If you want to learn more, please visit our website.
You've stumbled upon the idea to build a tombstones business and now you're ready to take the next steps.
There's a lot to think about when building a business, so we put together a guide on how to get started, launch, grow and run your tombstones business.
We also provide you with real-life case studies and examples of founders running successful tombstones business (and how much&#; they're making today).
Start A Tombstones Business &#;market size
$8.01B
starting costs
$10.9K
see all costs &#;gross margin
53%
time to build
210 days
average product price
$
growth channels
Organic social media
business model
Subscriptions
time investment
Full time
pros & cons
42 Pros & Cons
see all &#;There are many factors to consider when starting a tombstones business.
We put together the main pros and cons for you here:
&#; Flexibility
You can put as much time into the business as you'd like. If you like the work and have some initial experience, you can start small and manage all aspects of the business on your own.
&#; Ability to start your business from home
It's not necessary to have a physical storefront or office space to get your business started. You can do everything from the comfort of your own home, at least in the beginning!
&#; Rewarding work
Starting a tombstones business can be really rewarding work. After all, you are solving an immediate issue for your customer and you're working on something you truly care about.
&#; Scalable
With businesses and processes changing daily, there will always be demand for new features, products and services for your business. Additionally, there are several different business models and pricing tiers you can implement that will allow you to reach all types of customers.
&#; Meaningful business connections
You never know who you will meet as a tombstones business. This could be the start of an incredible business opportunity!
&#; Quick build time
The average time it takes to build your product is quick - typically around 7 months. This will allow you to bring your product to market faster.
&#; Control of workload
With starting a tombstones business, you have the unique ability to choose how little or how much you want to work. You also have the freedom to decide which projects you want to work on, and can turn down the ones that do not interest you.
&#; Unlimited income potential
With starting a tombstones business there is no cap as to how much income you can make. The stronger your business skills and the more energy/time you put into your career, the more you'll make.
&#; Daily physical activity
Tombstones Business's typically involve a much greater degree of movement than other lines of work. Most days, you will spend your day walking, running errands for your business, and performing a multitude of tasks. This can have a positive impact on energy levels and your overall health.
&#; You are your own boss!
With starting a tombstones business, you are the one to make decisions for almost all of the operations. Calling the shots can be empowering and liberating!
&#; Local Community
One of the best parts of starting a tombstones business is that you can develop a local following by selling your products at craft shows, farmers' markets, or even local storefront businesses! This gives you access to additional revenue streams and loyal customers.
&#; Higher likelihood of getting referrals
This business is all about referrals, which can be a a very impactful way to attract and retain customers. It's critical that you have a great referral program in place that incentivizes your customers to tell their friends about your product.
&#; You can sell your product in various places!
There are various different markets to sell your product, which will help you reach different audiences and revenue streams.
&#; Simple business model
A tombstones business has the advantage of a simple business model, which makes launching and building the business more seamless.
&#; Minimal experience required
Starting A Tombstones Business requires little experience and no specific certifications or qualifications. To be successful, you need hard work, determination and the desire to achieve greatness!
&#; Control your own destiny
Starting A Tombstones Business allows you to control every aspect of your life and make your own dreams come true every day.
&#; You get to do something you truly love
With starting a tombstones business, you get to put your energy into something you are truly passionate about! You'll find yourself devoting as much time and energy as possible into the business to make it successful.
&#; Easy to Learn The Business
When starting your tombstones business, there is a ton of information readily available to you online (Facebook groups, Youtube videos, Starter Story etc). This will help you get the business started and answer any questions, doubts or concerns you may have.
&#; You get to inspire others
Your business is one that encourages and inspires others, which in itself, can be very fulfilling.
&#; Never a dull moment
With starting a tombstones business, there is truly never a dull moment. Your job offers a lot of variety and allows you to meet interesting people from all walks of life.
&#; You can promote and sell your product on Amazon
Although there are some disadvantages to consider when selling your product on Amazon, there are also a host of benefits. Mainly, Amazon is the world's largest online retailer, so you're bound to tap into new business and reach an entirely new audience.
&#; Various different ways to make money
With starting a tombstones business, there is not just one business model to choose from. This field is amazing in that there are various different ways to make money. Although this may complicate things, it's great to have different options and sources of revenue.
&#; Low maintenance customers
In this industry, customers are known to be very appreciative and low maintenance. This can help with your stress levels and allow you to focus on growing your business.
&#; Crowded Space
Competition is high when it comes to your tombstones business, so it's important that you spend a good amount of time analyzing the market and understanding where the demand lies.
&#; Low margins
The gross margins for your tombstones business are typically around 53%, which can make it more challenging to incur new expenses and maintain profitability.
&#; Work can be inconsistent
As a tombstones business, the amount of work assigned to you and schedule tends to be more inconsistent, which may make your income less stable. It's important to set boundaries and budget accordingly based on the amount of work you plan to have.
&#; Lack of benefits
With a tombstones business, you are typically self-employed and responsible for finding your own insurance, which can be quite costly and time-consuming.
