Have you ever bought into something that you were convinced it would become the next big thing, so you bought as much of it as you could, and now it is sitting in your garage, collecting dust? Do not be embarrassed, because for most of us, it has happened in one form or another. You get a sales pitch that has a great promise of a product and how it will work for you, and then you buy into it, literally.
A few months later, you are wondering where all the money is that you should have had by now, because these things were supposed to sell themselves, with a really angry spouse breathing down your neck to get rid of that wasted money in the garage! The worst part is that you only sold one and it was to your parents because they felt sorry for you.
Sadly, this happened to you because you did not have a plan. However, it does not have to stay that way.
You should know exactly what you want or need to get out of selling this product or investing in the product. If you do not have a clear idea of what to expect when trying to sell the product, do not give any money to the person trying to sell you on this. Take your checkbook and leave.
Would you buy a car or a house without inspecting it first? Why would a business deal be any different? If you cannot see a plan for the product, you should not invest, even if it is your kid brother asking you to fund his futuristic jet pack product that NASA will surely want to buy from him. Seriously, if NASA cannot build a successful one, how could he?
Once you have a plan and have agreed on the terms of the plan, you need to set expectations for the sales of the product. Are 5 sales a month going to be enough to cover all your expenses? Do you only want to cover expenses or do you want a profit. If you are selling an item that retails for $5, and your expectations are 5 sales a month, is it worth the effort? If the product retails for $500, is the sales expectation of 5 a month realistic? Is that good enough for you and your bottom line?
After the plan is in place and the expectations are set, you need a customer base. Who do you plan to market to? Mom and dad do not count; neither do any other family members, unless they plan to be customers for a long time. Try to stay away from bothering the friends to help as well, or you may find that you do not have many left after this. Try to find a product that is similar to yours and investigate as to who buys it and who would be interested in it. It is highly doubtful that a single woman who religiously visits the nail salon will be interested in buying anything that has to do with fishing, so do the research needed on customers.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Matt_Rhodes
Monday, October 4, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)