gary V using existing fame to sell any product, and it will sell, because people buy it for the "Kylie/Maxx Chewning/Gary V" brand; they want to be associated with them through the products.

$500,000 / $19.90 per pack = ~25,000 people bought his candy, not difficult considering his existing fame.

If he is an unknown lawn mower who decides to do the same thing, it would have taken him far longer (assuming it even took off) to make $500,000 in 30 mins (and again, this could be just a marketing gimmick to further boost social proof and create FOMO).

Also, looking at his other company (the apparel one), it's just generic clothes, and it still sells, because his fans love him and buy it to support him, while getting clothes at the same time.

What I like about the video is how, despite hitting road blocks, he spent 1.5 years just for sourcing alone lol

Btw, one (disgusting) trend I noticed nowadays is 'wokewashing' / 'greenwashing' and it seems to work well as a business model (until the world wakes up and tires of it).
Basically, find a cause (save the world, save the cows, save the sand, save the rocks, save greta thunberg etc...), then sell products related to the cause. You tell your customers you'll donate 20% of the profits to that related charity, and those folks will buy it lol.

 

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[biophase]

I absolutely love your answer @biophase. I would also maybe add that the book by simon sinek "start with why" is an excellent reference on why you should start with the "Why" question. Simon Sinek - Start with why

I know his teaching. I ask myself the WHY question all the time. It provides me a lot of guidance and direction.

 

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[CaptainAmerica]

I have a small niche business - but the market is necessarily tiny, limited, and diminishing. Yay for progress, but at some point I'll have to lay the business down. But the business MODEL, I can use to my advantage.

For years, I was all about solving my own problems - only to find that someone with deeper pockets had already come out with a superior product. Also, I'm a terrible consumer. So using myself as a source is a terrible idea.

I could follow the money! What are the Kardashians up to? What's hot in the news? Can I sell t-shirts that keep up with the trends? Well, no, actually, because I'm not fast enough, nor do I really care about people who care about keeping up.

Which leads to now. I know the business model that works for me, and I know I can use CENTS eventually. Who are the people I like to work with? Who are the people I get on best with as customers? If it's all about the relationship, I may as well choose customers I like.

That proved to be a 5 minute doodle of a Venn diagram on a whiteboard. There's 3 market channels that fell out of that. And hey look, there's a list of top XYZ industry leaders on Wikipedia. And now I'm connected to 4 of them on LinkedIn and Facebook. THIS TOOK ME AN HOUR.

And because I already know what type of people these are, based on their chosen field, it's much easier for me to call them or email them and say 'I don't know much about XYZ, but you do. If I were to use this business model, what products would work best? What delivery system works best for the really rural areas? (this is important - I know one guy who lives on "Beeson Lane, 2 miles from telephone pole, yellow house" - USPS does NOT deliver there).

I'll contact these people, and ask what they need and want, until I have some very basic idea. Then I'll see who's already supplying them, and come up with a creative way to improve the product or the experience.

Then I can mock up an order page and get pre-orders, find suppliers, and sell some stuff. Rinse and repeat until I can quit the day job and expand the business.

Gosh, it sounds easy when I put it like that!

 

[StrikingViper69]

People with the idea of spraying the bear spray forwards from the bike.....

Have you ever tried spitting out of a car window, while it's moving? There's only one direction you wanna, spit, and it ain't forwards.

 

[Bearcorp]

You grab a sowing machine and you learn how to make clothes. We just to do this in University with surf bags.

Your post has so many limiting beliefs and false assumptions. Work on that mindset.

Where’s that rep button It’s true, the posters that dig into everyone’s story to poke holes in it would be so much better off spending that time and energy on their own enterprises.

I’ve had my business 5 years now, for the first 2.5 years I didn’t spend 1 cent on ads, Facebook and Instagram would convert just from posting to my following. The challenge for me wasn’t what copy to use to convert, it was how frequently I could post to convert, without being spammy to my followers. Then algorithms changed, anything looking like an ad was throttled, and now a majority of revenue comes from paid ads. I don’t control that, I can only adapt to it.
Maybe there’s a conspiracy about Gymshark and how it started and converted in the early days, maybe not. Either way it doesn’t matter to today’s climate. Produce, sell, grow, move forward... that’s all we can do.

 

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[biophase]

This is a great video example of someone launching a new product and crushing it.

