633. The Untold Story of My Product Based Business Journey

Hi, I'm Jacqueline Snyder and this is the Product Boss podcast. I've helped launch and grow thousands of product based businesses, even one of my own. And over the last 20 years, I've seen behind the scenes of businesses just like yours. Whether they are makers, manufacturers, artists, or food and beverage businesses. I have spent so many hours studying it all. I've discovered what makes them successful, what mistakes they could have avoided, how did they turn their ideas into a successful business, and what are the strategies that they have used to make more sales and be discovered by more customers. And this is what this show is all about. Whether you're just starting out or you're looking to become a million dollar product boss, I'm here to give you the permission to chase your dreams, no matter how big or small. All you need is the right mindset, a little courage, strategy and support, and you too can be the next million dollar product boss. Let's do this. Hey, hey, product bosses. Well, welcome back to another episode of the Product Boss podcast where I'm here to help you build a product based business that gives you financial freedom and time freedom. And so today I'm going to get a little personal. I don't know that I've shared this story fully before on the podcast. Now I talk about my story a lot in some of my masterclasses that I teach, but I wanted to share that and share this with the entire audience of the untold story of my own journey as a product based business owner. So I want to take you back to the beginning when I was right where you are now. I was hustling hard, I was making mistakes and I was feeling completely overwhelmed. Listen, I was. Well, when I started my business, I had no kids, right? It was my first baby. And then I had babies in the very beginning of starting my business. And so there is just so much, you know, we know this like the overwhelm can be alone, you know, very overwhelming, just running a business and starting up a business. But then, you know, throwing in that sort of beginning time when you have babies to take care of, it's like, oh my goodness, there's so many things. So I was super overwhelmed. But what I didn't realize back then was that I was missing something crucial. And I want to share that with you today because I know so many of you are going through this too. So grab a cup of coffee or favorite beverage, settle in, and let's dive in into my story. So when I first started my business and I was an entrepreneur and I was young, I was in my, like 20s, I'm gonna say late 20s, but 26, 27, you know, I had all of this energy, I had all of this excitement and I had so many ideas, so many ideas. And you know how this feels, right? So it's like, I can make this, I can make this. Oh, you know, like, I love eco friendly and I love dresses, so I'm gonna make an eco friendly dress line. And I don't like taking purses to go clubbing with my girlfriend. So how can I figure out that problem? And you know, I want to be a wedding dress designer. These are all thoughts, these are all the thoughts that I had. I also had this other thought for a swimwear line where you could tan through your swimwear so that I never had to actually be in a bikini, right? So these were all problems that I saw out there and I wanted to solve them by creating a product based business. And I know that, you know that feeling, right? That excitement, that energy when you have this idea, when there's a space spark and you decide, I'm going to create something amazing and it's going to change my life. So the thing that I decided to dig into was, well, actually, I don't think I've mentioned the dress line, but I started two product businesses at the same time. Why? Because I was consulting and, and working with and designing for. I used to say I was kind of like a architecture firm for people who want to start clothing lines where you would come to me and you would tell me, you know, I, if I was an architect, you'd be like, I want a house, I want it Mediterranean style. I want five bedrooms, five baths, like da, da, da da, right? So people come to me and say, hey, I want to create an underwear line, I want to create a lab coat line, I want to create backpacks, I want to create this jewelry company. And then I would help them go through it. So I'm like, of course, of course I can come up with these ideas the same way that my clients do and make them. So I made the dress line, which was called Lily Mark after my grandparents. And I started Cuffs Couture. Now I dreamt of both of these companies taking off, right? That I was going to become this well known fashion designer in the world and, and my stuff was gonna be on store shelves everywhere. I wanted to be the next big thing and I wanted to feel the freedom that comes with owning my own business. But here's the thing, here's the thing that they don't tell you what comes next. And what that is is all of those unseen struggles, right? Especially now when we are on social media and we've got this like, little view into people's lives. We're not sharing the struggles and the hard and the crying and the tears and the, you know, shipping being delayed or product things going on, back costs going up. Like, we don't share that stuff, right? We're like, oh, here's me packing boxes and