Is this the right way to think about it tactically (know this is oversimplifying a bit):
1) identify a product that solves a pain point in skincare/diet etc similar niche area
2) set up Shopify with generated pics of product since haven’t ordered any inventory yet
3) run paid ads on social media to drive traffic to site. A/B test on creative/copy and see what converts better
4) after a few weeks, check conversion rate/add to carts and see if you would be profitable. If yes order inventory, if no try new ads/product
5) repeat until you have a winner
What I get hung up on is why I/my product has a right to win - is this all predicated on who can write the best copy and make the best ads to sell products that are ultimately undifferentiated/low barrier to entry?
" is this all predicated on who can write the best copy and make the best ads to sell products"
You got it, majority people think best product wins and they couldn't be more wrong. Vast majority of products come out of the same vat/machines and its just the copy/marketing that kicks it into gear.
Follow up to previous question. Most companies ads are available via the social media ads managers.
Couldn’t you find the highest performers in a given niche then just “copy” their ads. You would need to experiment with audience segmentation or is this not a good idea?
I found this side of the internet late in life and I would say one of the biggest mistakes I made was focusing on time-for-money businesses to start. I made money, but it was not scalable. Add in that I had to start dodging layoffs in a performance career and I just got squeezed on time.
Now I'm all in on business models that scale, but they seem to take more grind up front. I wish I had started thinking bigger sooner. Food for thought for some of you starting out.
1) To confirm most you post: Totally agree with your article. Purchased a high 6 figure profitwifi biz w/ my dad which ran great 20 and 21. 22 was flat revenue but devastating costs. Now after management was sacked, I slowly stabilized the business and things will return probably to -20% profit compared to previous years during a leave from work. However, I’m fairly inexperienced, didn’t build the biz myself and we still have some considerate debt to repay atm keeping me from committing fulltime... so, even not considered in that article but others, buying a wifi biz with little experience is risky af and would not recommend it again as well...
2) any recommendations on general moves & industries to build on with good financial backing from home and 2.5 years experience after uni despite the recommended lanes in wifi money? Would like to reach the >50mn in assets but high self awareness and no particular great talent seem to be a bit of a show stopper...
I hate this copium. Even if it were true get shots on goal and minimize the damage. Build until you make it. It is literally about life and death. Thanks BTB for showing people the way.
I read Felix Dennis's book when I started working. It's one of my favorites. I agree with your take on it. He sells business as an all or nothing proposition that requires every waking moment of devotion. The safer route is to not entirely quit your day job.
The strategy you lay has a higher chance of success as you are able to weather failures (which will happen) better and not be reliant on outside capital. We did this with old school brick and mortar entities (yes e commerce would have been faster but my point being the strategy will work with almost any businesses as long as you are persistent). It worked for us over the course of a decade and we did nothing innovative or brilliant.
Keeping your day job for longer that you think is priceless. You will be able to survive the failures, drawdowns, and unexpected while being able to sleep at night and support your family.
Yep. It does limit your chances of going to $1B+ because that takes all in type mentality. But we gave a hint in here as to why it doesn't matter. IE. 99.999% of people don't need that type of wealth unless a psychopath or deeply insecure
One thing for e-commerce is couldn’t you just send them to the landing page as you said, have them checkout but collect emails and phone numbers and the screen says temporarily out of stock but we’ll send you you’re order by X date (like 2 weeks afterwards) and that way if you get a lot of pre orders, you’re already starting profitably & if can’t ship for whatever reason, refund money. Haha just small point I thought that could make life possibly more efficient
Sure similar thing. The problem is that 2 weeks wouldn't even be close to enough time.
People just make excuses about not knowing what to do. Instead they just buy and "pray" with no email list, no testing... no nothing. Of course it will fail that way.
Better to test 4-5 products (burn $20-25K) then ideally one has potential and numbers that work.
Yea literally get out there in the field and play. I started my first wifi biz without even testing for demand, but “lucked out” and got to almost 6 figures in profit.
My theme is, just start a business in whatever. As you build, take note of all things that sucked or there were simply “no solutions” to.
The “no solutions” angle is literally your next idea if enough people have the same problem. If operations related, it probably is.
Then build that. Ta da. See you on an island flying in hoes.
My theory is that “serial entrepreneurs”, while often just smart, start multiple successful companies because they ran business from a high level and can see all the systems and areas that were “broken”.
Parents are both in Finance; One is a Tax Preparer, the other a CFO.
Grandparents: a Nurse, an entrepreneur (built post office systems back home, was a cocoa farmer, and owned other SMBs,) a C-Suite executive for heavy equipment companies who also owned a timber business, and a nurse that transitioned into education and built a private school system 20+locations.