View: https://youtu.be/LvDYgSWT8F0

So my friend sent me some of these for Christmas and I must say that they are damn good candy. I gave some to my friends and they want to buy more. They will have to wait until his next batch is in.

So since I've made that post in Oct, this guy has probably sold over $250,000 in candy in the past 2 months.

 

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[carlissa91]

One question that I always get is "I don't know what product to sell." My answer now is always, that's not the right question. Thinking of the product first is backwards.

The question is, "who will benefit from my business?", "why do I want to start that business?" and "what business do I want to start?"

When you ask "who will benefit from my business", your answer should not be, "I would because I make money, then I get to buy stuff". The answer should be that your customer benefits. But is the customer truly benefiting? Think about this. Let's say you are selling a coffee mug. You put your brand name ABC on it. You want to sell it for $10, like everyone else's.

So now your customer can buy your $10 mug or a competitor's $10 mug. How do they benefit when they buy yours? Well if the competitor is ROGUE and your brand is ABC, we could say that their customer is benefiting because a ROGUE mug means something. It could signal that this customer is into Crossfit. Maybe he uses ROGUE equipment and likes the brand. However, if you just made up a brand name, then what does having a mug that says ABC mean to the customer. You don't build a brand by making up a name and a logo.

Let's compare your $10 ABC mug to another mug Super Happy Dragon Company, that is selling for $9. Now your customer is getting less benefit buying yours vs. the Super Happy Dragon Company. The Super Happy Dragon Company customer's benefit is that their customers will save $1 by purchasing their mug.

Now, let's say you improve the mug so that coffee stays warmer for longer in your special mug. Well this changes the whole "who will benefit from my business" question doesn't it. Now it's clear to you AND your customer that purchasing ABC mug will give them hotter coffee for longer. This is clearly a benefit.

On the other hand, instead of improving the mug, you go the branding route. You sell a regular coffee mug, but instead of ABC, you put a picture of Taylor Swift on it (just assume here that she's ok with it). Now it's clear again to you AND your customer that purchasing ABC mug let's our customer signal that he/she is a Taylor Swift fan. This is clearly a benefit.

When you ask "why do I want to start that business", your answer should not be, "to make money so that I can buy stuff". Maybe your answer is "to make money so that I can buy my mom a nice house", and while that is a noble reason, it's still not a real reason to start a business. Imagine if Nike's was, NIKE, buy our shoes so that I can buy my mom a mansion. Nobody would be NIKEs, because nobody cares about the CEO's mom's house.

Most people want freedom from a job, to be financial free, etc... These are all great internal reasons but you need an external reason. People won't buy from you because you want freedom. They buy from you when you solve an external problem. This is mainly the pain point question that MJ talks about.

I'll give you one of my super nichey pain points. When I'm riding my mountain bike deep in the mountains, I carry a firearm and bear spray. The problem is that neither of these can be deployed until I stop my bike and use both hands. So my "why do I want to start that business" answer is, because I need a way to easily access my bear spray with one hand and while riding.

As you can see, with that question answered, the answer to the next question "what business do I want to start?" is pretty simple. I want to start a business that makes easy access bear spray packs.

Ok, let's jump back to the "who will benefit from my business" question with regards to my easy access bear spray pack business now. They are thousands of biking backpacks out there. But none have a side opening or a method to hook bear spray to where you can reach around and grab it. Imagine the marketing, "With my new easy access bear spray pack, you can take your bear spray out in 2 seconds vs. 15". Isn't it pretty clear who benefits now? That could be the difference of life and death on the trail. Easy marketing right?

When you go through these steps, in the end it should be pretty clear how you are going to market your product. Using the example above, imagine the keywords you would use in a PPC campaign, imagine which influencers or youtuber you would pitch it to. It's pretty clear right? It markets itself. Can you already think of the videos that you can make on social? Content is easy when your product has a purpose.

The problem I see with most people trying to start a product business is that they never think, "how am I going to market this?" Amazon or Shopify is NOT an answer.

If you have read my bees thread you can see this process in action. To summarize it here, I'm trying to figure out a way to help increase the bee population. I haven't figure it out yet. But you will see that I'm going backwards. I haven't even thought about a product yet.

So let's run through the questions.

Who will benefit from my business?

In this case it is the bees that would benefit. Humans would indirectly benefit. Because I haven't figured it out yet on that thread, let's just assume that I decide that donating 50% proceeds to the USA beekeeping foundation(USABKF, I just made that up) is the best course of action.