&#; Taxes
As a tombstones business, you typically pay self-employment taxes which can be quite high. It's important to understand what you will be paying in taxes each year so you can determine if the work you're taking on is worth it.
&#; No safety net
Typically, as a tombstones business, you do not receive a consistent pay-check and instead earn money based on your transactions each month. During the slow periods, you typically take away less since the job is based on commission. It's important to budget accordingly for the slow times.
&#; Niche Market
A niche business is not necessarily a bad thing, in fact, it can be the key to your success. However, it can be more challenging and time consuming to find the perfect niche market and target audience.
&#; High overhead expenses
With starting a tombstones business, there are overhead expenses that come with selling a physical product. You will want to make sure you strategically budget for these overhead costs. We discuss this more in the startup costs section below.
&#; You may need to charge sales tax
If you are selling your products in various states, you may be required to charge sales tax. Although this may not impact your financials specifically, it can be a headache to create a process and procedure for this. To learn more about sales tax, check out this article
&#; Time commitment
With starting a tombstones business, all responsibilities and decisions are in your hands. Although this is not necessarily a negative thing, work life can take over at times. This can place a strain on friends and family and add to the pressure of launching a new business.
&#; Be prepared to get out of your comfort zone!
Although this is exciting for some entrepreneurs, it can be a big challenge for others! You may find yourself in uncomfortable social and business situations, jumping into tasks and responsibilities you aren't familiar with, and pushing yourself as far as you can go!
&#; You might struggle financially (at first)!
If you bootstrap your business or choose not to pay yourself (or pay yourself less than you were making at your corporate job), this can be financially taxing. It's important to adjust your lifestyle and set a plan for yourself so you don't find yourself in a stressful situation.
&#; Difficult to scale
With a tombstones business, it can be challenging to find ways to scale. Check out this article that discusses scaling your business and the challenges that come with it.
&#; Work is not always glamorous
With starting a tombstones business, you may need to get your hands a little dirty. Although it may seem glamorous from the outside to start this business, the work can require a lot of physical activity and repetition.
&#; Easy target for criticism
Since your tombstones business has the ability to reach a large audience, you'll need to be able to handle criticism. The internet can be a cruel place, and regardless of your intentions, many people will disagree with you and even take their criticism too far. To survive in this industry, you'll need to have tough skin (or at least learn this along the way).
&#; The job can be demanding
This is one of the major disadvantages starting a tombstones business. It's important to understand that you may need to make yourself available on a 24/7 basis.
&#; Equipment Breakdowns
Over the years, your equipment can get damaged, break down, and may need repairs which can be expensive. It's important you prepare for these expenses and try to avoid damages/wear & tear as much as possible.
&#; Answering Phones
The tombstones business is still considered a traditional business, which means answering phones is a big part of the job. If you or your team miss calls, you could be missing out on potential revenue opportunities. If you are unable to attend to your throughout the day, it would be in your best interest to hire a call center or an employee dedicated to this.
&#; Takes time to see results & make money
Results and revenue do not come overnight with a tombstones business. Often times, it takes weeks, months or even years for your work to monetize.
Big Players
Small Players
Let's take a look at the search trends for tombstones over the last year:
It's important to find a catchy name for your tombstones business so that you can stand out in your space.
Here are some general tips to consider when naming your tombstones business
Why is naming your tombstones business so important?
The name of your business will forever play a role in:
It's important to verify that the domain name is available for your tombstones business.
You can search domain availability here:
powered by Namecheap
Although .com names are the most common and easiest to remember, there are other options if your .com domain name is not available. Depending on your audience, it may not matter as much as you think.
It's also important to thoroughly check if social media handles are available.
As soon as you resonate with a name (or names), secure the domain and SM handles as soon as possible to ensure they don't get taken.
Here's some inspiration for naming your tombstones business:
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Slogans are a critical piece of your marketing and advertising strategy.
The role of your slogan is to help your customer understand the benefits of your product/service - so it's important to find a catchy and effective slogan name.
Often times, your slogan can even be more important than the name of your brand.
Here are 6 tips for creating a catchy slogan for your tombstones business:
1. Keep it short, simple and avoid difficult words
A great rule of thumb is that your slogan should be under 10 words. This will make it easy for your customer to understand and remember.
2. Tell what you do and focus on what makes you different
There are a few different ways you can incorporate what makes your business special in your slogan:
3. Be consistent
Chances are, if you're coming up with a slogan, you may already have your business name, logo, mission, branding etc.
It's important to create a slogan that is consistent with all of the above.
4. Ensure the longevity of your slogan
Times are changing quickly, and so are businesses.
When coming up with your slogan, you may want to consider creating something that is timeless and won't just fade with new trends.
5. Consider your audience
When finding a catchy slogan name, you'll want to make sure that this resonates across your entire audience.
It's possible that your slogan could make complete sense to your audience in Europe, but may not resonate with your US audience.
