The Product Biz Podcast by Monica Little Coaching

The hidden reason why you aren't getting more sales that MOST aren't sharing

March 08, 2023 Monica Little Episode 42
The Product Biz Podcast by Monica Little Coaching
The hidden reason why you aren't getting more sales that MOST aren't sharing
Show Notes Transcript

Here's what most people WON'T tell you or WON'T ever realize for themselves which is what keeps them stuck: When you are READY for more orders… you’ll GET more orders.

If it takes 10+ days because you are making everything to order, you don't have enough raw materials so you have to order them, or you just don't have your shit together, well… you're not ready for more orders. So don't expect them.

How do you show you are ready for more orders? In this week's Quick Tip Wednesday, you'll learn the simple steps you can take to be PREPARED for more orders... and then WATCH as they start to come in more frequently than ever before.

LEARN MORE FROM MONICA LITTLE

Website: www.monicalittlecoaching.com

Instagram: @monicalittlecoaching

My small business: www.shopplantbasedbeauty.com

[00:00:00] Monica Little: Hello and welcome to episode 42 of the Product Biz Podcast. My name is Monica Little and I'm your host. And today we have quick tip one today, which is a 15 minute or less podcast episode with actionable insights for you to take and grow your business.

[00:00:18] So I wanna talk about being ready for more orders. A lot of times people come to me and say, I just wish I had more orders. I wish I had as many orders as that person. I wish I had more orders coming in. I wish I could make more money. I wish I could sell more of my products so I could invest in X, Y, Z.

[00:00:37] Well, what I wanna remind you, when something I am a firm believer of and something that changed the trajectory of my business and also changes the trajectory of the business of my clients who embody this and actually listen to the words that I'm about to share with you, is the universe knows when you are ready.

[00:00:55] The universe responds when you are ready. If you want these [00:01:00] huge orders, these big orders that you see other people having, but. It would stress you out. You would have to order a ton of raw materials. You would be flustered trying to make it all in time to ship it in a timely manner. It would take you two or three weeks to actually make and ship the products.

[00:01:17] If this is what your circumstance would be like if you got a big order or if you got a huge influx of orders. Why do you think the universe would give that to. The universe doesn't want you to be stressed out. So no matter how badly you want more money, you need more money. You want to sell more products.

[00:01:36] If the act of getting more orders is going to stress you out because you're not prepared for more orders, the universe isn't gonna give you more orders. The universe knows that money doesn't buy happiness. And if you've been listening to the product, this podcast for a while, then you hear me say that pretty frequent.

[00:01:52] And God, the universe, source, spirit, whoever, whoever you believe in knows that money doesn't [00:02:00] buy happiness. So if you're wanting money, but more orders will stress you out, and the universe knows that money doesn't bring happiness and more orders is only going to stress you out, while the universe doesn't want you to be stressed out.

[00:02:14] So why would the universe give you more orders when you are not ready for. So if it takes you 10 plus days to ship an order, if you were to get 200 units ordered by someone today, and it would stress you out, and if you were to get 50 orders coming in today and it would stress you out, you're not ready for more and you're not going to get those orders.

[00:02:38] So how do you show that you're ready for more? Well, it truly is being prepared and investing in your business to be ready for more orders. So then you can just put your hands up in the air and say, I am ready. I can handle it. No matter what comes at me, I will be able to fulfill that order because I've got it.[00:03:00] 

[00:03:00] And this is a big difference between the struggling small business owner and the successful small business owner. So when you're ready for more orders, you'll get more orders. But if it takes 10 plus days because you're making everything to order, you don't have enough raw materials, so you have to order them and you have to wait for them, and you hope they arrive and you're checking the tracking every day, and you're wondering if you have to go back to your customers and tell 'em, it's just not ready yet if you don't have your shit together.

[00:03:30] you're not ready for more orders, so don't expect more orders. And you might be wondering, okay, well how do you show you are ready for more? And backstock is the answer. You should have at least 50 units of every single product ready to go. , and this depends on what stage you're at in your business. If your business is bigger, well, let's talk about a hundred of each.