Why do I want to start that business?

Because I care about the environment, nature and animals.

What business do I want to start?

So here's the incredible part! Does the product matter? The purpose of my business is to donate 50% to the USABKF. So now I need to figure out a product. It should be high volume because my goal is to donate as much as possible. So now I pick something. (As I look around my desk) Sunglasses! Bee Sunglasses! Now I source high quality sunglasses just like everyone else trying to get into the sunglasses market. But guess what? I already know how I'm going to market it and I'm sure you do too.

Thank you for taking the time to create such an insightful post. This will go over a lot of people’s heads because of the simplicity yet difficulty of getting past the ego to see the gold in between the lines. Shifting my perspective from focusing solely on my personal desires for financial freedom has helped me stay focused on creating solutions that help solve needs.

The customer is the one who's buying the solution so that is where the money to live freely comes from. So, it only makes sense to work on understanding the pain points of the market to create something around those needs. I am working on creating a company and being in the game for the long haul. I see that requires patience, creativity and calculated risk taking to build something substantial.

Not everyone is willing to go the route of the least trodden path because of uncertainty and fear of the unknown. There’s nothing wrong with playing it safe but long-term success comes to those who stand out from the crowd and create somethings others grow to love and benefit from.

 

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[NMdad]

This is why I feel like many people still don't get it.

The bee example has been in my brain since early this year, so that's 5-6 months of brainstorming. The bear spray pack has been in my brain for 2 years. I've modified my packs and tested a few things. But honestly, it's like the 5th most important idea I have right now so I work on it when I'm bored with my current business.

I have a few others bouncing in my head that I can't 100% grasp. These ideas all marinate and come up to the surface one day. And when they do, they usually crush it because of the brain power used to get to launch day, not because of the marketing put in after launch day. So in 2025 when my bear spray backpack brand crushes it, you all won't think it was because of I just copied some other backpack and made a slight change and launched it in 3 months.

Agree. That marinating & ruminating about a problem, even though it seems non-action-y, is useful, since you eventually come up with solutions that you wouldn't have if you tried brute-forcing the ideation. (Although some techniques for ideation can be useful).

The other thing I find that's useful for the marinating phase is exposing myself to info & ideas from all kinds of random domains--from concrete to microbiology to sewage treatment to origami, whatever. There are ideas, concepts, practices, mental models, etc. from other domains that might be applied to whatever problem you're working on. For example, ideas from origami are being applied to satellites & space probes. But first, you need to acquire that storehouse of ideas, concepts, etc. before you can apply them.

 

[DeletedUser0287]

Yup, because he's considered a celeb of sorts, he can easily tell retailers / distributors (especially the smaller ones) to stock his products by showing them all his social media accounts. Tbh, what "Need" does his sour stripes candies fulfil, other than letting his customers feel like they're part of the Maxx Chewning "nation" / crew, which in turn makes them feel a step up from the rest of the population? Well, I guess getting an identity from eating candies fulfils a sort of need (similar to Supreme and other brands that are 99.9% based on pure branding).

Yeah you nailed it on the head. The value is being a part of something.

People who found their purpose (I am assuming you did), find absolutely no value in this stuff. Neither do I.

People who don’t have a purpose/identity/status love this stuff. People need meaning. If you found meaning on your own, it looks as if these influencers provide near zero value.

That’s why most of these big time influencers have audience of children. Children have a higher probability of not having a purpose.

 

[Raoul Duke]

Creating Businesses That Print Money With Billy Murphy - Eventual Millionaire

The four-step process you need to go through BEFORE you even think of starting a business. What you should never do in your marketing. How to start successfully even if you're the last competitor in super saturated market. Why you don't need funnels and Facebook ads. Do this and everyone will...

eventualmillionaire.com

 

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[BellaPippin]

Who will benefit from my business?

In this case it is the bees that would benefit. Humans would indirectly benefit. Because I haven't figured it out yet on that thread, let's just assume that I decide that donating 50% proceeds to the USA beekeeping foundation(USABKF, I just made that up) is the best course of action.

Why do I want to start that business?

Because I care about the environment, nature and animals.

What business do I want to start?

So here's the incredible part! Does the product matter? The purpose of my business is to donate 50% to the USABKF. So now I need to figure out a product. It should be high volume because my goal is to donate as much as possible. So now I pick something. (As I look around my desk) Sunglasses! Bee Sunglasses! Now I source high quality sunglasses just like everyone else trying to get into the sunglasses market. But guess what? I already know how I'm going to market it and I'm sure you do too.