6. Get feedback!
This is one of the easiest ways to know if your slogan will be perceived well, and a step that a lot of brands drop the ball on.
Ask friends, family, strangers, and most importantly, those that are considered to be in your target market.
Here's some inspiration for coming up with a slogan for your tombstones business:
Learn more about starting a tombstones business:
Where to start?
-> How much does it cost to start a tombstones business?
-> Pros and cons of a tombstones business
Need inspiration?
-> Other tombstones business success stories
-> Examples of established tombstones business
-> Marketing ideas for a tombstones business
Other resources
If you are planning to start a tombstones business, the costs are relatively low. This, of course, depends on if you decide to start the business with lean expenses or bringing in a large team and spending more money.
We&#;ve outlined two common scenarios for &#;pre-opening&#; costs of starting a tombstones business and outline the costs you should expect for each:
Here are the most common ways to raise money for your tombstones business:
You may not need funding for your tombstones business.
In fact, many entrepreneurs take this approach when starting their own business, whether they have a little amount of cash or a substantial amount to get started.
So what exactly does the term "bootstrapping" mean?
This method essentially refers to self-funding your businesswithout external help or capital and reinvesting your earnings back into the business**
Bootstrapping means building your company from the ground up with your own, or your loved ones, personal savings and reinvesting all earnings back into the business
Here are some tips to consider when bootstrapping your business:
Want to learn more about bootstrapping your business? Check out this article
For your tombstones business, a common way to raise money is through crowdfunding.
So, what does it mean to crowdfund your small business?
Crowdfunding refers to funding a project through many individual investors.
Here are some items to keep in mind when planning your campaign:
To launch a successful crowdfunding campaign, you first need to select the type of crowdfunding platform to host your campaign.
Here are the most popular crowdfunding platforms to raise money on:
Funding platform for creative projects.
Businesses using Kickstarter:
90 successful businesses are using Kickstarter &#;
Get Kickstarter &#;
Crowdfunding platform for innovations in tech and design.
Businesses using Indiegogo:
35 successful businesses are using Indiegogo &#;
Get Indiegogo &#;
Crowdfunding platform that has helped more than 350 companies raise $175M+ from a community of over 250,000 prospective investors.
Businesses using StartEngine:
Get StartEngine &#;
Case Study
We connected with one of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns, Photobooth Supply Co, and asked founder, Brandon Wong to give us some insight on his strategy:
Product first, campaign second
So with all of those positive benefits of the platform figured out, we wanted to make sure we had the product itself in the right place before we launched.
We&#;ve been working on Salsa for a long time now and wouldn&#;t have felt comfortable revealing the ability to pay for it until we hit a very important milestone. We had a final prototype.
Doing all of the sourcing and actual production is secondary&#;there was absolutely no way we could have gone public without people being able to see real photos (and touch in person) a functioning prototype.
This meant that we had to do all of the development before we ever saw a cent.
Finding backers in the real world
We launched the product at our annual Booth Summit, which is a convention for photobooth owners to get together and learn from experts in the field. Launching a product in a receptive environment is generally considered to be a good idea. The same was definitely true for us!
We had a crowd of people who had just told us they were dedicated to growing their business&#; and we had the chance to offer them a way to do just that. I really can&#;t emphasize enough how important it is to make products that matter for people who will care about them.
This opportunity to see the product in real life was an essential component for our launch, but it might not be the same for you. I think it just shows how essential having a great prototype is. People love to touch and feel what they&#;re buying, if you&#;re talking about something physical&#; you should be able to show a prototype before you ask for money.
Building excitement with even the smallest backers.
We knew that we wanted to have a ton of incentives for early backers so that they&#;d be rewarded for taking a leap of faith on a new photobooth.
We&#;re obviously not making a whole lot of money on that first $ tier. But it enabled people to be part of something fun.
Every $ backer is always going to be able to say, not just that they got a great deal, but that they were one of the first to get on board. It means a lot more than a discount code expiring&#;just look at how frustrated people are on Twitter when a limited stock of rewards is secretly gobbled up.
Kickstarter doesn&#;t reveal the names of backers, but it humanizes them. And it just adds to the fun of getting your own spot! Even for someone backing now, they&#;re able to say that they were an early adopter.
Delivering on our promise
One of the most common critiques of Kickstarter items is that they either never show up or that they take years. I wanted to make sure that our timeline was easy to deliver and also reasonable.
Nobody deserves to wait two years for your product after they pay for it. I felt like we needed to offer a much quicker turnaround than that. We launched on Black Friday with an estimated delivery of April .
That&#;s under 6 months and much lower than the average Kickstarter! The most important thing is that we will be able to meet that timeline. You can&#;t go around promising delivery dates and missing them, this isn&#;t a consumer product.
Anytime you&#;re working with the events industry you have to be very transparent and up front about timelines. A bride who books a photobooth needs it to show up on her wedding day. It&#;s non-negotiable!
full story &#;Brandon Wong, on starting Photobooth Supply Co. ($500,000/month)
For more information, please visit Zhouxing.
