How to Launch a Side Hustle as an Product Manufacturer—NEW for 2021.

Do you have an idea for a product you’d like to sell, but don’t have the first clue as to how to get it manufactured? Or, have you purchased a product you were disappointed with—one you believe you could produce that would be of higher quality? Maybe you’re a creator already and in the habit of researching and creating products you can sell without your branding on them… think: writing, photography, video, etc.

Each of these ideas can fall under the banner of private label product creation. There are a number of ways to go about getting involved in this aspect of side hustling, and there are some challenges to getting moving with things—particularly as it relates to finding a manufacturing partner if you’re considering having something made at any sort of scale. The opportunity to jump start a side business that could turn into a full time quit-your-job kinda’ business is really, now.

There is a a wealth of information out there, and several good tools that will help you narrow down vendors to help you white label, or custom design a product of your own making. I’ll cover a few of them in the breakout section below. So, after the jump, I’ll share a number of Shopify and Amazon FBA podcasts I’d recommend you check out, a few web pages on e-commerce to read, and tools to subscribe to if you’re serious about this adventure and ready to go.

Years ago, I played around in the online e-commerce space myself, as a drop shipper. I ran a store on Amazon selling kitchen equipment. This was around 2009. Right out of the gate, it was quite successful, but it grew a bit too quickly. So much so, that when Amazon thought my sales numbers couldn’t possibly be legitimate at 10K my first month of business, they shut down access to my deposits for two months. It killed me (also right out of the gate). I had wholesalers to pay, no money to do it, and a recession breathing down my neck. On top of that I had to halt my business for two months while I recovered, stopping all that momentum I’d gained initially.

But that’s not the worse of it. Shortly, thereafter, Amazon started purchasing my biggest and quickest seller (the one that got me that first 10K in sales) by the pallet load, undercut my price below what’s known as the minimum advertised price (MAP), and effectively put me out of business. MAP, by the way,  is the price the wholesaler requires you to sell at so everyone competes fairly in the marketplace. It’s the reason why you see products priced at nearly the same price everywhere in on the ground retail. Amazon, however, plays by a different rules.

One way to avoid this problem, though, is to private label a manufacturer’s product as your own, OR create your own products and list them for sale on Amazon or Shopify to capture more of the profit for yourself. One place to try is Ali Express.

It’s a challenging, interesting, and entirely possible way to run a successful business out of your home here in Japan, on or off base, or elsewhere.  Lets take a look at some of the resources I referred to earlier that could help you launch an ecommerce business right from your own living room.

• Spocket gives you access to the biggest dropshipping suppliers, wholesalers & distributors of high quality US/EU products to help you dropship products across the globe.

• Jungle Scout is the #1 product research tool for finding products to sell using Amazon FBA, white labeling, or other product manufacturing options. It’s product research, made easy, and probably the best way to uncover winning product idea in a host of niche categories. 

E-commerce Podcasts

• Shopify Masters
• Private Label Podcast, with Kevin Rizer
• Sellercast, with Chris Guthrie