everyone's having so much fun. Nobody talks about the unseen struggles that entrepreneurs deal with. So let me tell you about my first big mistake. So my first big mistake was I had no idea who my customer really was. I had the idea for the product, right? I came up with the idea. I even figured out how to make that product. But I had no idea who my customer really was, why my customer would want what I had. I knew why I wanted it, but I did know how to make that make sense to the customer. And I didn't know how to present this to them, right? I knew I could make these beautiful products, but I wasn't clear on who I was selling them to. In fact, at that point I thought, well, all women with wrists would want Cusco Tour, which was a wearable wrist wallet that didn't look like an activewear wrist wallet. So I just, I just never did it. Like, I never thought about it. I felt like it was innate that I knew the product to make and that the people out there would want it, but I actually didn't have the clarity. I didn't have that clarity. So I really, really struggled to market my business. I didn't know how to hit up against pain points, right? How to hit up against a pain point of one of my customers and then agitate that problem and then solve that problem with my product. And this, when I say this from, oh my goodness, I'm like probably close to two decades now. I know, crazy, but two decades of doing this, of entrepreneurship and helping product based business owners around the world since 2007. So we're getting real close. I didn't know this back then on how to do it. So what did I do instead? I just tried to sell. So the first thing I tried to do was I just tried to sell on my own website. And I thought, you know, if they build it, they will come. People did not come. Nobody knew I existed. Not only that, because I didn't know how to market myself. Nobody was typing into their computers wearable wrist wallets to wear out when you're clubbing with your girlfriends, right? Like, no no. And if they were looking for a wrist wallet or an arm wallet or something like that, most likely it was in the activewear space for somebody who ran and, you know, wanted to put their cash or their, you know, phone or something like, and wear it on the go and not have to wear a fanny pack or any of that stuff. So because I didn't know how to market myself and because I didn't know who I was selling to, I just built a website and I thought, people are gonna find me. Well, that didn't work. Crickets upon crickets. The silence was deafening. So then. And I teach this because this is how I started coming up with the frameworks of what I teach. And I didn't realize then what I was learning. And I'm so honored that you're listening to this episode because I'm so glad that I can share my story and the things that I had to overcome with you. So potentially, you don't make the same mistakes and. Or you shorten that learning curve. Okay. I wanna, like, shrink your timeline. My timeline was much longer, much more painful, and cost a lot of money. So how do I shrink your timeline? Well, by talking to you about it, right? By sharing what I did. So I didn't sell anything online. Just my friend who found me and then her friend who came and bought and then crickets. So I added on another sales channel. I was like, well, where are my customers? And the first thing I realized was, like, I needed to get into I'm gonna do in person markets. Because I'm in Los Angeles. The markets I was gonna do were where trendy people were, right? There were people that were my age and their 20s and their 30s. I wasn't catering to moms or. I just. Well, actually, I didn't know who I was catering to. I was just like, oh, girls like me who like to go out and don't. They don't wanna bring a purse. So I decided to go sell at in person markets, right? So craft fairs, the flea markets in LA that are kind of like all cool, modern stuff and not always all vintage, right? And I started doing that. And the thing there that I saw was immediate feedback. Immediate feedback and getting into conversation with these people to actually identify who my customer was and who my customer wasn't. I mean, there were some humongous aha moments. Right? Now, we know this. And my friends, I know you know this. If you sell it in person markets and craft markets and all the things. I mean, it is exhausting. It's exhausting. And Especially if that's been your entire plan with your business. And I knew for me, I couldn't do that forever. But I was going to do that initially to get immediate feedback, to start to just kind of see. And then I did. I started to see what people wanted to buy, what questions they had. It just really helped me start to identify my customer and how to market myself. Because, truthfully, at that point, I felt like I was throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping something would stick. Oh, maybe if I make headbands. Maybe if I. I did. I made headbands. I made necklaces. This is the time when we wore feathers in our hair, if anybody remembers. I made these, like, clips with chains and feathers, like, all this stuff. And it wasn't the why I started Puffs Couture, which was this wearable wrist wallet. So it was for somebody who didn't want to take, as I called it, the Mary Poppins bag out with them, or they could pull a lamp out, and