Bio I'm in a similar situation as yours, and I'm stuck after answering this questions... let me explain

Who will benefit from my business?
I want to help the homeless population in Chicago by donating proceeds to shelters focusing on personal hygiene needs, ultimately what I want is to offer a place where they can shower and change clothes but that's far along the line so let's stop at "donating proceeds"

Why do I want to start that business?

Because I care about helping people back on their feet, and it must be difficult to not feel helpless when your clothes suck and you are (and feel) so dirty people can't share a train car with you. Homeless women have to deal with periods, on top of that.

What business do I want to start?

I've decided on private labeling a line of hygiene products, that can be sold individually or in like a gift-basket like Bath and Body works stuff.

Here's where I'm stuck:

This is actually the exact opposite way that I work. I look for stuff that is hard to do. It weeds out a lot of potential competition.

So then the product does matter, to some extent. Sunglasses aren't anything unique YET you skew the value because of your business proposition (It's like TOMS. Those slip-ons have been worn by the gauchos since colony times, but it's the buy one we give one that makes people drop $30+ in those things...then they also became trendy, not sure how I just saw them more and more).

Am I on the right train of thought here? Because I keep wondering what's the Entry difficulty on private labeling lotions/shampoo etc. when your value proposition is something like ours. If you indeed were to do something simple as sunglasses, would it really work?

I mean I've seen ads for bath bombs shaped like kitties that help pandas on Instagram, but I have no idea whether they are selling stuff or not.

@MJ DeMarco I'd love your feedback on this too, the ratemybusinessidea tool gives me like a C+ to A- depending on (because I don't know what to choose) how I rate Entry, Need, Size of market.

 

[eliquid]

4. Come up with me-too versions of several hot products.
5. Improve them in some by adding features or benefits the original lacks.

My presentation at the last summit sorta touched on this.

I didn't have the "hot products" part, but I talked about how being an authority would help you add features and benefits to products to already similar existing products and enable you to build something you can then sell.

My presentation talked a lot about my SaaS, but it could be done with products too ( or info products ).

.

 

[biophase]

I've been up all night and my mind might be off... But, that intro post was golden. And I felt like contributing to the bear attack prevention while on a bike idea;

• What about having the bear spray as a detachable handle that would replace the existing handle on the bike's handlebar?
• Also, what about bear tazers? Is that a thing?

I think it would make your handlebar uneven in weight, which would suck to ride with. The cans are also pretty big.

No, that's not a thing. Bears have so much fur and fat that I doubt a tazer would do much.

 

[Bertram]

What if you hooked the can to the middle of the bike (I dunno bike parts, sorry) and then used a little hose and nozzle fixed to the center of the bike handles? If you used a pump mechanism like they have for pesticide.. it could work to shoot a spray out ahead of the bike..

How long does the pressure of those pump nozzles last? Could you pressurize it before the bike ride easily? The pressure would diminish over time.

Does the spray HAVE to be at the bears eyes? I mean if it’s directly in front of the bike that won’t help.. you’d have to ride straight at the bear.

Okay I did a little research. Turns out bear spray is more effective than guns when used correctly but because ppl always put it in their backpacks instead of having it handy - they get hurt.

Then this quote stood out :

“He and government officials recommend that consumers choose a brand with a minimum net content of 7.9 ounces (225 grams) that can discharge a wide cloud of atomized spray up to 30 feet (9 meters) for seven seconds.”

My idea is you make your own proprietary blend, put it in a canister that can be pumped to the right amount prior to the bike ride and it mounts in the middle of the bike with a tiny hind the hose to the front which jets out the cloud.

I have no idea if that’s possible.