[00:03:52] Let's talk about 150 of each. Let's create backstock. So when you get an order, it's as simple as taking the product off of the shelf, [00:04:00] putting it in a box, and putting a label on it. Can you see now how you're ready for more orders? If you got a ton, you'd be able to fulfill them very quickly. So having at least 50 units of each product, then you can ship it easier.

[00:04:15] Then you're shipping. Lead time comes down, right? So now you can communicate to customers that your shipping is one to three business days because you're not making anything to order, and you can just box it up and ship it out really quickly. This is something that came up in my Fair Masterclass.

[00:04:32] Similar situation when retailers are buying from you, they want their items fairly. We live in an Amazon world, right? Everyone expects things pretty instantly in terms of delivery. So if you're selling unfair and your lead time is five to 10 business days, because you know what? You have to order the products and then ship it out to them.

[00:04:56] The retailers aren't gonna buy from you. , and [00:05:00] someone asked this in the Fair Masterclass, which this coincides with customers buying from you too, right? But someone asked, well, I just haven't invested in Backstock to be able to fulfill orders quickly because it's a lot of money. So what do I do? Well, there's two answers to that.

[00:05:21] Number one, this is why I tell people not to have a lot of product. Because when I say you have to have 50 of each product, it's the people who have 25, 30 products that are like, oh my God, I have to have 50 units of this. You know how much that's gonna cost me? . Exactly. That's the whole point. Why I'm preaching from the top of the mountain, that coming out with new products is detrimental to your business because you're actually spending more money on creating inventory.

[00:05:51] You're spending more money on raw materials, you're spending more money on new packaging, you're spending more money on new labels. Not to mention the amount of time that you're spending, which time is [00:06:00] also. So yes, if you want to create back stock and have a good amount of back stock to be ready for more orders, then you might want to reduce the number of skews that you have and really focus on your best sellers.

[00:06:14] Focus on the ones that are selling the best or the ones that you think will be the best, and create enough back stock of those. So that's number. Number two, if you're like, materials cost a lot and I just don't have the money right now to get back stock for my products. Well, it's kind of a catch 22, right?

[00:06:36] When you have back stock and customers or retailers see that you can ship faster, you're gonna get more orders. So you have to pay to have back stock. In order to receive more money, you have to give up more money to receive more. And truly money is energy. And you've heard from different people on the podcast now who talk about this, but it's this giving and receiving energy.

[00:06:59] So [00:07:00] when you spend money on Backstock, you're gonna make more money from being able, being more appealing to customers, being more appealing to retailers who are going to buy more from you. So yes, running a business that is a project-based business is re going to require you to invest in your business.

[00:07:20] And that is the weirdest thing that I see that people don't wanna invest in their business. It blows my mind. They wanna start a business but not invest in back stock, not invest in professional photos, not invest in labels, not invest in branding. So basically what you're doing is you have a hobby that you're trying to scale to six figures, but at one point to make that actually happen.

[00:07:42] you have to start treating it like a business. And when you start treating it like a business, you have to invest. I don't think there are many businesses out there that didn't invest in their growth from the start to become where they are right now. And you can slow down your progress by doing everything [00:08:00] yourself.

[00:08:00] You can slow down your progress by not investing. You can slow down your progress by doing the same things that you've been. But don't come to me when a year goes by and you're in the same spot that you have been, right? You have to make these scary moves. You have to invest in more backstock. You have to invest in making your inventory process easier.

[00:08:17] So if you make soap, if you make candles, that may mean professional melter, like one of those big industrial ones, or maybe two or maybe three, or maybe hiring someone to help you do it. And this is truly the, the distinction between a hobby and a business, and a lot of people who are running their hobby and trying to make it a business are going to be the first ones to say, I can't do that.

[00:08:40] That's not possible. Will I challenge you if this is a business? Investing is required in a business without a shadow of a doubt. You have to invest in branding, photos, labels, raw materials, enough back stock. , it's required, right? There's literally no way around it. And if you [00:09:00] want your business to be successful, then you have to start investing.