As a tombstones business, there are several essential skills and characteristics that are important to identify prior to starting your business.
Let&#;s look at these skills in more detail so you can identify what you need to succeed in your day-to-day business operations:
Self Motivation Skills
Self motivation and discipline skills are critical in order to become successful in this field.
It's likely that you will find yourself starting and running your tombstones business from home, which could mean there are more distractions for you.
Here are the basic skills needed for self motivation & discipline:
Crafty Skills
Whether you are on the creative side or the business side of your product, crafty and creative skills are a must for starting a tombstones business.
Here are a few skills that are important to have for starting a successful tombstones business:
Customer Service Skills
Friendly communication with customers and the ability to address service issues is a critical part of the job.
Here are some customer service skills you may want to consider prior to starting a tombstones business:
Business Savvy Skills
When starting a tombstones business, there are a few fundamental business skills you will want to learn in order to be successful:
These are a few of many business savvy skills you should have (or work on) when starting a tombstones business.
For a full list, check out this article here.
Design Skills
Whether you are the one designing the product or the decision-maker for the product, an eye for design is critical when starting a tombstones business. Here's what this looks like:
Other skills that may be valuable to have when starting a tombstones business include digital marketing skills, branding experience, and basic business knowledge.
We've interviewed thousands of successful founders at Starter Story and asked what advice they would give to entrepreneurs who are just getting started.
Here's the best advice we discovered for starting a tombstones business:
Writing a business plan from the start is critical for the success of your tombstones business.
Why?
Because this allows you to roadmap exactly what you do, what your overall structure will look like, and where you want to be in the future.
For many entrepreneurs, writing out the business plan helps validate their idea and decide whether or not they should move forward with starting the business.
You may want to consider expanding upon these sections in your business plan:
Learn more about how to write a business plan here
There are hundreds of banks out there, and it can be overwhelming to find one that's right for your business.
Here are some factors you may want to consider:
Check out this list of the 13 Best Banks for Small Business in and what makes them so unique.
When it comes to setting up your business, you may find yourself in a place where you have to make some financial and legal decisions.
The first thing you'll want to decide on is whether you want to be an LLC, S-Corp, or C-Corp.
These three options are found to be the most common when starting a small business, and all serve to protect your personal assets and also provide you with certain tax benefits.
Depending on where you're conducting business, you'll also want to consider securing the proper permits, licenses and liability insurance.
Learn more about securing the right permits and licenses &#;
Need to start an LLC? Create an LLC in minutes with ZenBusiness.
Most entrepreneurs start a business to do something they love- but at the end of the day, you still have bills to pay (maybe now more than ever).
But it's important to strike the right balance - if you pay yourself too much, you could be putting your business at risk.
There are two common ways to pay yourself as a business owner:
1. Owner's Draw
Many entrepreneurs pay themselves through an owner's draw. This means that you are technically sean as "self-employed" through the eyes of the IRS and are not paid through regular wages.
At the point that you collect money from the draw, taxes typically are not taken out - so make sure you are prepared to pay these taxes once you file your individual return.
As an owner who takes a draw, you can legally take out as much as you want from your equity.
This type of compensation is suited for Sole props, LLCs, and partnerships. If you&#;re an S corp, you can pay yourself through both a salary and draw if you choose.
2. Salary
If you decide to pay yourself a salary, you will receive a set and recurring amount. This will be taxed by the federal government and the state you reside in.
The reality is that it can be really complicated to set your own salary, so we have some tips for you to consider:
To learn more about how to pay yourself and what is a reasonable amount, check out this article.
One of the most challenging aspects to starting a tombstones business is determining how much to charge for your tombstones.
When businesses under-price their product, this can be extremely detrimental to their bottom line and reputation.
Often times, businesses under-price their products to drive demand and volume, but that last thing you want is for customers to view your product/service as "cheap." Additionally, this can have a big impact on the type of customer you attract, which can be difficult to recover from.
On the other hand, when businesses over-price, this tends to be just as damaging to the business.
When customers buy, it's likely that they will explore the internet and look at other competitors to ensure they're getting the best value + deal. This is why it's so important that you research your competition and understand where you land in the marketplace.
Here are some factors to consider when pricing your product:
Understand your customer
It's important that out of the gates, you identify the type of customer you want to attract and how much they're willing to pay for your service. One great way to do this is by surveying your customers. Here are some important items you'll want to takeaway:
All of these segments will help you identify the type of customer you're attracting and how to price your product accordingly.
Understand your costs
When pricing your tombstones, it's critical that you first identify all of your costs and consequently mark up your tombstones so you can factor in a profit.
The actual cost of your tombstones may include things like:
You may want to consider creating a spreadsheet with every single expense involved in operating/owning your business. This will give you an idea as to what you need to generate in order to at the very least, break-even and will help you price your products to factor in a profit.
Create revenue goals
When determining the price of your tombstones, you'll want to create goals for revenue + how much profit you want your tombstones business to make.
This process is simpler than you may think:
This figure will help determine your estimated price per product in order to meet your revenue goals.