Me: I am building a niche lifestyle website, and my W2 is in healthcare (Medical Laboratory Science). The plan is to build on skills and build up in the trades vs. focus time and energy on WiFi (at some point, I’ll need it) but to get to the first $4M is to build up trade biz in Healthcare, RE, or commodities. #1 talent/skill is connecting with people.
If you have American citizenship, I simply do not understand why every single person is not building a wifi business. You have access to the best jobs in the planet to fund it and access to the highest income consumer base in the world.
There are illegal aliens here hustling more and making more money than the average corporate dork.
Truly disgusting and honestly disappointed with the American population.
Especially when all this info BTB gives out was once free on their website. I thought this was a terrible idea as it would just open competition.
Just work a job one time and you’ll find out 80% of your bosses are jackasses making more than you for most of the time, no reason at all. Making your corporate job your “full time hustle” could honestly be the biggest risk in the world.
I know this isn't the appropriate forum but could really use your advice on employment opportunities. Just started applying for SDR, Tech Sales, role.
Finish final round interview today. Haven't heard back but it went well. Potential compensation: 50-55K base/75 OTE uncapped commission. AdTech Market
I have interviews later this month with more prestigious and higher paying companies base 60K-65K/85-90K OTE uncapped commission. Different markets: think companies like Stripe, Demandbase, Confluent, etc...
Should i accept initial offer or bide my time for the other more lucrative options. I know you might say mention difference is incremental but I'm still in the capital accruement phase before I can move on to wifi money? and a potential 12K in base alone over the year would be game changer, not to mention the accelerants from commision.
Random question for the Jungle - Does self-purchased health insurance make financial sense at all?
I’ve run the numbers and it doesn’t.
For example, a Bronze plan in my high cost state will cost me ~$20k/yr with a $14k family deductible. (I make too much to get subsidies.) that means i’m out $20k/yr no matter what. Insurance only kicks in after spend $14k on health. So - $34k/yr in expenses before insurance pays a dime.
Wife, young and kids healthy. I’m healthy but >50 so who knows.
I can afford a 6-figure surprise health bill, no problem.
There are self-pay discounts for everything. I reckon we can easily pay <$10k / year in cash healthcare, thus saving the $20k premium. 5 years saving that premium into a rainy day fund is $100k.
I know I don’t get protection against a weird outlier that costs me >$500k, but it seems $20k/yr is an absurdly priced premium to protect against that.
Seems clear from my experience that ACA “health insurance” is just a massive weath transfer/subsidy to small number of very sick/old ppl. Skewed distribution, power law (iykyk).
Thoughts? What am I missing here?
I wish i could buy true insurance that would pay zero until i incur >$50k/year family expenses, but Obamacare has outlawed that.
Oh, and my backstop if something terrible happens is to sign up during the next open enrollment period. Gotta accept me with pre-existing conditions. Again, what am i missing?
Then would you still advise against switching firms in the next ~6 months? Earning potential at my current firm has been about cut in half due to a territory restructuring, and while I was recently promoted, the team / territory as a whole is struggling. I'm basically working 2x as hard for 1/2 what I was earning last year. WiFi $ is off the ground, but the fewer commission checks means less $ to invest in growth.
I’m a bit of an amateur in both e-commerce and product development but have an idea for a potentially wildly successful supplement in the wellness niche. I do SEO for a living so I can handle the marketing part, but other than that, I’m not sure how to see this product through from idea to execution. I am open to making mistakes but think it would be beneficial to consult with someone who has been successful in this area. Also feel it may need medical or legal approval first and don’t know how to navigate this. How much of this should I figure out on my own and how much might warrant the services of a consultant? Can you suggest your best resource for these needs?
Agreed. Haven't tested demand yet but there are auto suggestions for it on Amazon with hardly any relevant matches.
If it does sell, would it just be a matter of refunding them? And, since it's just one product, is there an ideal platform for this since it wouldn't necessarily be a full shop?
Is this the right way to think about it tactically (know this is oversimplifying a bit):
1) identify a product that solves a pain point in skincare/diet etc similar niche area
2) set up Shopify with generated pics of product since haven’t ordered any inventory yet
3) run paid ads on social media to drive traffic to site. A/B test on creative/copy and see what converts better
4) after a few weeks, check conversion rate/add to carts and see if you would be profitable. If yes order inventory, if no try new ads/product
5) repeat until you have a winner
What I get hung up on is why I/my product has a right to win - is this all predicated on who can write the best copy and make the best ads to sell products that are ultimately undifferentiated/low barrier to entry?
" is this all predicated on who can write the best copy and make the best ads to sell products"
You got it, majority people think best product wins and they couldn't be more wrong. Vast majority of products come out of the same vat/machines and its just the copy/marketing that kicks it into gear.
This is why sales is step 1 if you're low risk
Follow up to previous question. Most companies ads are available via the social media ads managers.
