YoungnBroke
Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
104%
- Jul 21, 2018
- 48
- 50
Hello dear Fastlane Members!
I'm currently setting up a business with a high entry barrier and I want to show you my progress to see that even an idiot like me can do it with enough willpower.
Introduction Summary:
If you haven't read my introduction post here is a short summary.
I'm currently 17 years old doing my A-Levels this year in Austria and had a tough past including alcoholism and other abuse but if you want to know more about that read my 2 introduction posts. I got out of my own shithole because of a friend who said I should go to the gym with him. The first few months I was not convinced and even wanted to stop I would just not show up when we agreed to meet. But instead of exercising alone he would come to my door and ring the bell until I got up. Now I exercise regularly estimated around 6 times a week. But enough about that I will start writing about my business now.
How I got to my business:
So it all started when a friend of my parents came to visit us. He is an entrepreneur and really inspires me since he works 2 weeks a year and also started when he was around my age.
But like 30 years ago. We connected really good and he asked me if we want to visit a fair in Europe the cannabis fair in Prague. We went there and even met up with an old business partner from us who betrayed us a bit but more later I think. So we looked at all the exhibition stands and figured out we want to start a business in the cannabis industry as well because it's currently booming. But we figured out we have to find our own niche and after a bit of time, we found it and figured out we want to proceed in this business. But the fair was in November last year so what did I do in this long time.
Mostly nothing and I'm ashamed as hell of myself for that. Because my partner spent a lot of time searching and connecting with suppliers for our business and also spent a lot of money on testing etc. The entry barrier for businesses concerning food and novel foods is ridiculously high in Europe and I think everywhere else in the world as well.
But back in May I got my a$$ up and started designing a website that is pretty much done now and pretty appealing. Another big factor that I missed, in the beginning, was printing labels and packaging. You have to design them first. And I thought that could be easily done with a 10$ fiverr worker and o boy was I wrong... The law in Europe is pretty harsh concerning what has to be on the label and the packaging. And after revisioning a gig 10 times to a fiverr freelancer I said F*ck it and did it myself. It didn't look bad but it needed a redesign so I asked a friend of my parents who was a graphic designer and she did it together with me.
After that it was time to open up a business and I had to do it under my mother's name which was pretty complicated.
Marketing:
I started looking out for ways to market my product I figured out facebook ads and Influencer Marketing are very good in my niche. So I wrote like 20 influencers and didn't get a response... But with one influencer I got a response and she is currently sitting at around 200000 followers. I thought wow once she promotes my product we will have a few sales. But of course, such a big influencer costs quite a lot of money and you can't pay here through an affiliate program. And currently, she's trying our product.
And another big problem is facebook you can't advertise with cbd products on facebook and this is a huge drawback and even increases the entry barrier. But I'm currently researching other ways to market such as Pinterest, Snapchat etc.
So in summary what have I done already?
I'm currently setting up a business with a high entry barrier and I want to show you my progress to see that even an idiot like me can do it with enough willpower.
Introduction Summary:
If you haven't read my introduction post here is a short summary.
I'm currently 17 years old doing my A-Levels this year in Austria and had a tough past including alcoholism and other abuse but if you want to know more about that read my 2 introduction posts. I got out of my own shithole because of a friend who said I should go to the gym with him. The first few months I was not convinced and even wanted to stop I would just not show up when we agreed to meet. But instead of exercising alone he would come to my door and ring the bell until I got up. Now I exercise regularly estimated around 6 times a week. But enough about that I will start writing about my business now.
How I got to my business:
So it all started when a friend of my parents came to visit us. He is an entrepreneur and really inspires me since he works 2 weeks a year and also started when he was around my age.
But like 30 years ago. We connected really good and he asked me if we want to visit a fair in Europe the cannabis fair in Prague. We went there and even met up with an old business partner from us who betrayed us a bit but more later I think. So we looked at all the exhibition stands and figured out we want to start a business in the cannabis industry as well because it's currently booming. But we figured out we have to find our own niche and after a bit of time, we found it and figured out we want to proceed in this business. But the fair was in November last year so what did I do in this long time.
Mostly nothing and I'm ashamed as hell of myself for that. Because my partner spent a lot of time searching and connecting with suppliers for our business and also spent a lot of money on testing etc. The entry barrier for businesses concerning food and novel foods is ridiculously high in Europe and I think everywhere else in the world as well.
But back in May I got my a$$ up and started designing a website that is pretty much done now and pretty appealing. Another big factor that I missed, in the beginning, was printing labels and packaging. You have to design them first. And I thought that could be easily done with a 10$ fiverr worker and o boy was I wrong... The law in Europe is pretty harsh concerning what has to be on the label and the packaging. And after revisioning a gig 10 times to a fiverr freelancer I said F*ck it and did it myself. It didn't look bad but it needed a redesign so I asked a friend of my parents who was a graphic designer and she did it together with me.
After that it was time to open up a business and I had to do it under my mother's name which was pretty complicated.
Marketing:
I started looking out for ways to market my product I figured out facebook ads and Influencer Marketing are very good in my niche. So I wrote like 20 influencers and didn't get a response... But with one influencer I got a response and she is currently sitting at around 200000 followers. I thought wow once she promotes my product we will have a few sales. But of course, such a big influencer costs quite a lot of money and you can't pay here through an affiliate program. And currently, she's trying our product.
And another big problem is facebook you can't advertise with cbd products on facebook and this is a huge drawback and even increases the entry barrier. But I'm currently researching other ways to market such as Pinterest, Snapchat etc.
So in summary what have I done already?
- Found a business partner a mentor and a great friend.
- We found a reliable source for our product because we can't manufacture it ourselves he is also located in Europe so that is an extra bonus
- I got my but up and designed a logo a website and packaging plus labels.
- I opened up the business
- I'm currently working or in progress working with a big influencer
- Get our first sale because we haven't gotten it yet
- Figure out new ways to advertise (F.E. Pinterest, Snapchat ....)
- Get our affiliate system up and running so I can recruit customers to become affiliates
- Go to a big fair (which is currently quite impossible due to corona virus.)
- Do 80kg/176 pounds on the bench press (Currently at 60kg/132lb)
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