Evaluate your competition
The last piece in determining how to price your tombstones is by simply looking at your competition.
The best way to do this is by finding like-minded businesses that offer product(s) with similar perceived value. Then, you can compare prices of the different businesses and determine where your tombstones fits best in the marketplace.
All of these factors play an equal part in pricing your tombstones, so it's important you evaluate each one individually to come up with an accurate price that will help optimize your business from the start.
Case Study
Example from Ishan, founder of Ugly Duckling
First objective: profitability
Our profitability is OK at this point but definitely not where it should be yet. To this day I have not paid myself a regular salary yet...and it&#;s been 4 years!
The problem is not the cost of goods which are well under 20% of sales, which is good by any standard. The problem is fulfillment costs. In we transitioned from our first fulfillment company to a much bigger company. We did this because we wanted to provide faster shipment speeds and a better quality of packaging. In hindsight, we chose a company which would have been more suitable for a larger company with bigger volumes. We ended up being tied in with some pretty large minimum monthly payments. So currently fulfillment costs are currently around 45% of sales...way too high.
We are now looking to transit to another fulfillment center. Our target is to get our fulfillment costs down to around 30% of sales which I believe from what I have researched, is possible.
Just to be clear, when I say fulfillment that includes transportation costs also - FedEx, USPS, etc. Not just storage, picking, and packing. I am pretty sure that it is possible to get fulfillment costs down even lower, and I suspect that some large pro sellers on amazon.com work with around 20-25% of sales.
So our target P+L for looks something like this:
full story &#;That's the first objective for : to right-size the P+L so that we are profitable at our current sales level
Ishan Dutta, on starting Ugly Duckling ($60,000/month)
Our calculator is designed to be simple and easy to use.
The goal is to help you set realistic expectations and understand the amount you should be charging to make your desired profit.
Please input below:
It's important to first establish who you will be selling to, whether it's to businesses or consumers.
Typically, in this industry, products are sold to B2C markets (business-to-consumer).
Let's take a look at what this means for your tombstones business:
B2C (or business to consumer) is a transaction where businesses sell their products or services to the consumer directly.
In this market, consumer behavior is the primary driver for your business decisions - so it's important that you truly identify who your customer is, and what their buyer habits are when building your product/service.
The advantage
B2C is that you are able to cast a very wide net when targeting your customers. Your product may interest a large number of consumers or a specific niche.
The disadvantage
B2C is that consumers hold all the power - so if your website is not the most user friendly, or does not rank in the top search results on Google, chances are, your customer is going to shop elsewhere.
When building your tombstones business, it's critical that you hone in on who your target audience is, and why they need your product over your competition.
Here are some items to consider when identifying your buyer persona:
SourceTurning your idea into a reality can feel like a daunting task - but it's critical that you have an idea of what your product will look like (even if it's just a sketch) prior to finding a manufacturer.
Here are some common ways you can design your prototype:
To learn more about how to design and prototype a product, check out our latest guide here.
Here are the steps to consider when finding a supplier/manufacturer:
Know your design
One very critical step to finding the right supplier is having an initial idea of what your design/product will look like.
Sketching is one of the most simple ways to get started in the design phase.
What's great about sketching is that you can practically do this anytime, anywhere - even on the back of a napkin.
To get started, all you need to do is pick up a pen and paper and start drawing - or if you are working on a virtual/software product this can be a diagram that outlines the user interface or experience.
Decide your supplier type
You'll want to identify the type of supplier you are looking for.
Here are some questions you may want to ask yourself prior to searching for a supplier
Where to start your search
Once you have an understanding of what type of manufacturer/supplier will be best to bring your idea to life, there are several areas you can start your search:
Domestic Suppliers
Overseas Suppliers
It's also very common to manufacture your tombstones on your own - either from your home or in a commercial space.
In order to get the product right, you may want to consider experimenting with different designs and recipes until you find the perfect one.
Some founders choose to manufacture their product in-house so that they can control quality, manage costs, and easily handle production/logistics.
Down the road, you can always choose to outsource your tombstones.
Case Study
Leslie Eisen, founder of AlmondClear discusses how to manufacture products in house
If you want to start a line of unique products, then you have two basic options: you can make them yourself, or you can find a manufacturer to work with that creates custom formulations for their clients.
I knew that I was trying to build a larger-scale business and that the home-made model wasn&#;t right for me, so I had to find the right manufacturing partner. It took a lot of research, calls, and emails before I found the laboratory that met my needs.
I wanted to create unique products (as opposed to private label), so I worked with the manufacturer&#;s chemist who specializes in skin care formulations. This process takes some time!
First, you have to tell the chemist what kind of product you&#;re looking for, the ingredients that you want to include or leave out, and what you want the final product to look like/feel like/smell like, etc.
Then, the manufacturer sends you the first sample, you try it out or give it to others to try, and then provide feedback for revisions. In my case, the first two products came together fairly easily because I only needed to make small changes to stock formulations.