Bear encounters are so annoying. I've had thirteen on trails.
Just affix a can of bear spray with bungie cords to a handlebar pack. Or design a pack with this exterior stretch cord feature on the pack lid.
I'm so grateful to be able to wander through the mountains away from the brown and grizzly habitat.
Peace of mind!
The spray cloud can blow back on you if there's a breeze. It has to be a strong spray stream.
The bear is just as likely to approach from the side or behind the bike.
The can must be extended at arms' length and detached from the bike, in case the rider has jumped off.
There's nothing more unpleasant in life than dealing with a surprised, unknown bear.
Bear cubs and juveniles can be sweet and pleasant to be around if they're accustomed to humans. At the climbing school in Teton National Park, cubs hang out with rock cimbers on climb, just browsing on shrubs within 10-20 feet. They're cinnamon red, nut brown, black, coffee, so cute, unless the tourists disturb them,
But wild bears in the back country are such a pain.
The ones that keep away are OK.
If a bear stands ground or becomes curious, misery sets in. And it's a terrible thing to discover when you've been stalked, after the fact, and had absolutely no clue that it was happening.
These are never good moments.
The danger to cyclists is that pedaling triggers the chase instinct. So the rider has to be off pedaling before the bear sees him.
Loud bells and conversation are good deterrents.


What about a radar device, constucted just like a thin little 2 foot long cable, attached like a little lightweight tail to the back of the bike helmet. It floats on the breeze.
It would be a heat sensor of some kind and alert the riders of any creatures over 300 pounds within a 300 foot radius.

 

[NMdad]

Speaking of product ideas and adding value - check out this video of a design expert offering design improvement ideas to kitchen devices:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w08XDXjJhsQ


This is what improving a product in your niche MAY look like.

He uses the products normally, then simulates and consider common frustrations, and then talks about how he might go about improving the products.

That's a really interesting video--fascinating to see his process:

• the oiled left-hand test (not what you might think...),
• the way he thinks about what & how to improve the products,
• how he tests items & what he looks for,
• his criteria for evaluating items.

 

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[PureA]

I buy sour gummies from time to time at gas station. I have a few goto candies that I always get during a roadtrip. The need is that somebody wants to eat candy at the time that they purchase it.

I don't know about you, but I find videos like that inspiring. Just curious what you think about Gymshark? Can he only build a $7M gym and office because of he's internet famous?

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Lb0mOfsT1E

Just some background to hammer down the point made. The gymshark founder had zero notoriety or following before gymshark. The worldwide brand came first, notority second, in this case...

 

[DeletedUser0287]

I buy sour gummies from time to time at gas station. I have a few goto candies that I always get during a roadtrip. The need is that somebody wants to eat candy at the time that they purchase it.

I don't know about you, but I find videos like that inspiring. Just curious what you think about Gymshark? Can he only build a $7M gym and office because of he's internet famous?

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Lb0mOfsT1E

Gymshark guy is better example of success.

Eating candy isn’t a need, it is a want. 99.9% of things are wants.

But then again, you can always make the argument of: “Does the world need another candy brand?”

I find it a common pattern in these forums that if someone is successful with a product. Everyone changes their narrative so they are “right.”

Successful candy product comes up: “Yeah man, this totally fills a needs. I eat candy when I travel. Kids love candy”

Failure candy product gets posted to this forum: “I told you guys, does the world really need a candy product? There are so many. No wonder why it Failed. Candy provides no value.”

In this day an age, the asking yourself if there is a need is a total waste of time.

There is success in even the most obscure stuff. Markets that we don’t even know exist.

Which is why I tell people to actually follow your passion. The true needs in world are filled for 1st world countries. Food, water, shelter, hygiene, heat, etc. With passion, there is no such thing as giving up or getting tired. That is what makes you win.

If you look at these success guys, they literally chose their passion. They are the spitting image (perfect customer archetype) if there was one. Can you imagine anyone else besides someone like Christian Guzman running Alphalete? Since we are on the topic of these fitness dudes, that I studied in the past.

 

[BellaPippin]

Ok, so your overall goal is to build a place where the homeless can come and shower and wash up. So you start a hygiene line of soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo and towels. You'd position it that a portion of proceeds is going to towards a fund that will purchase a building and renovate it for the homeless. Maybe you need $1M to do this. You'd probably need to sell $5M of product to get there. Maybe it will take 5 years to do it.

Launching a brand with this type of laser focus is pretty easy when it comes down to branding, marketing and vision. Just make sure your product is high quality and that your goal is communicated to the consumer.

I'd probably launch a shampoo and body wash company if I were doing this. The product actually is congruent with your goal.

Ahhhh I hadn't thought of making a fund/buying a building myself! I had only thought of renting space. Brilliant! lol

And yes that is the idea, I think I might add some body lotion for utility or upsell purposes but yes Shampoo/Conditioner and Body Wash are a must.

