The Smarter Way to Grow Your Product Business to 7 Figures (Hint: It’s NOT More Products)

Welcome to the Product Boss Podcast. I'm Jacqueline Snyder, and on this show, we help product-based business owners grow towards and beyond $1 million in revenue with stronger strategy, better systems, and a business that doesn't rely on them for every single decision. So if you're ready to simplify, scale smarter, and stop being the bottleneck in your business, you, my friend, are in the right place. Today we're talking about something that I see happen all the time with my clients. Now I have a program called The Collective where we meet. I mean, there are so many opportunities for feedback and advice and strategy happening in there. And I saw this coming up recently in there with our members and I wanted to bring it to you here on the show. These business owners start to feel like business is slowing down. I mean, especially in the seasons that we're in when it's, you know, post-holiday season, we've moved into the spring season, and sometimes some of those months are not your best months. Sales feel slower than you want. You're like, ah, we were making so much money and now we're not. Or you're growing, but it feels really heavy, right? You're thinking, gosh, like there's something else I need. Like maybe there's something I'm missing, something that's going to make this easier. And a lot of times people think, I need a new product, or I need a new collection, or I need to launch something fresh to create momentum. I think this comes up a lot, especially if, if business owners are looking for new customers, they're thinking, okay, it's hard to get new customers, so maybe I need something new for the ones that I have. Or they haven't even shown the, the customers what they have, and they're thinking that they know. They're thinking that they know. So they're really thinking, okay, maybe it's time to make something new. It's always new, new, new, more, more, more. And I get it. I get it, especially because I am a fashion designer by trade. I chose to become a fashion designer because I loved the idea of newness. I loved seasonality. I loved creating. I loved designing. It's really part of what makes us all so amazing at creating and building these businesses. And a lot of times I've seen this with my clients is that they create something new because They feel productive, or it feels really exciting, right? Doesn't it feel more exciting when you're like, okay, I've got this idea and I'm going to do this new thing? I mean, it's that, that freshness to it versus when it's like, no, I'm going to stick to this one thing and stay focused. I mean, sticking to one thing and staying focused is not, especially for visionaries and creatives, always the thing that we do. Yeah, it feels exciting and it feels like movement, right? It feels like things are starting to move forward when maybe other things feel stuck. But here's the truth that I want to talk about here. Your next revenue leap will probably not come from adding more products. It's probably not going to come from adding new, new, new, new, new. It's much more likely to come, your next revenue leap, it's much more likely to come from making better decisions about what you already sell, right? So how your business runs, making better decisions about that. What your team owns. And when I say that, it means like ownership of other people who work for you and how they're supporting the growth of the business. Or what your systems support. Do you have systems plugged in or have you gotten to where you've gotten just kind of, you know, by the seat of your pants, like just flying by the seat of your pants, or it's worked and now it's like, oh, my systems need an upgrade. And also by really focusing on where you're creating complexity that your business cannot actually carry yet. Hands up if you're one of those people that just loves to add chaos and complexity. You're like, "We should try this, we should do this." Every new shiny object gets incorporated in. That's what we're going to dive into today, because if you already have traction, if you're already selling, if you have customers, if you have products that are selling, then your next level is probably not about proving your business works or adding more. It's about really building a business that can grow without, without everything still depending on you, without everything still running the way that you thought it was running. Like, what got you here isn't gonna get you to that next level. So if you've been feeling that urge to add something new, or maybe launch something new, or create your way out of a growth problem, then this episode is for you. And if you're not here yet, amazing, because listen to this, because as you're growing at every level, We think we know the answer, and this one, you might hear it today and then need it, you know, 3, 6, 12 months from now and be like, "Oh, I remember that episode." And if you're listening to this and you have another friend or someone that you know that is a product-based business owner, and you're like, "Gosh, they need to hear this episode," because you know they're constantly in hustle, they're constantly adding products, they're constantly doing new, new, new, new, and it looks like their hair is on fire, send them this episode because hopefully this will be something that also turns a light bulb on for them. So when business owners feel stuck, they don't say, "You know what I need? I need a better operational leverage." Right? They don't, "I need better systems." A lot of times they say, "I