One of the biggest mistakes I see entrepreneurs making these days is spending too much time trying to perfect their product, or raise more capital for it, without ever testing it on the market. The only way for you to know if your product is truly sound is to get up, get out there and make a sale. Your friends, family, and business partners may think your product is the greatest thing in the world, but you need to find out if the average consumer sees the same value, and are willing to spend their hard-earned money on it. This is how you’ll get the feedback you need to perfect your product, and hopefully the sales data you’ll need to prove to investors that they should give you money to help you grow your business. No matter how you look at it, hitting the “streets” and selling is always a great move. Don’t hesitate!
When I started FUBU I had to hit the literal streets to sell my product. Rain, sleet or, snow, I stood on corners all day, everyday, and looked all of my consumers in their faces. I was able to get direct feedback from my customer base. The problem back then was it was difficult for me to prove that my product could be sold outside of my area without actually getting in my car and driving to the next town. In today’s digital world, where everyone can easily be connected, there is absolutely zero reason why you can’t start selling right now! You can use services like Shopify to launch an online store, and reach an international audience. When I started FUBU, the only way to advertise was to buy billboards, pages in publications, or run commercial campaigns, which were all way out of my budget. Now you can advertise to the world relatively affordably through platforms like Google and Facebook ads.
No matter how you do it, this step is absolutely crucial. Stop planning, stop pitching, and go out there and SELL!
So what’s your next step? How are you going to use every outlet available to you to make your sales strategy as effective as possible? In the comments, let me, and other readers know what resources you use/are planning to use to sell your product. Let’s help each other break out of the “analysis paralysis” and hit the streets!