 

[Suzanne Bazemore]

Maybe, @biophase, combine the bears and bees ideas. Give some proceeds from the bear repellent product to bees.

I'll have to read your bee thread. Thanks for linking.

 

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[Suzanne Bazemore]

Or maybe deploy the bear spray with a Spider-Man style hand/wrist shooter.

Now you're talking. That might even get my son to quit pestering me to buy a firearm for bear protection. Not that I'm opposed to it, I just have a personal philosophy of not spending money unless I'm making money, and I am trying to get on fastlane track right now, and I don't want to dip into my investment funds to buy a firearm.

 

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[GIlman]

FRONTIERSMAN 7.9 Ounce Bear Spray

This Frontiersman Bear Attack Deterrent 7.9 oz fires up to 30’ and boasts 2.0% CRC. Watch the bear spray video and protect yourself.

www.sabrered.com

I know it was an illustrative example. But looks like someone saw that itch and figured out ONE way to solve it. The example of easy access backpack obviously provides similar value, but expands the use case, I.e. could be useful for more than biking. Great tread and example thought process @biophase.

 

[Strm]

Thanks for this @biophase , I really needed this.
It's pretty common sense when I come to think about it but for some reason I always try to look at what others are doing. Should focus on the everyday life more and not be so selfish. Long term!

Great thread!

 

[Primeperiwinkle]

What if you hooked the can to the middle of the bike (I dunno bike parts, sorry) and then used a little hose and nozzle fixed to the center of the bike handles? If you used a pump mechanism like they have for pesticide.. it could work to shoot a spray out ahead of the bike..

How long does the pressure of those pump nozzles last? Could you pressurize it before the bike ride easily? The pressure would diminish over time..

Does the spray HAVE to be at the bears eyes? I mean if it’s directly in front of the bike that won’t help.. you’d have to ride straight at the bear.

Okay I did a little research. Turns out bear spray is more effective than guns when used correctly but because ppl always put it in their backpacks instead of having it handy - they get hurt.

Then this quote stood out :

“He and government officials recommend that consumers choose a brand with a minimum net content of 7.9 ounces (225 grams) that can discharge a wide cloud of atomized spray up to 30 feet (9 meters) for seven seconds.”

My idea is you make your own proprietary blend, put it in a canister that can be pumped to the right amount prior to the bike ride and it mounts in the middle of the bike with a tiny hose to the front which jets out the cloud.

I have no idea if that’s possible.

 

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[PureA]

Bio, what are your thoughts around building a company after the first product is flying?

To use your example, you have the bear spray backpack, it's selling well.

What next? You want to expand your brand...

Do you look to differentiate every additional product you launch to the same degree?

Or, do you 'piggyback' off the established brand? Releasing products your existing customers would be interested in that are 5% better than the competition, rather than the quantum leap 25-100% that your first product had?

p.s. great post @JAJT

 

[DeletedUser0287]

I don't think that guy is a good example. He already has a base of 398,000 Youtube subscribers (and God knows how much more on Twitter/FB/Instagram). This is basically a case of Kylie Jenner or Gary V using existing fame to sell any product, and it will sell, because people buy it for the "Kylie/Maxx Chewning/Gary V" brand; they want to be associated with them through the products.

$500,000 / $19.90 per pack = ~25,000 people bought his candy, not difficult considering his existing fame.

If he is an unknown lawn mower who decides to do the same thing, it would have taken him far longer (assuming it even took off) to make $500,000 in 30 mins (and again, this could be just a marketing gimmick to further boost social proof and create FOMO).

Also, looking at his other company (the apparel one), it's just generic clothes, and it still sells, because his fans love him and buy it to support him, while getting clothes at the same time.

What I like about the video is how, despite hitting road blocks, he spent 1.5 years just for sourcing alone lol

Btw, one (disgusting) trend I noticed nowadays is 'wokewashing' / 'greenwashing' and it seems to work well as a business model (until the world wakes up and tires of it).
Basically, find a cause (save the world, save the cows, save the sand, save the rocks, save greta thunberg etc...), then sell products related to the cause. You tell your customers you'll donate 20% of the profits to that related charity, and those folks will buy it lol.

Yeah it is bad example. Some one reading this thread is going to try to do the same thing not realizing that the only reason it sold was his marketing base.

The guy trying to do the same thing will be stuck with thousands of candy at home CRYING.

