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

[Xeon]

Which is why I state again, that you need money to make money, especially in ecommerce.

I believe it's possible to make money in ecommerce when starting with very little money.
However, it's going to be an extremely, extremely SLOW grind (e.g: profits $1k this year, then $2.5k next year, then $4k next next year....). Definitely not the "sudden-viral-sudden-explosion" that Gymshark and some other brands have lol

Unless you're Gretta Van Riel and Ivory Ella (this latter one also has their own IG network spanning multi-millions of followers when they first started, which they push products to, around 2015).
And again, to build these vast networks of followers, requires a lot of money in itself.

Also, there's a lot of these companies that boast that they spend no money in advertising.

What they didn't tell you is they spent hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars in other marketing activities, such as organising public events and influencer endorsements to create awareness and sales. One example? Black Milk Clothing lol *cough cough*

Personally, I'm more interested in true rags-to-riches success stories, like you know, that walmart cashier who started a business which went on to be worth 8 figures, or the office clerk who got fired from his job only to start his own 7 figure warehouse company.

 

[Nice_home]

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.

This is one of the most helpful posts I've ever read. Thanks for sharing these simple concepts!

 

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[Ing]

@ biophase,
I really thought, the bear spray story was a joke as an example. I didn’t really think it could be true. But just I remembered 30 years ago, we came along a house with some dogs, when riding.
I don’t know, what bear spray is, but we had CS gas.. I fixed a bottle at each side of each leg and modified it, that once triggered, all gass slowly came out until the bottles were empty.
when approaching the dogs, I triggered ad rode on. It allways worked. The needed a long time to learn.
Maybe that helps.

 

[Suzanne Bazemore]

Why do I suddenly want to google if “bear spray” actually exists.. huh.

ETA: This is actually a thing!!! Lmfao.. they sell it at Walmart. #yourewelcome

I have a can in my room, on my nightstand. I bought 4 cans at Yellowstone National Park, never used it (thank goodness) and now I use it for personal protection (also never used, thank goodness). I gave a can to each of my kids, and they don't know where they are. GRRR. So now I get to spend another $50 to buy more bear spray that I hope to never use.

 

[Dan_Fastlane]

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.

iam literally at this point in my life and iam really stuck! i smashed the idea with the "Sandbags" weeks ago! Because i wasnt sure i wouldnt deliver anything better besides a better sales funnel...

How you and Bill come up with your ideas? are those everyday Problems, are you surfing some e-commerce sites or is it more spontaneous? How you guys get that feeling where to look?

Can i do this approach on Amazon? maybe i think wrong for just looking into online businesses, but i want it really badly so i can leave my current country any day! Hmm sounds a bit selfish

 

[DeletedUser0287]

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.

I’m curious if your method creates a company that you can sell later? I mean if it’s trending then it usually means that sales will decline in the long term.

I do the same thing now. I probably choose things that are too hard actually. Always long now.

 

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[biophase]

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.

I tried that. It holds the bear spray where your water bottle cage is. But on my bike, that wouldn't fit, which is why I need another solution. Most new full suspension bikes can't hold large water bottles now because the rear shock is located there.

 

[carlissa91]

One thing that I've definitely learned in the past year is that ego is what is holding alot of people back. Ryan Holiday's book Ego is the Enemy is great. Reading that combined with my ayahuasca experience has made me very aware of my decisions and how many are ego based. Once you can get rid of ego (or at least minimize it), alot of things become very easy for you.

I absolutely agree and Great job of going outside the box to learn more about yourself. The book 177 Mental toughness secrets of the world class by Steve Siebold is another great book about the reference point of operation in thought that drives successful businesses. The inner framework of thoughts and feelings is where 90% of creation takes place. The other 10% is the process of going through the consistent actions that produce the desired results.

 

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[Antti]

I tried that. It holds the bear spray where your water bottle cage is. But on my bike, that wouldn't fit, which is why I need another solution. Most new full suspension bikes can't hold large water bottles now because the rear shock is located there.