they could pull their lip gloss, all the things out, right? They had their entire makeup bag in there. It was someone who just wanted lip gloss, a credit card, some cash, and their key and their phone. So. But that's what I was doing. I was like, all right, these mistakes are. I'm just gonna. I don't know who my customer is. I don't know what my customer wants. I don't know how to market myself, but I'm just gonna throw it all out there. So I know this might sound familiar, right? And I know many of you might be feeling this way right now. You have a product, you've started to build this business, but you're not sure if it's resonating, and you just don't know where to focus or how to get consistent. Sal feels like you're either doing everything and you don't know what to do, or you feel like. You know, there's also that analysis paralysis where it's like, okay, I'm just gonna do this. Like, everything else feels overwhelming. So here's the deal. For months. For months, I felt overwhelmed. I was constantly trying to sell. I had no system in place. I had no solid brand identity, no real strategy. And the worst part was that I was burning out. Burning out because I was feeling hopeless. And it was like, okay, I'm just gonna keep trying and trying and trying. And I felt like I was hitting my head against a wall, and. And I kept thinking, is this really what owning a business is supposed to feel like? Right? Am I missing something? Like, this does not feel right. And so then it hit me. I was. I was missing something. I was missing the foundation, right? And what's bonkers to me is that I was helping people grow their businesses. And I could see it so clearly for them, but I couldn't see it for myself. I was too close to it. I'm sure you felt that way before, like, just too close to it. They always say, like, plumbers have bad plumbing or you know, there's. I went to fashion school. I know how to sew, but I'm also short. Pants are always long on me. And I will walk on my pant hems and have holes at the bottom of my pants. Even though I know how to sew, right? Fashion designers. I mean, even my wedding dress, right, Was a. It's like, I'm a fashion designer. I wanna be a wedding dress designer. And even my wedding dress was like not the thing. So you gotta realize and give yourself grace that that's okay. Like it was okay that I had done this for other people, but I was missing that thing for me, I was missing that foundation. Cause I was so excited and I had that passion. But I didn't have the right product figured out yet, right? I didn't know what my niche was because I thought I knew my niche, but it wasn selling. So I added more things on and that wasn't selling. So what was I actually doing, right? It felt like I was spinning around in circles. I didn't have a clear brand. I didn't know who I was attracting, who my customer was going to be, how I would present my product to them, where they trusted me to exchange their hard earned cash with me. I didn't know how to market. I didn't know how to find the customers other than going to in person markets. I didn't know how, once I found them, how to stay in contact with them, market to them. And I didn't have the systems that would allow me to grow without constantly spinning my wheels. I'm a designer, I'm an artist. I have a bachelor's in fine arts. Like, I mean, I'm organized, but this is me back then. I was kind of, you know, I was doing exactly what Ashley, one of my students has said is like flying by the seat of my pants. I was excited, but I was actually spinning my wheels and not moving forward. I was on a stationary bike. I was not on the bike that was actually getting the mileage. I was on a stationary bike going nowhere. So here's the deal. I know that here I've talked to you about multi stream machine and selling on multiple sales channels. And that has worked. That did work for me. I went from an e commerce site that wasn't converting because no one knew I existed to then selling in person. Where I started to get data and feedback. I started to really gain traction. People started to know that I existed, I was making sales. I started getting a little bit more confidence back. And then I added on another sales channel which was wholesale, because wholesale, all I knew is that I needed to reach out to the stores, get the stores to buy from me and then they would do the marketing. But here's the deal. It wasn't just about selling on those multiple platforms. It was about having a product and a brand that customers and people couldn't resist. It was building the brand that made the customers want to buy from me, want to trust me and come back and buy again. So here's the deal. It's also really hard to sell wholesale to a buyer that's pretty savvy if I don't have a well established brand. And what a brand is is it's everything around the product. It's not just I sell candles and here is my candle. It's like, how do we want people to feel when they buy your product? What do they want to with your business, your product lineup, all the things, right? And a brand really holds the customer. They know who the customer is. The why, what products are gonna meet the greatest needs of that customer. Not the greatest needs of me, the designer or the creator or the maker, but of my customer. I am in service to my customer. And then how did I get my