need something new," or, "I need a new offer," or, "I need to create a buzz," or, "I need to give people something else to buy." And listen, sometimes a new product is the right move. And oftentimes, like me coming out of the fashion industry, of course, every season required us to come up with a new collection, new colorways. But it didn't mean that we got rid of the core offering, and it didn't mean that we then decided to add on something super random or another category. So you really have to think strategically about your business and think about what does the season call for? Is it just another color? Is it a different fabric? Is it a different scent? But the core products are staying the same. I promise you, I've helped so many people get to $1 million in revenue and beyond that, $2 million, $3 million, $5 million, $10 million. I've helped so many people do that. Not by adding more. In fact, I was thinking about this the other day and I was thinking about all of these companies and all of these entrepreneurs that I've been right behind. Like, I like to call myself a brand maker. I'm the behind the scenes, like, secret weapon that people have. And I think about, you know, my clients that I've, I've been their strategist and their consultant for so long. And whenever it was like, should I do more? The answer was actually, less. Should I add more? The answer was actually less. It was focus, and I swear this is what's gotten people to $1 million within a year, within 3 years. It wasn't more, more, more, more, 'cause what does more do? It drains your bank account. I do get it that sometimes new products or collections or colorways are the right move, but most of the time it's not the first move. Most of the time adding more products is a reaction to discomfort, or pointing an arrow to a problem in the business. Because it might be a reaction to slower sales because you're like, well, if sales have slowed down, maybe these people want something else. Or it might be a reaction to inconsistent revenue, which is kind of the same as slower sales. It's like, okay, well, like sales are dipping, so maybe I need something new. It could be boredom. Hello, boredom, right? There's— I was recently coaching a client and she's like, but I get bored. I was like, well, do you get bored with money in your bank account? Because if you don't get bored with your money in your bank account, then keep doing the thing that keeps selling. Right? Get a hobby. Like, if you're bored, get a hobby. That's— you'll hear me say that if you're one of my clients. Might also come up with pressure or fear. Fear is a huge one, right? When we, when we make decisions from fear that what's working now isn't enough. Who else has that "am I enough" conversation? And then that feeling that you should be doing more because it feels really uncomfortable to stop doing. And when you're used to being the one who creates the momentum in your business, Right? When you're used to being the one who creates the newness and the freshness, a lot of times this can feel like control. You're looking for control and it feels like I can fix this, but creating another product can also be really, really expensive, right? It's a really expensive distraction because every new product truthfully is going to add weight. It adds decisions, it adds more inventory, which by the way is like money sitting on shelves. It adds more messaging and needing to create more messaging, more marketing, more fulfillment complexity, more customer service questions, more opportunities for your team to get confused and for your customers to get confused. And honestly, a big, big, big ding, ding, ding is more places for your cash to get tied up. So what looks like growth can actually be a drag, like a massive drag on your business. Like imagine you were in a speedboat speedboat driving, zoom, driving fast, but then the anchor, you forgot to pull the anchor up and the anchor is just dragging your boat, okay? If you're watching this on YouTube, you can see my dog. He loves the attention and the energy. Okay, this is where a lot of product-based business owners will get caught. Honestly, I see it over and over and over. I mean, I've been in this industry consulting and supporting business owners behind the scene, and I've seen it time and time again. So if this is you, please don't feel bad about this. Know that you're not alone and this is, this is very much a typical situation. This is something that comes up, but this is a make or break time. This is a time where you get to choose, I'm going to do it the way I think I feel like doing it, or I'm going to do it from a trusted and true source, which would be me because I've been behind the scenes of 2,000 brands that I've helped launch, like literally ideate and get out the door, and the 100,000 students that I've helped over the last, 2 decades in this business, okay? And this is where a lot of product-based business owners get caught, and maybe that's you too, because they're not lacking ideas, obviously, so many ideas. They're not lacking filters. They're not lacking creativity. They are lacking pruning. They are not lacking opportunities. They're just carrying too many of them at once. Too many. Something's gonna fall. So before you tell yourself that the answer is another product, I want you to hear this really, really clearly. More products can create more revenue, yes, but they can also create more chaos. And if your business is already too dependent on you, my friend, because it's a lot that you're carrying, then more products is not going to be the answer. It's