What is the best way to prepare yourself to own/run a business?

[u/ZebraChemical5746]

I’m going to be starting a CPG business (selling online).

I want to make my first step into product development, but I always get kinda scared once it’s “done”, because then i’m like “now what”.

Should I start posting on instagram (but not the actual product, since I don’t have it, I can’t)

I basically want some practice that won’t cost me money or much money. Besides creating the website, what else can I do to have things kinda lined up?

I want to be ready and not scared.

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[u/Proper_Maximum2962]

You can always do a mock launch by setting up a test instagram account, and you might not even need a website at first-these days, a lot of the audience-building can happen directly on social media

[u/ZebraChemical5746 → u/Proper_Maximum2962]

Any ideas of what to post? Should I just say “coming soon”?

[u/posticycom]

I’d focus on getting comfortable with the basics before spending much money. Talking to potential customers, researching competitors, and figuring out how people currently solve the problem can teach you a lot before the product is even finished.

[u/ZebraChemical5746 → u/posticycom]

Thank u

[u/thepkizzle]

Take a toy cap gun that lets you fire 6 shots, and fire 5 of them, then spin the wheel around a bunch of times until you have absolutely no idea where that last cap is.

Then put the gun under your chin and pull the trigger.

You are now prepared to own and run a business, except when you run a business there are 5 caps that haven't been fired out of 6, not 1, and they aren't caps.

Actually if you want go ahead and take 10 sets of caps and only fire 1 of them off, then mix all them togeher and pick one at random so your odds of not getting shot in the head are 1/60. That's a better probability (varies depending on business.)

[u/ZebraChemical5746 → u/thepkizzle]

Oh!

[u/kmursalato7]

Build in public! No need to wait until the final product is ready to start delivering content. You can share posts about your ideas, design trials, or the limitations of products on the market.Also, start a waitlist. If no one signs up for free, they are less likely to come back to buy the product later.Which CPG niche are you going to start working in?

[u/ZebraChemical5746 → u/kmursalato7]

Cosmetics. Do I need a working shopify site to create the waitlist? I’m happy with just using instagram as a “wait list” for now as well

[u/formershitpeasant]

Read some textbooks. Get a fundamental intuition of marketing, accounting, operations, and finance.

[u/DigitalDevyn]

You can prepare a lot before the product is finished without spending much money.

I’d start by getting really clear on who the customer is, what problem the product solves, what makes it different, and what you want people to associate with the brand.

You can also start building the business side now: pricing, margins, fulfillment, returns, customer service, how orders will be tracked, what happens if something goes wrong, and what your basic launch process will look like.

For Instagram, I wouldn’t wait until the product is finished. You can start documenting the process, talking about the problem you’re solving, sharing what you’re learning, and building an audience around the category without pretending the product is already available.

You probably won’t ever feel completely ready. The goal is to make the next step feel less uncertain by having the basics mapped out before you launch. You can prepare a lot before the product is finished without spending much money.

[u/ZebraChemical5746 → u/DigitalDevyn]

Thank you. I really want to build at least a tiny audience on instagram who care about the product/community

[u/chadlinden]

Lesson #1: use other peoples' money. In this case, go get a job somewhere that does what you want to do. You'll learn some incredibly expensive lessons on someone else's dime.

[u/elcharrom]

Organic social media is a good start. You can also start researching suppliers and other tools you might need and start looking at the financial side of things.

[u/ZebraChemical5746 → u/elcharrom]

I think social media would be best to start. I can get some experience “running” a company even if it’s just a tiny amount