[00:09:02] Now you have to act like that person. Now, if you wanna be a six figure small business owner, well ask yourself, what does a six figure small business owner do? And whatever answer comes to mind, do it now. If a six figure small business owner has professional photos, great. You just signed yourself up for it.

[00:09:20] If a six figure small business owner has a coach, great, find one. If a six figure small business owner has a ton of backstock to fulfill orders, great. Now that's on your to-do list, right? This is truly where we have to embody the person that we want to be. And I wanna ask you, do you think there are any six figure businesses out there that literally did things, the freeway.

[00:09:43] That never got professional photos. Only bought raw materials when they had, you know, enough sales to cover it. Did their own photos, did their own labels, did their own everything. If you're trying to build a six figure business by going the free route or going [00:10:00] the cheap route, or going the, I don't wanna spend money route, well, I hate to break it to you, but I don't know if that six figure business is gonna be in your future.

[00:10:08] The people who see those results are the ones who take risks, the ones who invest, the ones who, ones who do things that scare them. That's why there's a saying. The bigger the risk, the bigger the. Because when you're taking a risk, well now you're upleveling your photos, you're upleveling your backstock, you're upleveling your branding, you're upleveling how you build your business, and that risk leads to that reward.

[00:10:35] But if you're not taking any risks, if you're doing the same things that you did six months ago, if you're doing the same things you did in last month, that should be a red flag warning sign telling you. Something's gotta change. You gotta step up. You gotta do something different. You gotta become that person and act like that person now instead of waiting, waiting, waiting to be that person.

[00:10:59] [00:11:00] If it happens later down the line, you're going to become that person so much faster if you start acting like them now, if you start taking risks like them now, if you start behaving and asking yourself, what would a successful six figure or small business owner do? Before every single task that you do, ask yourself, what would a six figure small business owner do?

[00:11:22] All right, I need to make inventory. I need to order raw materials. What would a six figure small business owner do? They would make enough back stock because they know the orders are coming in and they know they have to fulfill them quickly, and they know they're gonna have happy customers and happy retailers, and they're gonna.

[00:11:42] As easy as that, and yes, this is scary. Yes, this is uncomfortable. Yes, it requires spending money, putting skin in the game. Welcome, welcome. To the world of growing a business, embrace it. Love it, have fun with it. You're gonna grow and it's going to [00:12:00] be an amazing transformation. So, a little bit of a tangent there.

[00:12:04] I know we talked, uh, we started this episode talking about. How to show that you are ready for more orders. And yes, it means investing in raw materials in order to grow your business. And yes, that means we can't avoid investing in our business. And if that's still something that you're trying to avoid, well that's when the question comes in.

[00:12:26] Are you running a business or running a hobby? So truly tru. Prioritize, having back stock, having packing materials, having your items ready, and only when you do this can you get to the next stage in your business. This is phase one and product with Academy. It's all about inventory. It's about pricing, it's about your inventory processes, it's about having back stock.

[00:12:50] It's about making this as easy as possible. And only when you've accomplished this do you go to the next phase, which is selling on [00:13:00] social media. And then you go to selling on Etsy, getting into stores, creating your website, and getting on a wholesale e-commerce marketplaces. But truly, so many small business owners are stuck in the inventory stage, and they never get out of this stage because they're not investing in raw materials.

[00:13:17] They're not making back stock. They're making everything to order. They're doing everything on their own. They're not investing in upleveling, they're creating, making process. And those are the people who stay. So if you walk away with one thing from today's episode, it's make some back stock. Show that you are ready for more orders and trust me.

[00:13:41] Then the orders will come. Become that person that you want to be and step into them starting today and see how things start to unfold in a way that you would've never ever imagine. So that's all that I wanted to say on my little soapbox today. [00:14:00] I would love to hear your feedback on this episode. So please reach out to me on Instagram, Monica Little Coaching, and let me know what you think.

[00:14:06] And thank you so much for listening to this week's episode of the Product Biz Podcast.