5 Things to Know Before Launching Your Product on Amazon
Are you considering launching your product on Amazon? It can be a great way to start a business, but there are a few things you should know before diving in. In this article, we'll cover five things that I wish I had known before launching my product on Amazon. From preparing to play the long game to not doing it alone, these tips will help you set yourself up for success.
Prepare to Play the Long Game
The first thing you need to know before launching your product on Amazon is that it takes time to become profitable. Amazon is not a get-rich-quick scheme. It takes a lot of work and effort to put into your business in order to see that success down the road. You'll want to think about long-term planning, which will save you time and allow you to make iterations as you go. Make sure you're starting to think about four, five, or six years down the road. Remember, once you have a great product and launched it successfully on Amazon, you're going to have to maintain it and keep it running. This means that there has to be some maintenance here and there. You're going to have to keep up with inventory, engage customers as much as you can, and pay for advertisement so PPC (pay per click) and a few other things to make sure that your business is running and flowing even when you're not attending to it full-time.
Just Go for It
The second thing you need to know is to just go for it. If you have a great idea and you're excited about it, just get started. Take those steps, and if you're maybe working a full-time job at the moment but you're looking to eventually quit your job and do your business full-time, you have to take into consideration that maybe every day you can put in at least five minutes of your time into it. Even if you're busy with a bunch of things going on, make that commitment to yourself that you're going to work on it a little bit every single day, and if you can do more, that's even better. This also means to research and talk about the business, share with a community of people that are like-minded that are also maybe in the same stages as you or look for a mentor to help guide you through the process.
Everything Takes a Little Longer Than You Might Think
The third thing you need to know is that everything takes a little longer than you might think. When I started off with Vino Cards, I was so excited to get it running, and I wanted everything to happen quickly. I wanted to get the idea, have people back it up, and start the manufacturing all of this within maybe six months. And even though that is possible for some things, for my business, it was not. I just realized that everything was taking much longer than expected. There were delays, there were things unaccounted for, so the process almost took a whole entire year. That might be the case for you as well. It all takes time, especially to become profitable with your business. The main takeaway here is that cash flow is key at the very beginning stages of your business. You're going to be reinvesting any money made back into the business. You're probably going to have to do another production run down the line, so whatever money you made from Amazon, you'll have to reinvest that. Make sure you have enough for production, and then there's a bunch of other costs. The cost of the product, there's shipping, there's Amazon FBA fees, there's a lot of different things that even though you see that big number, usually that first number is revenue, and the actual profit is going to be much, much lower. So there's a lot to account for there. You want to make sure that the cash is flowing or at least that you have enough to sustain the business on Amazon. Inventory delays are especially something that might come up in your business journey. So depending on where you're manufacturing your product, there could be delays at customs if you're doing it abroad. There's delays in shipping. You know, if you're doing sea shipping, it can take much longer. So you always want to make sure that you have enough inventory before your next round of inventory arrives, your next production. So the main thing too is that you don't want to run out of inventory on Amazon. That is a deal-breaker for Amazon. Sometimes they're going to blacklist your listing, meaning that you're going to come down on the rankings. They're not going to push you up as much because, hey, customers want to buy it, but you don't have inventory or you don't know when you can restock. That's probably one of the biggest things you should focus on, and that's where cash flow plays in as well as just realizing that things are going to take much longer. So make sure that you have a buffer for these things. You want to plan ahead.
Set Up an Amazon Seller Account Early
The fourth thing you need to know is to set up an Amazon seller account early. In order to sell with Amazon FBA, there is a monthly charge of $39.99. This is just a regular cost you'll have to pay in order to be FBA, and FBA means fulfilled by Amazon. So this is where Amazon's taking care of all of your inventory, basically pick, pack, and shipping your product anytime you get a purchase order. Now, the reason you want to start early was setting up your Amazon account. Say if you don't have any inventory yet and you're maybe two months out from actually selling on Amazon, you're going to want to start early on being approved for an Amazon seller account because there have been delays with that. There's also some experiences with not being approved right away, so you might have to appeal that and make sure that you are working towards getting an Amazon seller account up. Another reason you want to start early on your Amazon account is that then you'll have access to FN SKUs. FN SKUs is a unique barcode that your product on Amazon will have. So it's like a barcode at the store. Amazon scans it whenever you get an order, and that is registered in your account so that you can keep track of inventory. That's a really important barcode that you'll want to have early, especially if you're going to manufacture.
Don't Do It Alone
The fifth and final thing you need to know is to not do it alone. This is the number one piece of advice I would have told my past self before starting on Amazon, especially because Amazon businesses are not necessarily meant to be a solo adventure. It's a learning process. It's something that everyone that is pursuing Amazon kind of goes through. They go through a similar process. So the most important thing is to know that you don't have to do it alone, that there are resources online that you can read and research about to help you guide you through this journey. Find a mentor or create a community around you of people that are going through the similar process because that's going to give you that accountability to make sure that you're making the right decisions or to make sure that someone is kind of keeping an eye on what you're doing to push you through. In my journey, I was able to create a community on Facebook, for example, of people that were supporting me and excited to learn about my product. They were also giving me tips on what I can do to improve my products, so that alone was a very helpful community so that I can have the best product out there on Amazon. I also wanted to create a community of people that I can meet in person, so I founded a female founders group, and we were all going through a similar process with starting on Amazon. So that was also very encouraging, and I was able to know that I wasn't alone in the process. If I ever had questions or any kind of mistakes that I maybe made that I wanted to adjust, I was able to contact some people, and they were able to give me their experience, and that was extremely valuable for my Vino Cards product.
Conclusion
In conclusion, launching your product on Amazon can be a great way to start a business, but it's important to know what you're getting into. Prepare to play the long game, just go for it, realize that everything takes a little longer than you might think, set up an Amazon seller account early, and don't do it alone. These tips will help you set yourself up for success and avoid some of the common pitfalls that come with launching a product on Amazon.
Highlights
- Launching your product on Amazon takes time and effort.
- Research and talk about the business, share with a community of people that are like-minded that are also maybe in the same stages as you or look for a mentor to help guide you through the process.
- Cash flow is key at the very beginning stages of your business.
- Set up an Amazon seller account early.
- Don't do it alone.
FAQ
Q: How long does it take to become profitable on Amazon?
A: It takes time to become profitable on Amazon. You'll want to think about long-term planning, which will save you time and allow you to make iterations as you go. Make sure you're starting to think about four, five, or six years down the road.
Q: What is an Amazon seller account?
A: An Amazon seller account is a way to sell your products on Amazon. In order to sell with Amazon FBA, there is a monthly charge of $39.99. This is just a regular cost you'll have to pay in order to be FBA, and FBA means fulfilled by Amazon.
Q: How do I avoid running out of inventory on Amazon?
A: You want to make sure that the cash is flowing or at least that you have enough to sustain the business on Amazon. Inventory delays are especially something that might come up in your business journey. So depending on where you're manufacturing your product, there could be delays at customs if you're doing it abroad. There's delays in shipping. You know, if you're doing sea shipping, it can take much longer. So you always want to make sure that you have enough inventory before your next round of inventory arrives, your next production.
Q: Should I do it alone when launching my product on Amazon?
A: No, you shouldn't do it alone. Find a mentor or create a community around you of people that are going through the similar process because that's going to give you that accountability to make sure that you're making the right decisions or to make sure that someone is kind of keeping an eye on what you're doing to push you through.