There are many, many rules and regulations around cosmetics and skin care products. If you want to sell products that contain FDA regulated ingredients then you have to register and get a permit.
My products aren&#;t FDA regulated, so I didn&#;t have to go through this step, but I did have to be aware of the many guidelines and standards around labeling and safety warnings. Some people hire a lawyer to help them through this process, but my manufacturer was able to guide me through the regulatory process.
The entire process, from researching labs to work with to having the first finished products shipped out to me, took around six months.
full story &#;Leslie Eisen, on starting AlmondClear ($15,000/month)
When first starting out, it's important to start small with your overhead to get a gauge for what people want.
Just remember - if you order a line of items that don't sell, it's nearly impossible to recoup the money lost.
Buying the right inventory takes research and planning in order to get it right.
Pro-tip: It's easy to become biased based on your own fashion preferences on what types of shoes/apparel to purchase. This is where a lot of fashion businesses go wrong. It's important to base purchase decisions on current buyer behavior, trends in the market, and specific to your niche.
Case Study
Erin Hooley, founder of Bailey's Blossoms tells us how poor inventory projections led her to lose over $2M
When we first launched Peyton Bre we did so in a social or direct sales model.
Through poor inventory projections we were forced to change models but only after losing $2 million dollars.
It was a devastating time for us and one we were not sure we could survive.
I have since become very intentional about the way that we project our inventory needs and we continue to refine that quarterly and even monthly. We have created a KPI for the cost of goods sold to help us hold ourselves accountable.
Ultimately, the better we manage our inventory the less we have need to discount and the healthier our profit margin becomes.
This is, of course, a very high-level overview of the importance of inventory control.
To see the full breakdown on how to manage inventory, check out my guide over on my blog..
full story &#;Erin E Hooley, on starting Bailey's Blossoms ($750,000/month)
Building a website is imperative when launching your business, and with the right tools in place, this can be a simple task to check off the list (without having to hire someone).
To learn more about how to build a stellar website with little stress, we give you all the details on this step-by-step guide.
Once you have chosen the domain, web hosting, and platform, it's time to get started with the design phase.
Themes are a great way to produce the fundamental style and identity of your website - this includes everything from your font design to your blog post styles.
One of the best ways to get started is to simply explore the various themes (free or paid depending on what you're looking for) and test them on your site.
If web-design really isn't in the cards for you, you may want to consider outsourcing a web designer to help bring your vision and brand to life.
There are various different ways you can launch your tombstones business successfully.
Here are a few different strategies to get customers excited about your tombstones business.
Here are a few popular sites to launch on:
Learn more about how to launch your business successfully &#; here
The way you package your tombstones business is often the first impression your customer has - so it's important to get it right.
You may want to ask yourself these questions:
If my product is on a shelf next to hundreds of other similar products:
There are hundreds of tools you can use to help with packaging and design:
Case Study
Sheets & Giggles explains the motive behind their "Premium Unboxing Experience"
I had a particular vision for our packaging centered around one goal: because we were a DTC company and wouldn&#;t do physical retail in year 1, we needed to focus entirely on an incredible unboxing experience that made the product feel as premium as possible.
Outside: a white box, nice wax coating, logo front and center with no other copy, easy to open, nice and sturdy.
Inside: make people smile from the get-go, have a social call-to-action, include free extra surprises (a knapsack that wraps the sheets and an eye mask), put funny copy all over the place, and add a donation bag that people could use to donate their now-defunct cotton sheets (sheets & blankets are the #2-most-requested item at shelters behind socks).
full story &#;Colin McIntosh, on starting Sheets & Giggles ($200,000/month)
In addition to selling your products directly on your site, you may want to consider selling on Amazon to reach a wider audience and attract new customers.
Here are some pros and cons of selling on amazon:
Pros
Cons
Follow these instructions to get your product listed on Amazon or check out the video below on how to get started:
Case Study
Cory Stout, founder of Woodies ($250K/mo) provides us with specifics on how to rank better on amazon:
Our main product is walnut wood sunglasses that I sell for $25 on Amazon and Woodies.com.
I dedicated myself to becoming an Amazon expert. I listened to all the podcasts and read all the blog posts I could find. Shoutout EcomCrew I took the basic fundamentals that are out there and I added a couple of my own twists.
Amazon brings me, 100 brand new customers, every day for very little acquisition cost. If I tried that on my own, it would take a TON of work and it wouldn&#;t be nearly as effective as Amazon, so I took the easy road on this one.
Here's an article I wrote on how to rank better on amazon (30+ Tips):
5/5: ESSENTIAL
4/5: Pretty Friggin Important
Read more about amazon tips here.
full story &#;Cory Stout, on starting Woodies ($190,000/month)
SEO is not just about driving traffic to your site, it's about driving the RIGHT traffic to your site, and ultimately, converting leads into customers.
One of the most important aspects of SEO is understanding what your customers are searching for, otherwise known as "keyword research."
Here are some tools that can help you choose the right keywords for your tombstones business.
