How Do I Launch On a Limited Budget?

Recently, I received this question in an email and it’s a question that I get on a daily basis.

Do I have enough money to do this? Or how can I do this for free, or low cost?

And it’s a tricky question to answer.

I am all about boot strapping but there is a basic minimum that needs to be in place.

Creating a physical product business means that you are creating a business.

That means:

1. You need money for product development

2. You need money to market your product

3. You need money to build systems in your business

4. You need money to create new products after your initial launch

Does that mean 1K, 5K or 10K?

Not necessarily, but I would advise that if you don’t have an extra $1,000-$2000.00 USD to get started than you might want to wait until you do.

In my mind, a product based business is much more than creating a product line and selling it. There are many more cost involved when getting started.

Does that mean that you shouldn’t launch a product if you are on a limited budget?

Nope, not at all. That means that you need to be wise and launch strategically. Launching 10 products at once with a limited budget for product development and no plan for marketing is a quick way to stall or kill a business before it starts.

It does mean that you need to be strategic when starting your business.

In SPCC, I teach my clients to launch 2-3 products done really well and put the rest of them on a product development plan. Writing the entire line on paper and focusing on your core products gets them out of your head and into a more manageable plan.

Most people that are successful in creating a product eventually realize two things:

1. It’s not about the product – yes the product matters but it’s MORE about the product connecting to the marketplace and solving a problem in the marketplace.

2. Majority of your money needs to be spent on marketing and selling your product more than making, or creating products.

Can you launch on a limited budget? Of course but be smart about it.

• Spend more money on your marketing plan than products.

• Launch with less product until you can get the line going and then scale up.

• Make sure that your numbers make sense. If you are paying $17.00 a bottle (I’ve seen it a few times) and selling for $25.00 – STOP and find a way to lower your cost of goods.

• Don’t go crazy and bring out a ton of products, be strategic and make sure that it’s with products that have a healthy margin and can feed your business.

Can you bootstrap? Yes of course just set yourself up for success.

I have seen people with limited budgets spent in the correct areas do amazingly well.

I’ve also seen people with tons of money flop, it just depends on YOU and your plan for the business.

The trick really is to find solutions and not to let the obstacles of limited money or enough time to get in your way.

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