usually actually just going to magnify your problem even more. So I want to go a level deeper. Is that okay? Right? Let's go a level deeper because that's what you're here for. If your revenue is not where you want it to be, there's usually a few things going on and here's what can happen, right? That I need more products is often the wrong diagnosis, right? So if you're looking at your business like something's broken, what's not going on, or how come I can't get to that next level, more products is not the thing. So what actually might be happening is that you're not maximizing what already works. You may already have your proven products, but they're not being fully leveraged, right? Maybe your bestseller is not featured enough. Maybe your offer stack is weak, right? Like you're, you're not doing upsells and cross-sells and being like, if you like this, you'll like this with it. Maybe your average order value is lower than it could be. Maybe your repeat purchase strategy is thin. Like, are you really working on getting your customers, like knowing the lifetime value and getting them to come back in and buy again? Your email marketing might be inconsistent. Your wholesale strategy might be undeveloped. I mean, listen, if I know you, 'cause I know you, I'll bet your attention is being split across too many things. And you're underselling the products that could actually carry more of the business. I'll just give you a really quick example. I have a client I used to work with and she was really known for this one product and then she varied it and she had this bigger version of it, bigger with a different design and it was like, I would say 2 times the cost of her average best-selling product. And she just kept saying, "I can't sell it, I can't sell it, I can't sell it." And it was sitting on a shelf forever and really we looked at her and we said, "Have you tried to sell it?" Have you done an Instagram post or story about it? Because she had a lot of Instagram followers. Have you mailed it to your email list and said, I have one? One? She did one story about it because she had a bunch of followers and she sold it instantly. It was like a $350 piece that she was selling. And it was just like, have you even looked at the thing to try and sell it? So here's another possibility, right? That your business has grown. We know this, your business is growing, but whatever level you're at, whether you got to your first $100,000, you're at $250,000, $300,000, $500,000, $1 million, wherever you are on this journey, have your systems caught up with the size of your business. And my friends, this is a big one because the business starts to grow, right? Your orders increase, your channels expand, you're starting to add team members. There are just more moving parts. But the backend is still being held together by your memory, your oversight, your approvals, maybe a Google Sheet or two, right? Your DMs, like people are DMing their, their clients, their brain. I have a client right now, she has over a $2 million company and she's still spending the weekends answering customer service emails because it's the way she's always done it. Like over $2 million just this year in revenue, or last year in 2025. And so it's like she's still operating the way she was operating when she was a maker, right? When she was a much smaller company. And then I had another client that people were just text messaging her. I was like, okay, can we actually run this through a system? So even if your sales increase, it might not feel like you made the leap, right? Because things still feel just as hard as they did before, or you might even feel like it's even harder than it was, right? There's more pressure. And things are happening that have complexity where you feel like your hair's on fire because you actually need clarity. And a lot of established product-based business owners, they don't need more options, they just need cleaner decisions. They need more decisive decisions and clarity, which truthfully one of them is which products are truly profitable? Which products are worth the operational effort? Which channels are worth a deeper investment? Right? And this reminds me of another client that we were looking, right? We were looking at her entire collection and what we looked at was, okay, well, she's like, well, these are my best sellers. These are my best sellers. And so we said, great, okay, these are best sellers. But what happened is one of them had massive customer service issues. It was like a mug and it couldn't get washed. Every time somebody washed it, there was a customer service issue. Or in shipping, if any of you sell mugs or anything made out of like ceramics, they break. So this mug would chip and the, the handle would break. So there was, even though it was a bestseller, there were constantly returns, constant customer service issues. Another product she had was a long spoon and the spoon would break all the time. So even though they were bestsellers, operationally, customer service issues, having to remake them, send them out, like all of it, they were actually losing money for her. They weren't worth it. And so you really get to look at your product lineup, and authors talk about this concept of kill your darlings. You just have to kill your darlings when you're an author. And I think about it in the same way for our products. Sometimes we might absolutely love a product, but we have to look at it and say, does it need to be simplified or retired? Like these mugs and spoons, right? We, we said, we're just gonna drop them and move to another