I posted in r/entrepreneur but didn’t get any notice. Hoping someone here can give me some advice.

So I’ve to created an MVP product in my industry as a learning experience - a trial in everything I know nothing about. Marketing, ads, sales, etc.

I know my industry very well but I’ve not had to wear many hats, so to speak. I’d love to get some advice m

What should I be doing to get this product noticed?

A few considerations:

  • My industry is low margin so I don’t want to throw a ton of money at it as it will likely be slow return. I’m thinking maybe $2000 and seeing what that returns. I chose this sum as its a trial project and learning experience. However, I can increase if value is shown.

  • My industry is dominated by amazon so listing the product there is enough for this trial (and my focus for kickstarting this project). Potential for other lower return areas in the future but would take some man hours to get going.

  • The product is on its own; just like a fresh company would be doing. It’s the first product to hit the shelves.

Where am I now?

  • The product is created, shipped, and ready to list.
  • Profit is low at around $3.20/unit
  • Category sales are low. I’ll be happy with 50-100 units a month, though research shows could be up to 250 units by similar competitors.

So what do I do now?

  • I’m talking to a marketing person. I expect $1000 cost but I don’t really know what to expect from that.

  • I’m researching ads. Using industry rates, I hear $300 a month (separate budget to 2k mentioned above) is good for new product and to increase once key words are determined. I expect 3 months then adjust budget according to results.

What else can I do? I have about $1000 budget room left for this learning experience.

I’m keen to get insights 🙏 Thanks!

  • ManyThingsLittleTime@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    How can you say that it is net when you don’t know what the marketing cost will be yet? That was kind of my point in saying it’s likely gross profit (operating profit).

    It is good that you’re starting small though and just be ready to make essentially no profit and this be a learning experience to improve upon, which it sounds like you’re prepared for.

    • Thim135@alien.topOPBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      Oh right. Fair point. Sorry, this is why I’m doing the trial.

      It’s the net based on production, storage, and distribution.

      • Thim135@alien.topOPBEnglish
        1·
        10 months ago

        Yeah I dunno if I’m being silly here. A lot of the feedback has me questioning if I’m wasting my time with this project.

        I’m really just hoping to learn from the experience. I don’t have free time to explore all of this myself and a lot of what I hope to learn will be valuable in scaling my other business in the future.

        And doing training courses will take time plus money. Any time spent on learning will be less than I’d earn just working, and at the end of the day I’d probably hire out anyway.

        I appreciate the feedback. Thanks!

        • ManyThingsLittleTime@alien.topBEnglish
          1·
          10 months ago

          There are tons of videos on YouTube on how to sell on Amazon and they are free. Really that’s all of the TV you should be consuming if you’re going to undertake this endeavor.

          Learning is good, just try to keep the cost of the mistakes small.