If you're thinking about starting an online business or already have one and feel as though your growth is capped and you're getting lost in a sea of other products and sellers this book will help you get the most out of your business.

If you are trying to find a product thats the catalyst for you to take action and get you off the couch and into online retail this book will also be of true value. 

Having just successfully exited my eBay business I have decided to put together this playbook. Initially it was to be introspective and something that I can use to develop my next venture and reflect upon what worked and what didn't. The value of what was learned has greater worth than just a personal journal...Hence, this book. 

How would I know? Well in 18 months I took an idea from conception to exit. In this short time my company TM Products went from operating out of our hallway at home to taking up 2000m2 factory doing dozens of orders a day. In the end we were purchased by a large manufacturer looking to make a push online. 

Throughout the book I flip between my own experience and how the things learned can be universally applied to your own business or concept.The strategies outlined in this book directly affected our trajectory at TM. Although eBay was our path their is absolutely no reason why the strategies we used wouldn't work for any other online business.

The aim is to demonstrate how individualising yourself, no matter how common or bland the product, will ultimately translate to a point of difference and inevitably the five letter word we all yearn for. Sales

It's highly doubtful you'll find 100% of the content relevant to your particular market. What I can promise you is there will be things throughout that you can immediately implement to improve conversions. More importantly there will be little bits of gold that you will recall 6/8/10 months down the track and be thankful for having read this book. 

Through the book I will reference web apps, websites and books which helped shaped our methodology. I have never received kickbacks or endorsements from these companies or authors. We simply found them to be of use along our journey.

“Startups have to focus on the big experiments that lead to validated learning.” 
― Eric Ries, The Lean Startup.

Back before TM Products was incorporated I knew that I wanted to start selling online. The million dollar question was what? 

You might think TM Products sold some elaborate technology which was new and cutting edge. Or maybe it was fashion or something else incredibly chic or cool.

News flash. Cool = Hyper competition. Competition is bad, especially on a platform like eBay.

We sold rubber...Not even the naughty rubber. Just rubber matting and trims. 

Boring = Less competition and interest in your space.

If your plan is to sell Ipad cases or the latest wifi enabled drones you may as well stop reading now. All that shit moves way too fast. In no time at all you'll end up with a container load of outdated stock that no one wants. I knew early days that to give myself the best chance online the product couldn't be fast paced tech or seasonal rag trade.

So how did rubber come to be for TM Products? Again it really wasn't that exciting. A person I knew needed some matting for some vehicles. I knew they were going to buy it from Clark Rubber so I told them I could get it $20 a metre cheaper [months earlier I found a local supplier who sold the same product at a fraction of the price]. 

Long story short that afternoon I made $200 profit and validated my assumptions about a void in this old industry. 

It wasn't until I dug a little deeper that I realised just how bad the local rubber suppliers and manufacturers online presence was. Think geocities websites from 1996. These sites were clunky, jpeg pixilated disasters which I thought went south when the dot com bubble burst in 2001. This is where the lightbulb moment really happened. If these Baby Boomers weren't going to take "This Internet Thing" seriously then maybe someone should?

The next day I met with the local supplier who sold me the matting and asked for a catalogue. I told them my intentions of taking some of their products online. They looked at me as if I was speaking Portuguese.

They gave me permission to use their images and we were off to the races...

So now I've got some validation of my assumption there is a hole in the rubber supply chain. This is a good start however I was yet to test my theory about the perceived gulf in online sales.

Understand this right now. You need to test and experiment with your ideas and assumptions. One of the most dangerous things you can do in business is assume that you have a great idea or product that everybody will love.

Basically in a nut shell my assumption was:

that rubber matting and various other profiles & trims would greatly benefit from digital strategy and online marketing which would directly result in sales.

Twenty years ago if you wanted to start a business you would spend months writing a business plan you'd never look at again. You'd write a mission statement that isn't worth a pinch of salt and more than likely your brilliant idea would fail anyway. 

"Unless you have tested the assumptions in your business model first, outside the building, your business plan is just creative writing" - Steve Blanks

Once you've made your assumption the next step is to set up an experiment. Don't freak out. People hear experiment and the visual image is lab coats and Bunsen burners. All we want to do is test your assumption(s). The more specific the better. Try to limit tying together multiple ideas or assumptions because this will always lead to a watered down result. 

Around this time I opened an eBay cart. Keep in mind at this stage I hadn't spent a cent on incorporating businesses or purchasing stock. All my experiment cost me was time. How? I proceeded to list multiple items from the manufacturers catalogue and physically scanned in their hardcopy product drawings for my display images.

After listing around 20 items from their product range it was a matter of monitoring my experiment. Metrics such as page views, watchers and of course purchases were to determine the success or failures of the project.

One product which sold well almost immediately was a product our customers used to line the trays of their Utes. This lead to the assumption:

that customers wanted a liner for their utility vehicles that was specific to their make and model

We took a product which was marketed by the manufacturer as "Sheet Rubber" to "2007 Hilux Dual Cab Tray Liner." The vague application of the product has been whittled down to expose a very specific requirement. Instead of a multi-purpose rubber sheet we now are selling a mat designed to line the back of your 2007 Hilux.

Now there is every chance you're sitting there and the thought "but all the good products are already been sold" crossed your mind. Most likely there are, no doubt. It's a massive tick if there are people already selling the product you intend on testing. Why? It gives you further validation. You know there is a product sold online that people are happy to hand over their hand earned cash for. It's your role to market your product so that in the eyes of the customer you are vastly different and identifiable from your peers. 

Still unsure? One more example of how to hypothesis, validate and test your market:

Jenny thinks she's found a niche she wants to pursue in knitting. She tests her assumption:

that quality Merino wool from NZ would sell well on eBay. 

Jenny then finds a supplier in Auckland that sells their yarns to Italy. She asks permission to use their images. Once she gets the okay Jenny then places multiple listings on eBay to test her market.

She finds that the greys and blacks have attracted the most watchers and views and even sold a couple of yarns. She has validated her assumptions and decides to pursue the market and contacts the distributor for pricing. 

Jenny didn't just wake up one day and say "Hey, I'm gonna sell wool." She tested a market to see if anyone wanted to purchase Quality Marino wool from New Zealand and when she realised certain products were fairing well with her target market it was only then she decided to move into the wool game. 

Is Jenny just selling wool? No. She’s giving customers access to New Zealand's finest Merino wool, used by numerous high end fashion labels in Millan... Now thats more like it.

Things worth noting throughout the ''Mic Check'' phase:

- Keep your assumptions specific and avoid broad sweeping hypothesis 

- Get creative with ways to test your assumptions. You don't need to use eBay. Try places like Gumtree, Facebook Marketplace or even local papers. It really depends on the product and your demographic.

- Keep it cheap! Don't blow the budget before you get out of the gates

- You'll probably be wrong. Don't let it disillusion your end goal. That is why we are experimenting; to find a niche or product that works for you