product that was like second bestseller and made a lot of sense. And I mean, she hit, $1 million and $2 million and beyond, opened up a retail shop. Then like multiple millions later is when she expanded. So I just want to let you all know that these are possible. But when she started, she was an Etsy maker. So if you're listening and you're like, wow, this is really far out there for me, she was an Etsy maker. And then eventually she became a top 1% Etsy maker. And then she left that platform and sold wholesale and direct to consumer. And in fact, By me being her consultant and advisor and working with her over a couple of years inside of my program, we actually decided not only did we kill those darlings, but we actually stopped selling wholesale. She didn't need to sell wholesale anymore, which I know sounds nuts, but the demand for her product and the, the way that she could put it out there, she didn't need to do that. So do you see how you can start to actually reduce instead of add? This happens when you are generating revenue and you get to look and audit your business and say, what is it going to take to get the next level? And it's not the stuff that got you here. Because your revenue is going to stall a lot of times because the business is just carrying too much. There's the biggest one of them all, right? Here, here it is. And I think you know this, you know this in your bones. Too much of your business still depends on you, right? You're still reviewing too much. You're still approving too much, deciding, holding too much, answering emails, shipping boxes. There's just too much control that's going through you and too many fires for you to put out. Again, when you're thinking, "I need more revenue," what you actually need is a business that can support the revenue you currently have and then support the next level. I can't say it too many times, but what got you here isn't going to get you to that next level, okay? And so if it all moves through you, you are the bottleneck, the bottleneck. I think about another client of mine. I've been working with her for 4 years. She had 2 businesses. She was on Etsy selling through social media. She came to me because she had this stairwell in the building that she was shipping from, and she was listening to the podcast, or I think maybe she might've been on one of my live classes, and I'm telling her about how the first time I hit $1 million, I had a panic attack. And we'll add that to another show, okay? So keep listening, I'll talk about the panic attack, 'cause it doesn't make sense, but my brain disconnected from my body, and I was like, am I safe, or can I hold this, right? I went through a whole mindset shift. So she hears that while she's about to have a panic attack with all of this product that needs to get shipped, because her business was growing, faster than she was able to keep up. And part of it was because everything was still going through her. So that problem is going to make you hit this point where you either decide you're going to stop and be like, I can't keep going, which actually happened to my mom. When my mom was growing one of her businesses, her beanbag business, she had these incredible opportunities that were coming her way. There was a retailer that had like 20 different stores, and my mom was like, I can't do it. She wasn't willing to outsource. She wasn't willing to Like I was like, we just take your stuff downtown and get them sewn there. She just wasn't able to wrap her head around that level up. So she actually stopped instead of kept going. And that's my fear when I'm— it's a fear. It's, it's a fear for you because I don't want you to get to these next level moments and say, I'm either going to stay where I am and keep suffering through it or not jump to the next level because you don't yet know what to do. All you have to know is every level just requires a different solution, right? Every problem, and there's different problems, they just require different solutions, and you get to be supported in figuring that out. Because I want to be honest, right? Because if adding more products was the answer, adding more and more and more and more, some of you would already be exactly where you want to be. Yeah, right? Because you're smart, you're capable, you know how to create. So if creating more was the path, wouldn't that have solved it by now? Like, wouldn't, wouldn't you be sitting drinking a cocktail at a beach somewhere? Sitting first class, like living the life. But it usually doesn't, because the bottleneck is not your ability to create. I know you're so talented. We have so many ideas. I mean, I have to sit on my hands so often when I'm like, "I've got another idea for a business." Like, ask my husband. He'll be like, "Yep, she came up with this idea." She's like, "No, you don't need—" But listen, really as the CEO and the business owner, and to step out of the way of being the bottleneck, it's your ability to simplify. To create structure, to prioritize. And that, because you get to lead, whether it's just you and an assistant, I mean, I've had people that are solo that have gotten to a quarter million dollars that are still solopreneurs, or you with a team, like whatever it is to get to that next level, you get to step into being a leader in your business and being a leader with like leading, thinking through leading. I wanna get practical with you for a sec before you add another product or another collection or another variation. Or another thing to market. I want you to ask yourself these 3 questions first. First, 1, am I trying to solve a