Couldn’t you find the highest performers in a given niche then just “copy” their ads. You would need to experiment with audience segmentation or is this not a good idea?
Hahaha this is quite literally what every one does.
You can't copy word for word but yeah you can find themes. this was covered in an older ecom post on spying on competition.
I'll have to check for that post but thanks!!!
good question
I found this side of the internet late in life and I would say one of the biggest mistakes I made was focusing on time-for-money businesses to start. I made money, but it was not scalable. Add in that I had to start dodging layoffs in a performance career and I just got squeezed on time.
Now I'm all in on business models that scale, but they seem to take more grind up front. I wish I had started thinking bigger sooner. Food for thought for some of you starting out.
Not sure what your old biz was but you should look into pivoting the business model.
If it's pure consulting time/money then you're forced to hire people to scale (not fun)
Consulting. And you're spot on, not fun. At least in that business. "Overhead walks on two legs..." But I did learn a lot.
Trying something bigger now. Just a matter of time.
1) To confirm most you post: Totally agree with your article. Purchased a high 6 figure profitwifi biz w/ my dad which ran great 20 and 21. 22 was flat revenue but devastating costs. Now after management was sacked, I slowly stabilized the business and things will return probably to -20% profit compared to previous years during a leave from work. However, I’m fairly inexperienced, didn’t build the biz myself and we still have some considerate debt to repay atm keeping me from committing fulltime... so, even not considered in that article but others, buying a wifi biz with little experience is risky af and would not recommend it again as well...
2) any recommendations on general moves & industries to build on with good financial backing from home and 2.5 years experience after uni despite the recommended lanes in wifi money? Would like to reach the >50mn in assets but high self awareness and no particular great talent seem to be a bit of a show stopper...
Your #1 is literally my warning to the DMs I get on buying WiFi with no prior experience. Best of luck!
“90% of businesses fail”.
I hate this copium. Even if it were true get shots on goal and minimize the damage. Build until you make it. It is literally about life and death. Thanks BTB for showing people the way.
Yeah they assume that you learn nothing on your first failure
I read Felix Dennis's book when I started working. It's one of my favorites. I agree with your take on it. He sells business as an all or nothing proposition that requires every waking moment of devotion. The safer route is to not entirely quit your day job.
The strategy you lay has a higher chance of success as you are able to weather failures (which will happen) better and not be reliant on outside capital. We did this with old school brick and mortar entities (yes e commerce would have been faster but my point being the strategy will work with almost any businesses as long as you are persistent). It worked for us over the course of a decade and we did nothing innovative or brilliant.
Keeping your day job for longer that you think is priceless. You will be able to survive the failures, drawdowns, and unexpected while being able to sleep at night and support your family.
Yep. It does limit your chances of going to $1B+ because that takes all in type mentality. But we gave a hint in here as to why it doesn't matter. IE. 99.999% of people don't need that type of wealth unless a psychopath or deeply insecure
Yes, please hold on to W2 a bit longer. Once you leave it’s near impossible to go back psychologically.
Yep. Seen this mistake many times.
One thing for e-commerce is couldn’t you just send them to the landing page as you said, have them checkout but collect emails and phone numbers and the screen says temporarily out of stock but we’ll send you you’re order by X date (like 2 weeks afterwards) and that way if you get a lot of pre orders, you’re already starting profitably & if can’t ship for whatever reason, refund money. Haha just small point I thought that could make life possibly more efficient
Sure similar thing. The problem is that 2 weeks wouldn't even be close to enough time.
People just make excuses about not knowing what to do. Instead they just buy and "pray" with no email list, no testing... no nothing. Of course it will fail that way.
Better to test 4-5 products (burn $20-25K) then ideally one has potential and numbers that work.
Yea literally get out there in the field and play. I started my first wifi biz without even testing for demand, but “lucked out” and got to almost 6 figures in profit.
My theme is, just start a business in whatever. As you build, take note of all things that sucked or there were simply “no solutions” to.
The “no solutions” angle is literally your next idea if enough people have the same problem. If operations related, it probably is.
Then build that. Ta da. See you on an island flying in hoes.
My theory is that “serial entrepreneurs”, while often just smart, start multiple successful companies because they ran business from a high level and can see all the systems and areas that were “broken”.
Then they just start biz’s there
Could you speak more about identifying talents?
Parents are both in Finance; One is a Tax Preparer, the other a CFO.
Grandparents: a Nurse, an entrepreneur (built post office systems back home, was a cocoa farmer, and owned other SMBs,) a C-Suite executive for heavy equipment companies who also owned a timber business, and a nurse that transitioned into education and built a private school system 20+locations.