Would something like this be better than a rack on bike? Or does this make riding too uncomfortable. One downside comes to mind about a bike rack, if you are taking a break and away from your bike, you cannot access the spray in case a bear decides to attack you.

 

[biophase]

Would something like this be better than a rack on bike? Or does this make riding too uncomfortable. One downside comes to mind about a bike rack, if you are taking a break and away from your bike, you cannot access the spray in case a bear decides to attack you.

That would work if you were not wearing a backpack. I'd rather have it on me than on my bike.

 

[Devampre]

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?

 

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[Hai]

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.

Maybe I understood incorrectly.
Who is the customer of the bee sunglasses? How does it benefit the customer?
(Bees and the foundation benefits, but that´s like saying mom benefits from it by getting a house)

One thing that I've definitely learned in the past year is that ego is what is holding alot of people back. Ryan Holiday's book Ego is the Enemy is great. Reading that combined with my ayahuasca experience has made me very aware of my decisions and how many are ego based. Once you can get rid of ego (or at least minimize it), alot of things become very easy for you.

Great book! Everyone should read it, especially those who "love what they do" and "follow their passion". Ego and passion seem to be interlinked, which hinders progress.
Help your clients and everything eventually falls in place.

---

So...I have a question.
Assume you see a lot of job listings for "UX design".
So now you already found a need!
Having the skills for the job listing directly solves these B2B needs.
Could be a logical course of action to build the skills, get a job, and later offer those services like an agency does, and then scale with a human resource system?

Is this the kind of need-first thought-process you are encouraging?

 

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[Primeperiwinkle]

Bear encounters are so annoying. I've had thirteen on trails.
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 it.

Ya the bit about blowing back is definitely a concern. So there could be one can and one plastic pump bottle attached to the middle bar between the legs. The can is the aerosol spray which is easily detachable in case a rider has to jump off. The mist could be aimed out the sides of the handlebars so that the wind would push it behind the rider.

Problem solved. IF (and that’s a big if) the tubes and pump system could work... huh.

 

[tmb22]

@biophase what do you think about first starting a brand that just has a website/blog with social media accounts about a certain topic and building up traffic to the website via the blog to like 50,000 page views a month and then start selling products, even if they are kinda "me too" products?

 

[LittleWolfie]

Who will benefit from my business?

Paying customers

 

[AmazingLarry]

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.

Awesome post. I'm going through this process right now as I'm starting a pet product business with my friend. This is a great reminder for what to focus on when developing a product.

There are existing products on the market, but they have their fair share of complaints and negative reviews. That's one area of our focus as well as adding more features that benefit the user.


Regarding the bear spray, that stuff is no joke. My dad had an expired bottle and wanted to see if it sprayed as far as the label claimed. He took it to the top of the staircase in the backyard and sprayed it (I was watching from the bottom of the yard), and I saw a fine mist, invisible to him, carry some remnants back into his face. He was dying from pain for quite a while and I was dying of laughter.


Anyway, I'm also an avid mountain biker and was thinking about how to carry and easily access bear spray while riding. If you wanted it on a backpack, you could have a plastic/metal rotary clip mounted on the lower side of the backpack.
You could then have a mating piece that holds the spray can with Velcro straps or whatever method you want. The two pieces could interlock by aligning them and then twisting the spray can clockwise to secure it in place with a little resistance. The spray can wouldn't detach on its own because your body movement while riding would never really create that sort of twisting force. It would be fast and easy to detach also.
Assuming it was on the right side of the backpack with the spray can upside down, you would reach back with your right hand , grab the can, and twist it by rotating your hand forward. The can would pop off and be oriented correctly in your hand so you could just lift your arm, aim, and spray.
There aren't many bears where I ride, but I could totally see myself using something like this if I rode in an area with bears.

 

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