Publish Great Content
Finding keywords is an important piece of the puzzle, but Google also ranks your site based on the actual content you produce, as this is what your customers are reading and engaging with.
There are various different "forms" of content that you may want to consider diversifying on your sites, such as blog posts, articles, studies, and videos.
So let's discuss what google considers "good content:"
Another element of creating good content is creating consistent content.
If (and hopefully you are) publishing content frequently, it's important to stick to a schedule - this helps build brand trust and easy user experience with your customers.
Planning out your content with a content calendar is key to staying consistent.
Here are a few great content calendar tools that can help you:
Backlinks
Backlinks are an important piece to SEO, as they allow for other websites to link to your content.
Search engines recognize that other sites are essentially "verifying" your content and essentially rank you higher because of this.
Of course, some links are more valuable than others and can affect your site in different ways.
For example, if a highly valuable and credible site like the New York Times links to a page on your website, this could be remarkable from an SEO perspective.
Aside from organically getting mentioned from other sites, there are other ways that you can increase and earn backlinks:
Learn more about the fundamentals of SEO &#; here and check out Neil Patel's 3 Powerful SEO Tips below
One of the most effective ways to build brand awareness and grow your business is through consistently blogging.
We've outlined some useful tips for you to consider when creating content:
Consistency and Quantity
Quality is important, but it should be the standard for any content you publish.
What&#;s more important is consistency and quantity.
Consistency is as simple as committing to publishing and sharing a certain number of posts per week. For me, that&#;s three per week right now.
This kind of commitment is key, because one day, a random post will blow up, and you will have never expected it.
Oversaturation
The easiest mind trap is to think "I&#;m posting too much", and &#;I need to give my readers/audience/this platform a break&#;.
This is nonsense.
There is no such thing as oversaturation. Well, there is, but it is just someone else&#;s opinion.
For every person that tells you you are posting too much, there is another person that wants even more of your content.
You should ignore people&#;s opinions on how much you post.
Patience & Persistence
Keep posting, keep trying, and keep putting out good content on the regular. Your time will come, and when it does, it will change everything.
The only thing you have control over is your content.
You can&#;t control how people will react to it. You can&#;t control pageviews, likes, or shares.
So the only metric you should focus on is how much content you can put out in a week, month, etc.
Mailing List
I know it sounds obvious, but the best places to share your content is on your mailing list. It is guaranteed traffic and it is a great way to get rapid feedback from your most loyal readers.
Send newsletters often. I have done once a week since starting, and I&#;m moving to twice a week soon.
Work on increasing your mailing list as well. Look into ways to increase your conversion rate to your mailing list. I added a flyout popup thing to my site and now I&#;m collecting ~30 emails per day.
An newsletter is one of the most powerful assets you can have and it is worth its weight in gold.
Reddit is one of my favorite places to promote content.
It is a very scary place because you will often get banned or heckled, but it can really pay off.
Create social media accounts for your blog, the main ones I use:
Twitter Facebook Instagram LinkedIn
Set up Buffer and share all of your blog posts to all of your accounts. All of these little shares really do add up.
Automate this as much as possible. I automated all of my social media for Starter Story.
Facebook Groups
When I started out, I put together a spreadsheet of relevant Facebook groups for my niche, and I would post to these groups whenever I had a big story I wanted to share.
Social Media Advertising is one of the leading ways to get the word out when it comes to tombstones business.
There are various different Social Media platforms available to you. Some may be more critical for your marketing efforts than others, however, it's important to have an understanding of what's out there and available to you.
Let's talk about a few of the main platforms and what makes them unique:
It's important to first define your goal/objective so that you don't waste time and money into the wrong platform:
Here are some different questions to ask yourself as it relates to your goals:
From there, choose the platform that targets your audience best and start experimenting!
Learn more about social media advertising &#; here.
Case Study
Founder Andy Hayes talks about mastering FB ads and the pixel:
The biggest bang for your buck will likely be mastering Facebook and it&#;s platform - which we all know is pay for play, so you&#;ll have to come up with a small amount of budget to start for marketing.
We&#;ve spent countless hours (and paid numerous coaches) before we cracked the code that works for us on Facebook, but it is working really well for us now.
Some of the most important things to know when it comes to FB Ads:
Andy Hayes, on starting Plum Deluxe Tea ($75,000/month)
Retaining customers is one of the most effective ways to grow your tombstones business.
Oftentimes, it's easy to find yourself focusing on generating new customers, vs retaining your current ones.
Look at it this way - you are 60-70% more likely to sell a new product to an existing customer than you are a new customer.
That's not to say that finding new customers and revenue streams is not important, however, the easiest (and most inexpensive) source of new revenue is right there in front of you.
Here are some ways you can retain customers for your tombstones business:
To find out more tips and tricks on retaining customers, check out this article &#; here
Adding new products to your business is a great way to expand into new markets and grow your business.
It's important to note that adding new products and diversifying may not be in the cards for you right this moment, and that's okay. You can always consider it down the road.