Me: I am building a niche lifestyle website, and my W2 is in healthcare (Medical Laboratory Science). The plan is to build on skills and build up in the trades vs. focus time and energy on WiFi (at some point, I’ll need it) but to get to the first $4M is to build up trade biz in Healthcare, RE, or commodities. #1 talent/skill is connecting with people.
If you have American citizenship, I simply do not understand why every single person is not building a wifi business. You have access to the best jobs in the planet to fund it and access to the highest income consumer base in the world.
There are illegal aliens here hustling more and making more money than the average corporate dork.
Truly disgusting and honestly disappointed with the American population.
Especially when all this info BTB gives out was once free on their website. I thought this was a terrible idea as it would just open competition.
Nope.
Just work a job one time and you’ll find out 80% of your bosses are jackasses making more than you for most of the time, no reason at all. Making your corporate job your “full time hustle” could honestly be the biggest risk in the world.
I know this isn't the appropriate forum but could really use your advice on employment opportunities. Just started applying for SDR, Tech Sales, role.
Finish final round interview today. Haven't heard back but it went well. Potential compensation: 50-55K base/75 OTE uncapped commission. AdTech Market
I have interviews later this month with more prestigious and higher paying companies base 60K-65K/85-90K OTE uncapped commission. Different markets: think companies like Stripe, Demandbase, Confluent, etc...
Should i accept initial offer or bide my time for the other more lucrative options. I know you might say mention difference is incremental but I'm still in the capital accruement phase before I can move on to wifi money? and a potential 12K in base alone over the year would be game changer, not to mention the accelerants from commision.
I'm fairly confident in my interview ability but
Random question for the Jungle - Does self-purchased health insurance make financial sense at all?
I’ve run the numbers and it doesn’t.
For example, a Bronze plan in my high cost state will cost me ~$20k/yr with a $14k family deductible. (I make too much to get subsidies.) that means i’m out $20k/yr no matter what. Insurance only kicks in after spend $14k on health. So - $34k/yr in expenses before insurance pays a dime.
Wife, young and kids healthy. I’m healthy but >50 so who knows.
I can afford a 6-figure surprise health bill, no problem.
There are self-pay discounts for everything. I reckon we can easily pay <$10k / year in cash healthcare, thus saving the $20k premium. 5 years saving that premium into a rainy day fund is $100k.
I know I don’t get protection against a weird outlier that costs me >$500k, but it seems $20k/yr is an absurdly priced premium to protect against that.
Seems clear from my experience that ACA “health insurance” is just a massive weath transfer/subsidy to small number of very sick/old ppl. Skewed distribution, power law (iykyk).
Thoughts? What am I missing here?
I wish i could buy true insurance that would pay zero until i incur >$50k/year family expenses, but Obamacare has outlawed that.
Oh, and my backstop if something terrible happens is to sign up during the next open enrollment period. Gotta accept me with pre-existing conditions. Again, what am i missing?
Do you see the light at the end of the tunnel for the tech industry or do you think the beating will continue for the foreseeable future?
For layoffs? Should be cooling now. Mainstreet though is in denial will be hit last
Then would you still advise against switching firms in the next ~6 months? Earning potential at my current firm has been about cut in half due to a territory restructuring, and while I was recently promoted, the team / territory as a whole is struggling. I'm basically working 2x as hard for 1/2 what I was earning last year. WiFi $ is off the ground, but the fewer commission checks means less $ to invest in growth.
Same - my publicly traded cybersec company is flat as a board. Seems to be all of tech rn.
Wat do
I’m a bit of an amateur in both e-commerce and product development but have an idea for a potentially wildly successful supplement in the wellness niche. I do SEO for a living so I can handle the marketing part, but other than that, I’m not sure how to see this product through from idea to execution. I am open to making mistakes but think it would be beneficial to consult with someone who has been successful in this area. Also feel it may need medical or legal approval first and don’t know how to navigate this. How much of this should I figure out on my own and how much might warrant the services of a consultant? Can you suggest your best resource for these needs?
Very cool. Do you know if he is in the supplement business or does he pretty much do it all? I’ll check it out either way.
Not sure what it is but even before consulting you have to demand test it. Don't skip that part before paying thousands for the other issues.
See if it would even sell first.
Agreed. Haven't tested demand yet but there are auto suggestions for it on Amazon with hardly any relevant matches.
If it does sell, would it just be a matter of refunding them? And, since it's just one product, is there an ideal platform for this since it wouldn't necessarily be a full shop?
Fantastic post. This really simplifies it.
If you've succeeded and make more than 6 figures online you learn quickly you could get cut in half or more easily. That's why
Only time you quit earlier than 2x is when you're 1,000% sure it isn't on inflated numbers.
For the majority they quit too early expecting constant perfect growth and it doesn't happen.
As always take your own risks this is just an opinion