Edit: also easy for him to get into distributors now too. He can say I sold X amount candies in X minutes. Regular guy doing this will have zero metrics to back him up. Distributors don’t want to risk money in new product, unless proven sales.

 

[Xeon]

Edit: also easy for him to get into distributors now too. He can say I sold X amount candies in X minutes. Regular guy doing this will have zero metrics to back him up. Distributors don’t want to risk money in new product, unless proven sales.

Yup, because he's considered a celeb of sorts, he can easily tell retailers / distributors (especially the smaller ones) to stock his products by showing them all his social media accounts. Tbh, what "Need" does his sour stripes candies fulfil, other than letting his customers feel like they're part of the Maxx Chewning "nation" / crew, which in turn makes them feel a step up from the rest of the population? Well, I guess getting an identity from eating candies fulfils a sort of need (similar to Supreme and other brands that are 99.9% based on pure branding).

 

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[DeletedUser0287]

Limiting mindset:
He's only successful because he has XXXX or because he uses XXXX.

Correction:

Looking at the core reason why he had success, Accepting reality so I can duplicate:
He's only successful because he has XXXX or because he uses XXXX

Growth mindset:
I need to understand how to access an audience before launching a product.

Correction:

Growth mindset:
I need to understand how to build/own an audience before launching a product.

 

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[Xeon]

I don't know about you, but I find videos like that inspiring. Just curious what you think about Gymshark? Can he only build a $7M gym and office because of he's internet famous?

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Lb0mOfsT1E

Nope, Gymshark's origin story is mysterious and unclear. The story may well be written and decided after he got success to make it more inspiring and relatable.

I first heard about them in early 2018, and when articles start raving and hyping this brand, I did some digging.

In 2012, this 19 year old kid used to sell supplements, then quit due to poor margins / low profits.
Then, out of nowhere, he suddenly decided to sell clothing, working out of his parent's basement. Yes, always basements, always garages. The stuff of Silicon Valley lol

The guy had no game plan, no technical wear-engineering background, no nothing.
Goes on to develop a fitted tracksuit and brought that to BodyPower Expo, a fitness con.
If I remember correctly, he did this himself and didn't hire any technical clothing designer to do it (correct me if I'm wrong).

After coming home from the expo, he put the product online, and bam. Just like that, overnight, it went nuts and viral, and the rest is history. No FB ads, no IG ads, no nothing.

Articles mentioned that he relied purely on social media fashion influencers, but that would have been AFTER Gymshark got some traction and went big. In 2012, these influencers stuff didn't exist and it was only after around 2015 when Instagram blew up.

Even brands with revolutionary products take time to get "recognition", unless it's a cure for balding.

What I always suspect about Gymshark, is that the young founder is just a face of the company.
I won't be surprised if his dad is the one that runs the show.

After all, for an edgy gym fitness brand, you need the founder to look muscular and youthful, so that their target market (young college frat bros and sorority chicks) would buy into it.

The thing is, all these "success stories" should be taken with a pinch of salt, enjoyable as bedtime reading stories to feel good.
Many of them just happened to be in the right place at the right time; if you try to replicate or "learn" from them, it won't work.

Here's an example:

Her method of making it big was during the botting days of Instagram, where she owned a network of large pages (millions of followers per IG page), which then shouted out her products to get it in front of millions of viewers. This method is very difficult to pull off nowadays due to changes in IG, so if you try to "replicate" her success, good luck.

 

[DeletedUser0287]

Isn't that the definition of a need? If it is a success, then people "needed" or wanted it, it could be something that they didn't know that they needed, like an Ipad.

Candy obviously fills a need, else why do people buy it. Why don't I just get gas and leave, why do I wander the aisles looking for skittles or tic tacs? There's a need there.

However, what you are failing to understand is that if you make a shitty tasting candy and it doesn't sell, it is because YOUR candy provided no value, not because candy itself is of no value.

I don't wander the gas station aisle looking for shitty candy, I may try something new and if it sucks I would never buy it again. So if the gas station doesn't reorder it, it's because of the brand of candy, not because of candy itself. Then that particular candy eventually fails.

It is a want that people justify as a need. Wants and needs both make money regardless.

You need to look beyond success and failure and look at the process.

If you are solving a problem/gap/need/want... then whether you succeed or fail, the thought process can be seen as a success, even if the company ultimately fails.

Failure/learning is necessary for success, but telling yourself that a company fails is still a success is called delusion. My company just failed and I a smiling...said no one ever.