problem or is this actually a discipline problem? Because sometimes the issue is demand, of course, like sometimes there's demand and you need more variation. And sometimes the issue is that you're not being disciplined enough with the assets, with the offers, with the products and the opportunities you already have. The next question I want to ask you is, are your best sellers and your best sellers based on the season that it is, Are they consistently visible? Because you might feel like people have seen it too much and you don't wanna bother them, but they have not seen it enough. Are you giving your products enough time and strategy to actually perform? And listen, not everyone sees every post you make or opens every email you send or knows your website the way that you know it, or even your buyers, right, at retail shops, they don't know. They want you to tell them what to buy, and it's so great. Amazing when you lead with your best sellers, with the products you're known for, because of course, right? I'm going to dinner really soon and I'm going to ask the server, what do you recommend? And they'll be like, you know what? Our customers love X. And I'll be like, yeah, I'll take that. Okay. The other part is, are you repeating your marketing enough? Are you constantly moving on? Right? I told them about the thing they did. They didn't hear about it. Okay. I moved on to the next thing. Do your customers actually know what you're known for? And And, and have you fully optimized the sales channel that's already working? So if you've answered no to any of these, then adding another product may just spread your demand even thinner, spread you even thinner, which I'm sure you do not have the capacity to be spread any thinner. And that is not your way to that revenue leap. That is actually diluting your business and keeping, keeping you stuck. The second question is like, is the product solving a proven customer need or is it solving my discomfort? Okay, again, it goes back to you, 'cause this one matters a lot because sometimes the new product is rooted in strategy if you're gonna add something in, and sometimes it's rooted in your anxiety, right? Like, ah, I need to do something new because it's just not selling or they're bored or I'm bored. How many of you have said I'm bored? You're tired of waiting, you're frustrated by results, and you want something to energize the brand or energize you 'cause you want a reason to talk about something fresh. But product should not exist just because it gives you something to do. It should exist because it has a clear role in your business. It should support demand. It should support your profitability, your customer lifetime value, and does it fit the channel you're selling on? Is it clear of why the brand did it? And is it something that's sustainable operationally? Not just because it's novelty. And third, I want you to ask yourself, can my business support this well? Because this is where the maturity as a business owner and leadership comes in. Can your business actually support another product? Well, listen, my friends, it costs money to make it, to develop it, to produce it. So do you have the cash flow? Do you want to sit on that inventory? Can you get your team onboarded to it? Does it support your fulfillment process? Can your content calendar support it? I know you're probably like, "Oh my gosh, Jacqueline, I have so much anxiety." But listen, these are the questions you get to ask yourself as the business owner. I want you to have margins that can support it. I want you to have messaging that can support it without confusing your customer. Because a product that looks good on paper and is a great idea can be the wrong move at this moment if it adds weight to a business that's already overloaded. And my friend, I know you probably feel so overloaded. So here's your filter. Before you add anything new, I want you to ask, am I solving the right problem? Is this rooted in my customer's needs or in my discomfort? And can the business support it cleanly, right? Can we actually do this thing? If you can't, then the answer right now is please don't add more yet. If that next revenue leap does not usually come from more products, where does it come from, right? Where does it come from? It usually comes from one or more of these places, okay? First, better optimization of your current bestsellers. Your existing products, my friends, have a lot more room than you think. Not everyone in the world has 8 billion people seen it. If not, keep going. Right? This can look like stronger merchandising, better bundles, clearer messaging, better upsells, more consistent promotion, just better business practices and better conversion on your site. Sometimes the leap is not in creating something new because it's actually finally getting more out of what has already has the demand, right? The next thing could be better like product line decisions. This is merchandising. Because sometimes growth comes from selling less, less, better. Not less revenue, just less clutter, less confusion. Maybe there are products that are low margin and they're operationally annoying and hard to stock and hard to explain, and they're distracting your audience or they're taking attention away from your stronger items. So once you get back to that pruning that we talked about at the beginning of the episode, things are gonna start feeling easier. Marketing's gonna be easier, everything's gonna be easier to manage, and this is where that revenue leap comes because you have more energy and your energy is finally concentrated. Third