product to be on a shelf that like Kim Kardashian purchased in a store when she probably still shopped for herself, right? She purchased it for her and her sisters. She wouldn't have picked up something that lived, as I like to use the word, janky. And I would have never been that store had I not really up leveled my product, my brand, all of the things, right? And that I had those systems in place. So once I realized that, I shifted my focus while I was like, all right, these sales channels are going to work. They weren't going to work until I started to refine my product line, until I got clear on what was profitable and what my customers really wanted. So I'm telling you, from the very first round of me launching Clefs Couture to getting this machine going, I rebranded my business. I rebranded it to attract the right customer. And I only knew who the right customer was. By doing the work, I had to do some deep work to figure out who she was. And most importantly, I put in these systems in place. I put systems in place to manage the day to day, to manage the idea of, you know, marketing, sales. How was I going to sell this stuff, really making sure that I was always honing back in on my customer things. About just managing a business in general, right? Because I would rather create and make all day than get into my QuickBooks. And sometimes I'd be in my QuickBooks and it would take me an entire day or I'd have to update my website and update all the product descriptions and the photos and oh my gosh, how many hours I spent with my own photos in a little like white box take. I'm like holding my face right now. If you could see me, right, Taking these photos, buying the nice camera, taking the photos, uploading them. I did not have Canva back then where it could just like erase the background. So I was all up in Photoshop, like using the Magic line tool and then erasing the background. I mean, it was, you guys are so, so lucky these days to have so many systems and software that do things faster. It's just unbelievable, right? But I was like, I needed to up level, but I also needed to boss up. It felt like I needed to go back to school. I went to school to be a fashion designer. They taught me how to make pattern and drape and sew. They taught me how to design, but they taught me how to work for somebody else. They taught me how to be a designer at somebody else's company. They did not teach us how to start a company, build a company, grow a company. They didn't teach us any of that stuff, right, because they really kind of just taught us to be the worker bees, the creatives. But so many of us wanted to have our own businesses eventually. And what's funny is, you know, again, I think I am, yep, 20 years out of college. Like, let me do that math in my head. So if I think about the last two decades out of school and I think about my friends, my girlfriends that I went to school, college with and where we went after I was hired by a small mom and pop company, they were like 25 million a year. I mean, they're a huge company. They're called Cosabella. It's an Italian lingerie company we sold to Neiman Marcus. And it was just an amazing, amazing opportunity out of school. But my other friends went and worked for Gap, Abercrombie and Fitch, Nike And I remember getting calls from them over the years. One of my friends, the one that worked at Gap, she's like, hey, I'm thinking about eventually leaving and starting my own company. How do I even do that? Because I had already done it for myself. I then at that point been, you know, coaching at least a thousand people to start their businesses. I had launched my businesses. I was telling her all about it, right? But the thing is, is when you work for someone, El, it's not your fault. Like, how are you supposed to know how to build a business the right way? And how are we supposed to know what systems to put in place? My school that I went to never taught me that. So I was like, does anyone have product boss school, right? Is there a school for me to go to? Teach me how to be a product boss? I mean, in the way of like, you know, all the things, like what, what's the idea? What product am I making? Why am I doing this? Who's my customer? How do I brand it? How do I do all of this with a low startup budget, right? Most of us aren't funded by other people. We're self funded. How do I do this if this is my side hu hustle, how do I start to market if I don't have money for ad? How do I sell, right? So I didn't know any of this. Like, if only I had that school to go to, if only someone could tell me what systems I needed in place, how to be that entrepreneur. I had the product, what did I have to do with the product? What would make the product sell better? How could I get the customers right? So here's the deal. I dug into it all. I started to put systems in place. I had to figure that out on my own. I have so many systems that I figured out for my product business that, you know, I have production calendars of when I need to start production to be ready for when I drop it. Have design boards of like the idea that I'm, I'm creating, what do I need to source? Like, how do I create collections? How do I merchandise it? This is when I came up with my cost sheet calculators, right? So what am I going to, what are my raw goods? How much is it going to cost me? What