I start my idea today (eCommerce + POD)

[MitchC]

I'm very pissed at myself, I feel like I'm in the same plateau for 5 years now.

I know the feeling, I feel the same right now.

It seems everyone is scaling their shitty stores to the moon and I’m still stuck in the same place.

At least you are taking a lot of action.

What do you think is holding you back?

Also your VA, are they from? onlinejobs.ph or somewhere else? They sound amazing.

Mines okay but I think I need to fire them.

I’ve done the same as you with very specific SOPs and she still doesn’t read them.

 

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[codewareltd]

Theme Forest is the Ecommerce template site, you can visit this site to get ideas. Or Square Space have customize theme to make Ecommerce Website.

 

[Jeannen]

It seems everyone is scaling their shitty stores to the moon and I’m still stuck in the same place.

Exactly, this is so fkign frustrating...

At least you are taking a lot of action.

I feel like I'm not doing shit. When I watch back two or four, other than knowledge, nothing has changed.

What do you think is holding you back?

Hard to say. Big thing rn is money. I started going crazy with product designs, but now I might lose my last consulting client, and so, my only source of income, so I'm a bit more careful.

Delays is also a big thing, waiting for suppliers and customs is annoying as hell

Also your VA, are they from? onlinejobs.ph or somewhere else? They sound amazing.

Yeah, all from onlinejobs.ph

I spend lots of time doing interviews tho, I was able to filter, and I don't consider them as "VA" but as real employees

Mines okay but I think I need to fire them.

I’ve done the same as you with very specific SOPs and she still doesn’t read them.

Lol, I'd have fired her in 2 days if I were you. There are lots of good VAs there, don't waste your time and money with bad ones. Give her a last chance, tell her that you need her to follow the process or you'll fire her

 

[Jeannen]

09/03/2022

I think my main client (and only source of income) want me out. I'm really F*cked if that's the case.


On the other side, I made ads sending people to a "fake" product page. The product page is like a real one, but I don't have the product in stock, so if there is any purchase, I'll just refund them saying it was a mistake or something like that.

That will allow me to test the market, see if people prefer one option compared to another (I have split tests running for the ads) before I spend lots of money on inventory?

My confidence in my ability to create a product people like and make a living from it is getting lower and lower every day now. I do not see myself doing a shitty 9 to 5 job, I do have some cash reserves, but that's a very dangerous situation.

If this product fails, it will my +16th failure or something like that. I really don't know what I will do, and honestly, I've rarely been that stressed.

 

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[thomasdao]

09/03/2022

I think my main client (and only source of income) want me out. I'm really f*cked if that's the case.


On the other side, I made ads sending people to a "fake" product page. The product page is like a real one, but I don't have the product in stock, so if there is any purchase, I'll just refund them saying it was a mistake or something like that.

That will allow me to test the market, see if people prefer one option compared to another (I have split tests running for the ads) before I spend lots of money on inventory?

My confidence in my ability to create a product people like and make a living from it is getting lower and lower every day now. I do not see myself doing a shitty 9 to 5 job, I do have some cash reserves, but that's a very dangerous situation.

If this product fails, it will my +16th failure or something like that. I really don't know what I will do, and honestly, I've rarely been that stressed.

Maybe go seek a mentor, someone who had done what you are trying to do? I'm working as a SEO specialist for a POD ecommerce company, the CEO started out from zero and built everything up. Now the company has multiple stores and dozens employees.

 

[Jeannen]

Maybe go seek a mentor, someone who had done what you are trying to do? I'm working as a SEO specialist for a POD ecommerce company, the CEO started out from zero and built everything up. Now the company has multiple stores and dozens employees.

Well, I know plenty of people who did what I'm looking to do, we exchange tips, but ultimately, what matter is product/market fit

 

[Jeannen]

15/03/2022

Experience results are pretty ok. Not great, but still ok. It's confirming my hypothesis about one product variant over another. I'm sure I can improve the results by bumping my AOV etc.. later.

Anyway, I'm going to invest in inventory, at least if the final product is good. I should receive the last samples today. Hopefully.

Things calmed down a but with my client, so I should be ok, but I'm still struggling with high FB costs.

To give an idea, here are some stats (from a mastermind I'm in) of FB costs today compared to last year. Since they are plummeting in stock, I don't see this going lower anytime soon. It's really time to not rely solely on FB for a business.

 

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[Jeannen]

18/03/2022

The local supplier I found is taking days to reply and is already one week late for the prototype. I feel like this is never going to end. I absolutely hate dealing with suppliers, no matter who I'm dealing with, there is always an issue. Incredible.

