Dabbl

I’m sick and tired of this. Reading so many articles and blogs that are focused on startups and side hustles and entrepreneurship and not having a damn product to sell. I’m not sure if it is me trying to talk myself out of doing this or me just being dumb enough or boring enough to not being able to coming up with a product to sell.

              I’ve read about silly niche products being sold. Why can’t I find something that I can sell? It really pisses me off that this isn’t coming to me easier. It’s been so long since I’ve gotten the e-commerce itch and right now zero progress has been done.

              Do I not have what it takes? Am I not creative enough to come up with what to sell? Am I too scared to take a leap, financially and mentally? Am I too comfortable right now and I don’t want that to change?

              Lots of doubts and frustration. I hate being one of those “seminar junkies”. I came across this term listing to Tim Ferriss. A “seminar junkie” is someone who “knows” all about startups an entrepreneurship and side hustles, but doesn’t have a single second of experience with it. I cringe in my head when I talk to one of these people and right now I’m cringing at myself.

              What’s so hard about looking at a hobby, finding a pain point, and creating or innovating a product that fulfills that pain point? Am I thinking too big?

              What I hope to get out of this rant is to find something small to sell. Small as in physical and small as in it’s not going to change the world. If I’m looking at something that will change the world, I know I’ll just get scared back into my shell and not take action. On the other hand, if I find something too small, I won’t think it’s worth it and think I’m better than this, which results in me not taking action once again. Something small and clever and effective would be optimal. Hopefully it doesn’t have too much competition.

              What are my hobbies?

• Basketball
• Tea
• Fitness
• Wellness
• Supplements
• Hair (currently)
• Cooking healthy
• Saving
• Outdoors
• Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

That list is good enough for now. Now what products go along with these hobbies right now that I currently use?

Hobby	Products I Use (products that could be better)
Basketball	Compression shorts Shoes Socks Head/Hair Band Speaker Short shorts
Tea	Tea Bags Mug Honey Kettle
Fitness	Weights Ear buds Cables Treadmill
Wellness	Tea Infuser Candle Massager Lax ball rollout Sauna Hot tub Stretching
Supplements	Ashwagondha Tumeric Ginger Selenium Cocao Selenium
Hair	Argan/Coconut Oil Leave in Conditioner Shampoo/Conditioner Brush Winter Hat
Cooking Healthy	Oven Parchment paper Large pan Skillet Cast Iron
Outdoors	Outdoor boots Music Search for places/views Hoodie Backpack Waterbottle
BJJ	Mat burn Gear

First pass. But, not bad. Couple things stand out to me. I seemed to have the most ideas and products used in the wellness category. And this makes sense since I have yet to find a product that effectively massages my upper back/neck. I know there’s products out there and I have a few. But the best product I’ve used so far is a lax ball that I post up against the wall with. And this isn’t perfect. It’s tiresome. It would be great to not have to move around so much by myself. It would be great if I could keep the same amount of control and pressure as a lax ball, but take away the standing and bobbing around on my feet to get the spot. Another thing that stands out to me is the winter hat in the hair category. With the type of hair I have, I find it best to maintain and style using a winter hat. Now of course this isn’t exactly a hair product. But, I use it as one. There could be something there to make a product does the same job as the winter hat does for me, but market it as a hair product. I’ve used a lot of hair products to make my hair straighter and less poofy and wearing a winter hat after the shower for ~30 mins has been by far the best thing I use to achieve the look I want. Another funny thing is that my friend, Austin, has mentioned he uses a hat in his hair routine to lock down his hairdo. There could be something here. My first doubts are that it is silly. It kind of sounds like a du-rag for white guys. For me to make this idea better. The material would have to be more absorbent and slightly tighter to hold the hair down even more. After use, I would suggest touch it up with a comb if needed.

Maybe it’s not what I want to sell that’s holding me back. Maybe it’s the act of simply selling something and putting myself, my ego, my self-esteem, my dignity on the line. I clearly am having a tough time deciding on a product. After doing the above analysis, I want to try a different strategy that may overlap with the above exercise. I’m going to simply ask myself, “What type of company do I want to be?” Simple. I want to have a higher quality health and wellness company. I want to have a little bit of every part of my daily routines like massages, weights, supplements, teas, and accessories to all of these. That’s what I want to have. Is all the analysis worth it if I have a simple clear cut answer? I think it’s important to have an initial product that sets me off in the right direction. That’s where I go back to the initial exercise. I am looking for that perfect product. Maybe that doesn’t exist. There’s a good chance that I am looking for something that doesn’t exist or isn’t attainable for me. So maybe I should start even smaller than a perfect product. This way, I’d be able to gain experience with what it’s like to market a product and  have a brand, organize a website, ect. Below is a list of all the risks and/or things that are holding me back:

• Judgement
  • What people think of me. If I fail, am I a failure?
• Money
  • How much money do I need to start off? I am in savings mode especially with loans I am hoping to pay off
• Time
  • Having to monitor and constantly update marketing methods, blogs, sales, operations, customer service

That’s all I can think of off the top of my head. The below list is going to cover how to mitigate each of the above risks.

• Judgement
  • Do not attach my name just yet. I’ll need a social media (Instagram to start), but I’ll keep my name off of it for now until it picks up momentum
• Money
  • I need money to start. I need money for supply and website/selling platform. In another blog I will list out the specific costs for a product for example.
• Time
  • I am known to get fairly lazy. But I don’t want the business if I have to work on operations more than 5 hours a week. This includes marketing, sales, blogging, and operations.