You’re speaking my language. I’m currently in 2 storage units, but that is not sustainable. I’m looking at 3pl because warehouse space in my area is at a premium. They are building a ton of it right now, so maybe it will get over saturated and prices will come down, but currently it’s not viable.
If you have the warehouse space and logistical infrastructure, 3pl seems like it’s a good business to be in.
Ha. As in stamp collecting? Not a competitor to stamps.com. That does seem like a very specific (and aging) niche.
Love it! That is one of my “fantasy” businesses. I love finding obscure music, so kudos to you! Good luck with your growth. Retail is such a different world from mine, but also so connected since we sell in toy stores. I love to get a glimpse of that life.
I love this! There is so much about this I find fascinating. I wish you success in the coming weeks. I’m sure you’re swamped, so thanks for taking the time to respond. Are your sales mainly local with repeat customers?
Thanks for sharing…that’s some great insight. I worked in branding and marketing for a big craft brewery and led the launch of one of the biggest brand currently in craft.
I agree with the notion that small business ownership is the only path. My field is always one of the first to get laid off, and as I get older (mid 40’s now) finding a job gets harder and harder. I love every aspect of owning a business. Even the hard stuff is extremely rewarding once you find a solution.
I’m a one person shop, so I have to do a lot…but I do catch myself falling into the trap of doing the stuff I enjoy the most (product dev and package design) when I know I could be pushing harder in other areas (building social media presence, being a better/more driven sales person). I am trying to adopt a “sales, sales, sales” mentality.
Congrats! I just took in a small investment from a relative who has been to a couple trade shows with me and has been able to see the reception we’ve been getting. But otherwise it’s been all self funded, which has been great to start. But I definitely need more than a I can personally invest to be able to scale faster.
After being involved in another startup project a few years back, I can look at almost everything the owner did as a “what not to do”, so that’s been extremely helpful on how I set up the foundation of my business.
Every town needs a good smoke shop.
I agree that while sales and profit are important, the amount of learning I’ve done over these two years is astonishing. I can’t cash that at a bank right now, but I think it’ll continue to pay dividends for as long as I have this business. The first 5 months on Amazon saw pretty steady growth, and then it plateaued.
I came to a cross roads where I either have to dedicate my time to becoming an Amazon expert myself, or continue to focus on building a business. I am choosing to focus on building my business and trying to find reputable Amazon experts who can help me manage that one channel. From the hours and hours of research I’ve don’t on Amazon, I feel like I haven’t even scratched the surface.
Good luck! I worked in branding and marketing my whole career, and usually had budgets…which was nice. For my business, I’m doing a lot of it myself (game dev, package design, marketing materials, etc) so I save costs there, but I find that making something is the easy part. Selling is where I hit a wall.
Thank you! I agree that producing something tangible is very rewarding, and the reviews and comments we get are amazing. To know we’re making something that brings joy to kids and families is a great feeling.
But you’re right with digital products, it takes a lot of the costs out of the equation. Storing and inventory are my two main expenses. Other than that, it’s a pretty low cost business to run. Trying to find a way to merge digital and physical is my ultimate goal. There is a ton of potential to grow my sub brands across different touch points that don’t include large inventory costs.
That’s amazing! How are you generating those sales? Through social media and email? And are you doing that all yourself or hiring out people?
I tried selling DTC when I first launched, but it was costing more than my product cost. I was assuming that my price point wasn’t high enough for that to be profitable (24.99$). I’ve since been focusing on Amazon and wholesale/retail.
In toy and game, retail is dominated by sales reps. Adding more titles goes a long way to getting those groups interested. And Amazon is still a work in progress…but dominated by Hasbro in my niche.
All in all, I feel positive about the reaction we’ve been getting, but I need to focus on some smart/creative ways to continue to grow sales.
It’s a great industry, but not one without its challenges. However, I’m assuming every industry has its unique challenges.
We have 2 games now. Our original board game was actually created by my two young daughters out of scratch paper and markers. We never intended to create a business around it, but it kind of just happened.
Our second game is a twist on memory/match games, using the characters we created for the board game. We just launched that 3 months ago.
The reception to our game and story has been really amazing, but building consistent sales channels is a challenge.
This! Love this breakdown. Thank you. That really helps. I’m at the stage where i can see where we’re headed, but still doing it all myself. I can feel some things falling off a bit because I don’t have enough profits to pay people. That’s slowly changing, though…so that’s good.
Finding influencers through an app service is my next move. We have a good product with enough differentiation, that I think we’d do well with that. I’ve been hesitant because of past experiences, but it seems like it’s getting more mature as a marketing strategy.