would the wholesale price be? What would the retail price be? What would my margins be? I mean, I. What other amazing tools that I have to come up with? So many things. I had production plans, production calendars, marketing templates of like, what I was going to send to my Wholesale retailers, right? There's just so many systems that I had to put in place. But then once I did, once I built these things, I built these templates, I built these systems and things that I could work through. I realized that I could start to manage the day to day without burning out. Because where the overwhelm comes is when our mind is, like, mismanaged, when we don't know what to do. So I automated where I could, I streamlined where I could. And at that point, I actually really started building a business that worked for me, not the other way around, right? How many of us feel like enslaved to our businesses that we built from more freedom? So how did I get that switched around? It took me a long time, but I did. It was a game changer. It was a game changer. So looking back, I wish I had known these things from the start, right? I wish someone had told me, you need more than just your product. It needs to be built with the right foundation to build a scalable business. You need to know more than I'm going to learn how to make this product, right? I figured out where to get the fabrics from, which took me forever, and the charms and all the things I put on them. Then I had to learn how to create the production process, like, how to make it an effective process. Process. I did all that. I learned how to build a website and what the website had to look like to convert. So I built all that. I learned all this on my own, and then I launched it. I didn't have the customers, so then I had to figure out, well, how do I find the customers? How do I market to those customers? How does my brand stand out to them? How do I sell to them? And there's even things with selling, like cross sells and upsells, and there's so many, like, foundational things in selling that me talking about it now feels overwhelming. So I was like, oh, if someone had a thing to show me exactly what to do here, here, like, start here and go through this like a school, right? Like, it's like my kids are in a school that's like kindergarten or tk, actually through eighth grade. And it's like, let's go through it. Let's be supported through it at all the levels. And I imagine this school is like, okay, depending on where I'm at with what level, like, could I access this information at any point? Right? Maybe I wanna learn about this today. Or maybe I wanna learn about that today because I, you know, I was working. I could work in a streamlined Way. And like, start here, end here. Or I could be like, okay, I know a little bit about that, but I really need to know more about that. And it was just like, tell me, tell me what I need to know. So. So I get it. And it took me a really long time to build a scalable business, to build a business that felt like it was working, to build a money making machine. And when I did, I was able to hit six figures in my first year of business, right? A hundred thousand dollars. My first year of business, selling an $11 folded piece of fabric. It was folded three times, sewn together. Yes, it had things on them, but ultimately it was a folded piece of fabric that I sold for 11 bucks. Bucks. I made a hundred thousand dollars my first year with people like Kim Kardashian and Carrie Underwood, wearing it in music videos and at the Country Music Awards. Nothing I would have ever expected. When I started and I started and I made it so hard because I was hustling hard. I was trying to figure this out hard. I was working on multiple sales channels. I was trying to sell, but I didn't have the right foundation. And when I say foundation, I'm telling you, this foundation would have worked for me if I was just starting out, if I had the idea and I was like, all right, all right, how do I do this? Tell me from here to here, like, start to scale, like, how would I get there? Or when I did start and I was selling or I wasn't selling, but I had the product, and I was like, why is this so hard? Making $50, not selling anything else, and I have all this product tied up, right? Or when I did start to sell, but I wanted to sell more, I'm like, okay, I'm starting to get information, but now I. I really want to hit that six figure mark. And then I want to go beyond that. So at all of those points, if I had had a place to turn to, to figure out right product, right time, getting a clear brand, figuring out my marketing, figuring out my sales system, figuring out the foundational parts, right? Like having the templates and the tools and the resources and even I used to create this for my students, too. I had a black book of sourcing, right? Like where they could source their fabrics and their trims for. And it was like I had to figure all of that out on my own. And that's why I kept hitting a wall. And so for you, my friends, I think you are probably very much like me. You're hustling hard. You might be Working on multiple sales channels, you're trying to sell. But if you don't have that foundation that I so much was looking for, right, the right product, the clear brand, the clear marketing and sales system, right, that your business is