are your better systems, 'cause this is what I know, and I know it's not the sexy answer, but it's often the real answer. Better systems create faster execution, fewer errors, easier delegation, cleaner launches, smoother fulfillment, right? It's just less back and forth, and then you get more consistency across the entire customer experience. So imagine if you plugged in systems into your business. I mean, this is what I do every single month with my students, right, in our members collective. We literally, every month has a theme and we're plugging in something operationally into the business. So it's like, okay, great. Now I have a better system around that. I know that a lot of you, like, they're not, you're not always capped by demand. You might be capped by what the business and yourself and truthfully your nervous system can hold. And finally, you get to have better strategic focus. So this may be the biggest one of all because the businesses that grow well are often not the ones doing the most. They're the ones doing the right things for long enough, right? Long enough, like sticking to it clearly enough and with enough support underneath them. So the next revenue leap for you can come from choosing the right channel to deepen into, the right products to prioritize, the right offers to define, to have systems built in, which includes handing off some of the things that you're carrying. And I just want to say this real fast. Sometimes the most profitable move in your business is not expansion. It's restraint. I know, sit on your hands, okay? It's restraint. That does not mean playing small. It just means by growing with intention, right? There's just, there's a difference there. So I want to make this real. Here's what this can sound like in a product-based business, okay? It sounds like we do not need another collection right now. We need to get clear on what our hero products are. Or do we need to expand into another channel with this best-selling product? Right? Maybe you're thinking we need to strengthen the one that's already working, or we don't need more SKUs. We just need better margins with the ones that we are already carrying, the ones that we're already selling. You might even say we don't need another launch. We just need stronger follow-up and repeat purchase strategy. And a big question is, is do I need to be involved in every decision, every part, everything, or can I start to delegate better? This is what mature growth looks like. This is what leadership in your company looks like. This is what it starts to sound like. I don't want you to feel reactive and frantic. I want you to be able to feel like you're moving forward with discernment and focus and structure, right? That's what leadership is. And leading your company forward, it's gonna make your business more scalable. So my friends, if you're in that place right now and you've been thinking maybe you need something new, I wanna give you this. Ask yourself, what is the actual goal? Is it more revenue? Is it better profit? Is it a higher average order value, right? What is your actual goal? Maybe it's less chaos and more capacity, because not every goal needs to be solved with new products. Might not even be solved with more revenue at this moment. It might be solved with really cleaning things up. Then ask yourself, what's the actual constraint? What's holding me back? Find the real constraint, and then you get to figure out what the cleanest solution is, because it might not be the most exciting one. I know, I'm really sorry, but it might not be that exciting. It might be the thing that's actually gonna solve a problem. It's gonna solve the real issue and lead to less complexity. That is the move. Your next level doesn't come from asking, what else can it add? It comes from asking, what is actually broken? What's already working and what's worth making better, right? What do you get to optimize and what do you get to simplify? So if this episode was helpful to you, I'm so glad that you found it. Share it with somebody that you're like, their life and their business is just way too complex because we get to simplify as well as grow the business and get to the next level. Now, if you're thinking this was all really helpful and you want more support around that, I want to offer you a free call. If your business is right at that $6,000, figure mark, you know you're going to get there, maybe you're moving with massive momentum, you're multi-six figures, you want to get to seven figures, you're a serious business owner that's like, let's go, and this is your year, I want to invite you to book a call with one of my advisors. In that call, we'll really talk about where you're at, what your vision is, and what strategy is going to support you in that. So all you have to do is head to theproductboss.com/bookacall. It's theproductboss.com/bookacall, and that's where we're really going to say like, hey, love this, love what you're doing with your business. We totally can support you because here's the other side of the coin. You do not need to do this all by yourself. I did not get to where I am doing it by myself. In fact, it took me a lot of debt, a lot of struggling, a lot of late nights, and a lot of crying before a decade— this was a decade because this opportunity wasn't available to me when I was growing my businesses. And so you get to be supported and say, okay, what does that look like so I can break through and get to that next level? Alrighty, my friends, I will see you on the next episode. Make sure you're following the show and I'll see you next time.