Well, seems like I'm not any close to starting selling my product. I once again feel discouraged, it's something I have had to live with daily for a while.
I continued developing the videogame on the side, as I don't really have other stuff to do. I'm pretty happy with my progress, the big bottleneck is graphics. I'm terrible at it, so I have to learn, and I'm probably going to hire someone for the animations.

The progression curve of my income since the beginning of this thread 2 years ago is absolutely flat. Sure, I learned a lot. But so far, nothing has worked as planned. Not a single thing succeeded, that's quite an achievement.

 

[MitchC]

18/03/2022

The local supplier I found is taking days to reply and is already one week late for the prototype. I feel like this is never going to end. I absolutely hate dealing with suppliers, no matter who I'm dealing with, there is always an issue. Incredible.

Well, seems like I'm not any close to starting selling my product. I once again feel discouraged, it's something I have had to live with daily for a while.
I continued developing the videogame on the side, as I don't really have other stuff to do. I'm pretty happy with my progress, the big bottleneck is graphics. I'm terrible at it, so I have to learn, and I'm probably going to hire someone for the animations.

The progression curve of my income since the beginning of this thread 2 years ago is absolutely flat. Sure, I learned a lot. But so far, nothing has worked as planned. Not a single thing succeeded, that's quite an achievement.

The factories are all closed due to a covid outbreak, I’m having the same problem.

It’s never ending.

I’m thinking of ditching ecom, it’s just getting harder and harder every year.

Shipping prices. Delays on production and shipping. Ad costs through the roof. Competition.

My first million podcast keeps saying it’s a 5/10 business model and I’m realising now that they’re right.

If I had put the effort and learning I’ve put in for the last 4-5 years into a better business model, I’d be a millionaire by now.

Edit: sorry this was a little bit negative I didn’t mean to clog your thread with negativity. I was just letting you know it’s not just you, it’s covid outbreak. And then went on a bit of a rant because I can relate to how you feel. I recently realised just how long I’ve been a member of this forum and I’m still not anywhere near where I want to be. I thought it was 3 years but it’s more like 9. Wow.

 

[Antifragile]

Applying zero based thinking: knowing what you now know, would you start this business again? If so, what one thing would you that if you did consistently would change your performance the most? If not, what would you do?

All business experience is useful. Some businesses just take the time to build up. They may look flat, but it could be like priming the water pump before the gush of water comes.

You can do it!

 

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[Jeannen]

The factories are all closed due to a covid outbreak, I’m having the same problem.

It’s never ending.

I’m thinking of ditching ecom, it’s just getting harder and harder every year.

Shipping prices. Delays on production and shipping. Ad costs through the roof. Competition.

My first million podcast keeps saying it’s a 5/10 business model and I’m realising now that they’re right.

If I had put the effort and learning I’ve put in for the last 4-5 years into a better business model, I’d be a millionaire by now.

Edit: sorry this was a little bit negative I didn’t mean to clog your thread with negativity. I was just letting you know it’s not just you, it’s covid outbreak. And then went on a bit of a rant because I can relate to how you feel. I recently realised just how long I’ve been a member of this forum and I’m still not anywhere near where I want to be. I thought it was 3 years but it’s more like 9. Wow.

The worst is that it's a local manufacturer, here in Bali, so there are no covid problems, it's just that they made mistakes on the deadlines and promised things they could not do. I contacted another one, and they told me they couldn't do what I wanted.

Then you see people selling their shitty monkey NFT and making millions, that's truly depressing.

I think there is still potential in eCommerce, but there is no room for a basic product Alibaba, you need to have your own, and sell through other channels. B2B, physical etc...
And no worries, negativity is part of entrepreneurship anyway, I guess it's good to vent sometimes

 

[Jeannen]

Applying zero based thinking: knowing what you now know, would you start this business again? If so, what one thing would you that if you did consistently would change your performance the most? If not, what would you do?

All business experience is useful. Some businesses just take the time to build up. They may look flat, but it could be like priming the water pump before the gush of water comes.

You can do it!

Well, I wish I could actually start, that's the problem... I have proof of demand for this product, it's unique, good margins (enough to be profitable with a $40 cost per acquisition) and give value. If I could do it, yes I would do it

 

[MitchC]

Applying zero based thinking: knowing what you now know, would you start this business again? If so, what one thing would you that if you did consistently would change your performance the most? If not, what would you do?

All business experience is useful. Some businesses just take the time to build up. They may look flat, but it could be like priming the water pump before the gush of water comes.

You can do it!

I know it’s not my thread but I like this question.

I think I would purely because I love physical products.

My new focus and realisation is going for execution risk not market risk. Instead of trying new ideas I’m going to out compete people with existing ideas that work. I’d probably pick usa and Amazon rather than Australia and my own store too for scale.

