Successful Entrepreneur Guide – How To Figure Out What To Sell

This is part of Brianlinton.com’s How To Be a Successful Entrepreneur Guide.

So you want to be an entrepreneur.  Maybe you already are one but have lost your way and need to start over.  You have the drive, passion, and desire to take control of your future and make a living by running your own business.

Now what?

You know you have it in you…to grow a company from an idea into something you make your living off of, but what are you going to sell? What are you going to build your business from?

Before I go on and explain how to figure out what your company should sell, let me tell you a little bit about how I decided what to sell when starting Sand Shack.

When I was a freshman in college I knew I wanted to own my own company one day, and after reading numerous books on entrepreneurship I was so pumped up and decided that there was no better time than the present to start a business.  With a loose understanding of business and a desire to create a brand I would be proud of I started brainstorming ways I could make money.  The first idea that popped into my head was to buy private islands in Southeast Asia, develop them, and then sell them to Chinese business moguls.  Strangely enough I actually gave that idea some serious thought but soon realized the obvious cash flow and logistical problems I would have with starting an operation like that.  After coming up with copious amounts of other ideas I finally settled on creating a brand of beaded beach jewelry and selling it in Cape Cod, Massachusetts during my summer break.

Why did I choose to sell beaded beach jewelry?

Firstly, I observed that during the summer in Cape Cod (where I would go to visit extended family), stores would sell beaded jewelry for a much higher cost than I knew I could buy it in Southeast Asia for (where I grew up).  For instance, I would see a necklace for $10 in Cape Cod that I knew I could get for $0.40 in Thailand.  After making this observation I decided to research ways I could create an economical supply chain of this product from Asia to Cape Cod.  I also researched how much I would charge, how I would sell it, and how I would brand it.  Figuring out the business side of this operation to the best of my inexperienced ability, I decided to act on my observation and research and start Sand Shack.  Since then I have expanded my product line, changed my company logo and branding strategy, and matured and grown my business in many other ways, but the process of deciding what I could sell remains the same.  That process is as follows:

1. Observe

• I observed the discrepancy in price of beaded jewelry between Asia and Cape Cod.

2. Research

• I researched how I could get large quantities of it to Cape Cod during the summer to sell.  I then researched what wholesale price I could sell it for.

3. Act

• I developed a branding strategy and began testing the market by slowing selling jewelry.  That first summer I turned an initial investment of $600 into $10,000.  Since then, Sand Shack has grown and diversified to include apparel and multiple lines of jewelry.

So if you are trying to figure out what to sell, start by observing things around you, you will be surprised at how many business opportunities there are right in front of your nose.

Read more about selling things that are right in front of your nose here.

How did you find out what to sell?  Or are you still trying to figure that out? Let’s talk about that in the discussion section below.

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