Here are some reasons you may want to considering adding/diversifying your product
Providing exceptional care and creating relationships with clients is a great way to build your reputation and retain customers.
Whether you are an online business or a physical business, it's highly important to communicate with customers and make them feel like they are the priority.
Just remember: customer service represents your brand, values, vision and YOU as a person.
As a brand, you want to deliver an experience that authentic, honest and transparent.
Don't make the mistake of giving your audience less credit than they deserve.
Case Study
Be Authentic
If you go around chasing every trend and only focused on yourself and money, you&#;re going to lose very quickly.
There have been many times where we have been tempted to do this but stayed true.
Sure we sacrificed sales, but we kept our integrity, played the long game and people saw and appreciated that, and really began emotionally investing in the brand.
full story &#;Valentin Ozich, on starting I Love Ugly ($300,000/month)
Word of mouth is one of the best ways to get the word out about your business and acquire new customers. Especially when you are starting out, it&#;s important to build a solid referral program to encourage existing customers to help you find new ones.
A great way to do that is by offering a reward (ie. credit on your service or cash) to customers that refer you to their friends and family.
A fantastic referral program will help with clout, credibility, and establishing yourself in the space.
The most tried and true way to grow a tombstones business is through word of mouth - some entrepreneurs would say it's more important than all social media.
Why you should focus on word of mouth:
Learn more about word of mouth in our guide: 30 Ways Founders Grow Their Business &#;
We put together the best resources on the internet to help you start your tombstones business.
Tools
Books
Web Resources
Videos
Case Studies
meet the author
Pat Walls
I'm Pat Walls and I created Starter Story - a website dedicated to helping people start businesses. We interview entrepreneurs from around the world about how they started and grew their businesses.
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Are you searching about is the monument business profitable? Here is the full guide and useful tips.
Headstone is considered to be a very profitable business and it is gradually spreading all over the world.
People use headstones to identify the deceased. The quality of the stone of the headstone depends on how profitable this business can prove to be.
Yes! Monument business is profitable. But you should understand which level you want to spreed the headstone business.
Here are full guide about how to start a headstone business.
Headstones are stones used to identify the deceased, on which the details of the deceased are written. It is made from a type of stone. People are able to understand through the details written on this stone when the deceased had died and all the details of the deceased.
If you want to start this business, then you can designate its profitable in such a way that this business is what the quality of the stone used inside is. And what is the beauty of the writer written on it.
The headstone business covers a very large and large market. And this business is considered more profitable. Most people are more interested in the installation of headstones, which are the largest number in this world.
This means that this business can be more profitable. Because people with Christianity like to use headstone. In some areas, some people like second largest majority religion like Muslims also like to buy headstone.
The growth rate of this business is very high but depends on which country you want to do this business. Because this is the only country in Asia where headstones are used more.
But in Europe, in the same place, in most countries in Europe, they prefer to use the headstone almost. Although it is not the case that we do not use in Asia, but the ratio is slightly less.
Headstone business considred 60% margin benefit business. But if you can expand this business even more, then you can be eligible to earn even more. But the headstone business needs to expand even further. Here are given some tips for grow more profitable headstone business.
To make the headstone more profitable, we have mentioned some tips here. You must follow them if you want to make the headstone business even more profitable.
Headstone&#;s business is in high demand and there are many companies that are running Headstone&#;s business in the right positions. All of the carving and designing is one of a kind.
If you can create an identity of your own carving and give different types of carving to people, then you have a different identity in the market.
You should also offer engraving service. If you cannot, then you can tell the customer the service address of the headstone so that your customer can be more easily.
By helping the customer, you can make your business even more profitable. Helping the customer means that you can help your customer to understand the headstone better or to solve their problem.
Create business website:
To make Headstone&#;s business more profitable, you need to create an official website of the company to increase it to the next level even faster. On this website you can enter all the information related to the headstone. And you can enter full details related to your business so that your customer can understand about you better.
Create FAQ page:
Inside the website, you should also create pages of &#;frequently asked questions&#;. So that any type of problem or question related to the headstone can easily reach the customer.
You can think of expanding your business even faster. For that you will need to do branding of your business. So that people can know you as a brand and then your business can expand even faster and you can be successful in reaching the customer.
Being a presence on social media is considered a very positive thinking. For any business, you (who have more access) must have your pages or group on such social media. Not only can you easily reach your potential customer and target market. In fact, your customer may also have the ease to understand better about your business.
To make Headstone&#;s business more profitable, you need to run ads. It depends on you that you have Google ad, Facebook ad Instagram ad, Twitter ad, LinkedIn ad, and many more types of ad that you can run and easily reach the target market and target customers.
But it requires some investment. It depends on you how much money you like to spend on ads to reach the customer.
Hope you have got a better knowledge about whether is the monument business profitable or not.
But if you want an even better knowledge, then we have written an article of the Already post here. Which you can understand even better how to start a headstone business and how to expand this business to the next level?
Hope you like this post! If liked, then share it further so that it can reach more people.
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