Nobody has ever said "don't follow your passion".
A more accurate statement is "the market doesn't care about your passion" (IE: they don't buy your emotions, interests, and love, they buy products that solve problems, fill gaps, etc).

If you can solve a problem regarding a topic you're passionate about - that's a golden goose and should be absolutely encouraged to lay as many eggs as possible. But if you can't find a need to solve within your passion - you should absolutely avoid it, no matter how much you love it.

Man...you have been on this forum far longer than I have. People here specifically say "Don't follow your passion." Just search passion and you will majority thrash it.

Nope, Gymshark's origin story is mysterious and unclear. The story may well be written and decided after he got success to make it more inspiring and relatable.

I first heard about them in early 2018, and when articles start raving and hyping this brand, I did some digging.

In 2012, this 19 year old kid used to sell supplements, then quit due to poor margins / low profits.
Then, out of nowhere, he suddenly decided to sell clothing, working out of his parent's basement. Yes, always basements, always garages. The stuff of Silicon Valley lol

The guy had no game plan, no technical wear-engineering background, no nothing.
Goes on to develop a fitted tracksuit and brought that to BodyPower Expo, a fitness con.
If I remember correctly, he did this himself and didn't hire any technical clothing designer to do it (correct me if I'm wrong).

After coming home from the expo, he put the product online, and bam. Just like that, overnight, it went nuts and viral, and the rest is history. No FB ads, no IG ads, no nothing.

Yeah I was aware of Gymshark very very early. It was weird, they just exploded.

@biophase the gym is a byproduct of his other successes.

If you have no money, you are forced to do a me-too product. Hence, guy started with supplement dropshipping. Obviously, it produced little cash because it was a me too product easily seen by its low margin attribute. Which is why I state again, that you need money to make money, especially in ecommerce. Just like what @JAJT said, a me too has a poor foundation aka zero point in even building a me too (home with poor foundation).

Articles mentioned that he relied purely on social media fashion influencers, but that would have been AFTER Gymshark got some traction and went big. In 2012, these influencers stuff didn't exist and it was only after around 2015 when Instagram blew up.

Even brands with revolutionary products take time to get "recognition", unless it's a cure for balding.

What I always suspect about Gymshark, is that the young founder is just a face of the company.
I won't be surprised if his dad is the one that runs the show.


After all, for an edgy gym fitness brand, you need the founder to look muscular and youthful, so that their target market (young college frat bros and sorority chicks) would buy into it.

Yeah absolutely vital that the founder be the poster child of the ideal customer. Although, I actually believe he is the true owner. I have never seen a success in this space where the owner was not passionate/target demographic for the customer.

Gymshark's value for the initial tracksuit was the fit. At the time everything fit poorly for athletic physiques. Since ready to wear (RTW) is mostly made for everyone, but no one at the same time. V-taper vs. rectangle shaped body. In order to create this higher value he needed knowledge and more money than a me too business.

I am doing technical sewn products as well.

The thing is, all these "success stories" should be taken with a pinch of salt, enjoyable as bedtime reading stories to feel good.
Many of them just happened to be in the right place at the right time; if you try to replicate or "learn" from them, it won't work.

Here's an example:

Her method of making it big was during the botting days of Instagram, where she owned a network of large pages (millions of followers per IG page), which then shouted out her products to get it in front of millions of viewers. This method is very difficult to pull off nowadays due to changes in IG, so if you try to "replicate" her success, good luck.

Yeah the Foundr magazine was selling an ecommerce course leveraging her success. They didn't really advertise the fact that she had a very large audience initially when marketing this course. They make crazy metrics like, I got 1,000 orders in one day on LAUNCH to sell the program. Every person taking course, most likely doesn't have an audience and think they can also get those same metrics. When they launch and don't get the same metric they get depressed. A total mismatch of expectations. Which is why I though Chewning example is awful for newbies. Prepare for depression people and lots of money lost. As long as you understand they got those metrics because of an initial audience.

He goes into a lot of detail on his channel about how he got started.



You grab a sowing machine and you learn how to make clothes. We just to do this in University with surf bags.

This is what I'm doing although significantly more advanced.

edit: first thing he says is that he“loves” to make things. #followyourpassion

edit2: “It never felt like work because we were always creating what we loved”

Your post has so many limiting beliefs and false assumptions. Work on that mindset.

Bruh...his post is GOLD