If I was to do something else I’d make a software or app or plug-in. Something like that is just a way better business model. 100% margins. Unlimited scale. Build it once sell it 1m times. And the revenue is recurring. You can also provide far more value and the price sensitivity is way different. $49 for a widget one off sale might be a lot but that’s cheap for a monthly software plan which has better margins. Some are $199 a month or more.

Otherwise I wish I learnt content and seo not ads. Ad costs keep rising. Ads are a quick way to start and scale a business but it’s a constant treadmill of creating new ads and paying for reach.

 

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[Jeannen]

I know it’s not my thread but I like this question.

I think I would purely because I love physical products.

My new focus and realisation is going for execution risk not market risk. Instead of trying new ideas I’m going to out compete people with existing ideas that work. I’d probably pick usa and Amazon rather than Australia and my own store too for scale.

If I was to do something else I’d make a software or app or plug-in. Something like that is just a way better business model. 100% margins. Unlimited scale. Build it once sell it 1m times. And the revenue is recurring. You can also provide far more value and the price sensitivity is way different. $49 for a widget one off sale might be a lot but that’s cheap for a monthly software plan which has better margins. Some are $199 a month or more.

Otherwise I wish I learnt content and seo not ads. Ad costs keep rising. Ads are a quick way to start and scale a business but it’s a constant treadmill of creating new ads and paying for reach.

I agree on software

I love physical products too, but you need something truly remarkable now to do anything with ads. Everyday there are thousands of junks getting displayed, for me the only way I see eCommerce work now for a new company is to have something amazing that can support organic growth and have a "sharing coefficient > 1"

Example: You sell to someone, he talk about your product to someone and generates one sale. If one on ten people do that, you have a 1.1 coef)

This is the only case I'd think about scaling ads now tbh. If it's 1, you're basically solely relying on marketing to generate sales. The day Zuckerberg is angry, your whole company is F*cked.

Still, I think Ads > SEO, since they have the same "getting f*cked up by algo change" level, but ads are way more scalable.

 

[door123]

I agree on software

I love physical products too, but you need something truly remarkable now to do anything with ads. Everyday there are thousands of junks getting displayed, for me the only way I see eCommerce work now for a new company is to have something amazing that can support organic growth and have a "sharing coefficient > 1"

Example: You sell to someone, he talk about your product to someone and generates one sale. If one on ten people do that, you have a 1.1 coef)

This is the only case I'd think about scaling ads now tbh. If it's 1, you're basically solely relying on marketing to generate sales. The day Zuckerberg is angry, your whole company is f*cked.

Still, I think Ads > SEO, since they have the same "getting f*cked up by algo change" level, but ads are way more scalable.

I would also add, it's much easier to afford ad costs with a recurring physical product, say specific soap or tooth paste and what not. I buy toothpaste that 3x more expensive that colgate bc of hydroxyapatite ingredients. I will continue buying it until I lose my teeth, I'm 26 now.

I currently have a recurring product on AMZ, have 20 active subscriptions and a few daily on off sales. Launched the product late last year, have done nothing to the product since Jan 2022, just refilling inventory.

My point is that recurring products can be hard to get the ball rolling, but easier to sustain the momentum.

 

[Jeannen]

I would also add, it's much easier to afford ad costs with a recurring physical product, say specific soap or tooth paste and what not. I buy toothpaste that 3x more expensive that colgate bc of hydroxyapatite ingredients. I will continue buying it until I lose my teeth, I'm 26 now.

I currently have a recurring product on AMZ, have 20 active subscriptions and a few daily on off sales. Launched the product late last year, have done nothing to the product since Jan 2022, just refilling inventory.

My point is that recurring products can be hard to get the ball rolling, but easier to sustain the momentum.

Yeah, a friend of mine sells a product that is fairly cheap (around 15 bucks) but with a monthly subscription to get one every month. Only issue is when competitors/amazon starts crowding the market, but that's another story

 

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[EquinoxS]

The worst is that it's a local manufacturer, here in Bali, so there are no covid problems, it's just that they made mistakes on the deadlines and promised things they could not do. I contacted another one, and they told me they couldn't do what I wanted.

Then you see people selling their shitty monkey NFT and making millions, that's truly depressing.

I think there is still potential in eCommerce, but there is no room for a basic product Alibaba, you need to have your own, and sell through other channels. B2B, physical etc...
And no worries, negativity is part of entrepreneurship anyway, I guess it's good to vent sometimes

I've been a long-time lurker on this forum and have been following your posts. I wish I could give you some some advice but to be honest you are way ahead of me in the entrepreneurial journey.

So, I'll stick to what I can do. And that is telling you that I deeply admire your dedication and grit! Keep it up, I'm rooting for you!

 

[Jeannen]

I've been a long-time lurker on this forum and have been following your posts. I wish I could give you some some advice but to be honest you are way ahead of me in the entrepreneurial journey.

