Yesterday ended up being a pretty productive day.
Work started off a little rough because I had a headache for most of the day. I ended up leaving a little early, came home, rested for a bit, and drank some coffee. Thankfully, the headache went away, and I was able to get back to work on everything I wanted to accomplish.
The Etsy inventory is finally coming together.
One of my Amazon packages arrived a day early, so I was able to start finishing a lot of the Etsy inventory I’ve been working on. As I was putting everything together, I started thinking about my workflow.
Instead of constantly making small batches throughout the month, I think it makes more sense to dedicate one or two days each month to producing inventory. Right now, I have enough supplies to build about two and a half months’ worth of one product. If I can knock all of that out in a couple of days, I can spend the rest of the month focusing on other parts of the business instead of constantly switching tasks.
The new Etsy idea still has some problems to solve.
I’m still experimenting with another product that I think has potential, but there are a few things working against it.
The biggest issue is sourcing materials at a price that makes sense. Even if I can make the product the way I want, I don’t know if I’ll be able to buy the supplies cheaply enough on a consistent basis. It’s also much more labor-intensive than my other products. There are more moving pieces, it takes longer to make, and right now I don’t think the profit justifies the amount of work involved.
I’m not giving up on it yet, but it’s definitely becoming clear that the business has to make sense on paper before it makes sense in practice.
I kept the content moving, too.
I finished editing one of the YouTube videos I recorded over the weekend. I made the thumbnail, wrote the description, and got everything uploaded. It’s always satisfying getting a video published because it’s another step toward being more consistent with content.
I also listed a few more products on eBay. Nothing major, but enough to keep the store active and continue feeding the algorithm.
Another product idea hit a roadblock.
I’ve also been researching another product idea, but finding affordable parts has been harder than I expected.
I looked at Alibaba first because I thought buying in bulk would bring the cost down enough to make the numbers work. After adding shipping and taxes, though, the cost ended up being around $14 per part. On top of that, the estimated delivery window stretched all the way from August into late October. That’s just too long.
I checked Temu next and found what appeared to be the exact same part for almost the same price. The only problem was that the price changed once I got to checkout. The listing suggested one price, but after everything was added, it ended up costing more than I expected. Now I’m trying to figure out whether that’s just how the platform works or if I’m overlooking something.
Every project starts with uncertainty.
This idea is probably going to take longer than I originally expected before it becomes a real part of the business. I’m sure there will be more problems to solve along the way, but that’s usually how these things go.
The important part is that I finally got the ball rolling. Every obstacle I run into teaches me something new, and every adjustment gets me a little closer to figuring out a system that actually works.