really this like engine that works for you, then you're gonna keep hitting that wall. So you all know that over the last year, we're basically at the year anniversary of me buying out my business partner Mina, as she exited the company. And so it was like full Jacqueline taking over the Product Boss. And it's been a really exciting year and also probably one of the scariest of my life because it was sort of all right, I'm taking this beautiful, amazing business. She's trusting me with it in my hands. And you can see that there's been, I knew that there was, there are things that are missing in how we continue to support students. And so this year what I really wanted to do was I wanted to work more one on one with my product based business owners, right in our community. And that's why you've seen me create different offers or you've actually listened to it on the podcast where I've been coaching product based business owners. And I've wanted to do it in this time, in real time, with all different types of product that they create. They're in all different places in the world and they have different goals and different strategies. But here's the thing, after doing this, I think I've done like a hundred so far this year. I'm seeing the same struggles come up again and again. So that's inspired me and I've been working on something behind the scene for you all, something that's going to help bridge the gap and finally build this solid business, right? This business that's going to tackle all of these parts, all of them, not just sales and visibility, not just some system, but really dig into what you need, that gap to build a business that's gonna set you up for success. Okay? So I can't reveal everything just yet, but trust me, you're going to want to be a part of this. I have not been as excited. And I say this because over the year it's been, hey, I'm gonna make changes, I'm gonna make sure I don't break this thing that is this beautiful, amazing business called the Product boss that we've been supporting people and all the things. And so in that time, I've realized that there's a gap that I feel so passionate about filling. The same way that when I started My business back in 2007 and I was passionate about filling a product gap, right? A physical product. It's when I started my consulting business that I was like, there's no one that's helping design the way that an architect does. And then the product boss, when we created this, it was, nobody was speaking to product based business owners from this, this way that's like not so, so high level that you're like, you're gonna be an Amazon bro boss and like drive your Lamborghini and have your sexy wife, right? Like not that version and not the maker's got make. And I'm never going to ask anyone to ever help me, ever because I'm not authentic to my own two hands making this product, right? There's like, there's these gaps and I wanted to, you know, the product boss was like to fill that gap to help people that have these awesome ideas but they're building them from their kitchen tables and their basements and their garages, their, you know, their barns in the backyard, like, and they have great beautiful ideas and they want to make good money and live these lives of freedom, right? Freedom of time and freedom of finance. Finance. So, so in all of that, in my mission and all the things and that I've actually invested my life savings into owning this company, right? I like, I'm like, I'm so excited, I'm so excited to share this with you. So it's something that I wish that I had when I started out and I've created specifically for product based business owners like you, for my community and especially from all of the coaching calls I've done because I've seen the struggles and they've been on repeat though. If you're feeling like your business is missing out on any of the things that I talked about here, the foundation of business, the structure, the systems, the, the G apps, the details, the templates, the all the things, right? Or you're ready to go from overwhelmed to empowered. I want you to be the first person to know when I release this brand new thing. Okay? That's going to be amazing and it's gonna be so good. Okay, so you can head over to theproductboss.com waitlist theproductboss.com waitlist join the waitlist and you will get exclusive early access to what's coming. I promise, I promise, I promise. You don't want to miss it. I'm so excited about it. I've already told a couple students that I've coached about it and they're so excited about it. Someone's like, just sign me up. Because my friend, you deserve a business that works for you and not the other way around. You deserve to have the information that so many of us crave and desire but we can't get it. We're like, I have to piece this together in all the different places. Like how does somebody just tell me how to do this thing? And so I'm excited to support you in that because, my friends, you deserve this. You deserve the life that you dream of and that your business is the vehicle to get you there. All right, so thank you so much for tuning in today and allowing me to share my story. I hope that it resonated with you and I cannot wait to share more with you in the coming weeks. So my friends, until next time, keep pushing, keep dreaming and keep building your product boss empire.