So, I'll stick to what I can do. And that is telling you that I deeply admire your dedication and grit! Keep it up, I'm rooting for you!

Thanks!

 

[Jeannen]

20/03/2022

No such feeling as having the whole office (co-working) empty to work on a Sunday morning

After thinking, I concluded that right now, considering the current situation, my best leverage to generate more cash is my client. I don't like relying on other people, but this is probably the fastest way I can grow my income so I can reinvest in other stuff.

I get 10% of the ad spend, if I manage to scale his sales (and of course the ad spend), I can probably get $1000-2000 more per month, which I can reinvest.

I'm not sure reinvesting in more projects would help tho, as I'll still have the same issues I currently have.
I could also focus on the video-game studio, but there is a ton of stuff to learn before I can have anything decent.



Here are my current skills for eCommerce-related stuff:

• I know the process to design and manufacture a product (5/10)
• I know how to test the water to see if there is interest in a product before having it (7/10)
• I know the process to import/export products from most countries to US or other places (5/10)
• I know how to make great stores that convert (8/10)
• Maximizing user value with upsells etc (8/10)

(the note is my level of mastery according to me)

What I lack is:

• Finding unique products ideas that give value and not just some re-design from other brands with minor improvements
• Building the marketing directly inside the product, instead of "painting the wall" after it's done
• Storytelling, emotions, and making content worth sharing

However, I see lots of people not even bothering with all the above and making millions. So, I guess I'm overthinking, and probably don't need all that shit.

 

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[Jeannen]

22/03/2022

I received one of the last samples yesterday, which is terrible, so I will not be able to sell this product. I will go for a "lesser version" which is still very good, but less remarkable from a marketing point of view (the product is exactly the same, but there is one less "value skew").

However, this sample gave me an idea for another product I'm sure would work well. Not for now, since it's a high seasonality product, and I'm not sure I would be able to get everything in time. But I still have this in mind.

I might be able to start the production in the upcoming weeks I think. Hopefully.

 

[Jeannen]

25/03/2022

The more I think about it, the less I think I can make it. I'm starting to think about other businesses I could do, as so far, my whole eCommerce experience has been nothing but cumulated failures and a "waste" of money. I guess not everyone can make it.

I'll still give a try to the last product I'm developing, but if it fails, I think I might stop there. I'm not excluding to get back to eCommerce later, but only if I have a truly remarkable product. This is actually a bit confusing because I know lots of people with very basic products who manages to scale like crazy. But yeah, I guess it works differently for each person.


I wrote "waste" because of course, I learned a few things, but at some point, I have to think about $ too.

 

[Jeannen]

29/03/2022

I'm going to move to another cheaper place next month, as my rent price increased and I don't need as much comfort. Also going to reduce my food expense. That way I can keep paying my 3 employees and keep more $ for projects.

Been depressed for the last few days, as lots of shit happened at the same time, but anyway, that's how it is. Being a whining bitch is not gonna change anything.

The supplier I wanted to work with to get an additional value skew underquoted, and the product actually costs 30% more than what was expected. Kinda wasted 3 months because of that, nice.

So, seems like I'm gonna have to produce the stuff in China instead, as this is the only way to get ok prices. I realize that I have 0 leverage on suppliers/partners until I get sales volume. So, this is priority #1.

I'm going to start selling in Australia since the product has seasonality there.

Honestly, the goal isn't necessarily to make a profit anymore, I don't think it will be profitable with advertising & shipping costs, but that will show me how to push a product in the market, and maybe get some leverage to make my product more valuable later. Worst case I'll lose $5000 I guess

If by end of August I'm not having break-even results, I'll stop this project here and move to something else.

Goal #1 is to have everything ready by the end of April.

 

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[Jeannen]

02/03/2022

One of my employee had to resign to take care of her family, and the new employee I hired to replace her cancelled last minute right before I opened the pre-orders, meaning I now have to manage all customer service & social media myself in addition to the rest. Anyway, that's just how it is, whining about it isn't gonna change anything, so, keep grinding.

Spend the last 2 days building my funnel, should be decent. Ads, emails and pages are ready and will be launched tomorrow. I'm doing pre-orders so I can know what quantities are needed and avoid paying the inventory upfront.
If everything goes well (which won't happen for sure), customers will get the product in early May.

I also got a call with a potential client for my agency. They have a very interesting project, so I'll try to make them a really good offer, that will allow me to get some $ in.

I wanted to take a day out tomorrow and let ads work, but seems like I'm not close to taking days off again. part of the process

 

[Jeannen]

03/04/2022

My ads started at 12:00, and I just made my first sale at 14:00. Probably a fluke, but that's still good news.