It’s been a few months since I provided a business update so I will use this month to talk about the latest updates with Trusted Home Goods. This is coming at another pivotal moment in the life of the business. So let’s set the scene-

We’ve been in business a little over 3 years. I started by selling wine coolers, mini fridges, kegerators, and cigar humidors and thought that I was going to be rich in 1 year LOL. However, throughout the last 3 years I have tested and cycled through dozens of brands and thousands of products trying to find great brands that sell winning products. Here is a list of everything we currently sell (which means I’ve tested them by advertising the branded products using google shopping ads).

• Wine Coolers

• Beverage Fridges

• Kegerators

• Cigar Humidors

• Flatware, Watch, and Jewelry Boxes

• Silverware

• Ice Makers

• Safes

• Grills

• Bidets

• Sinks

• All Kitchen Appliances

• Fire Pits

• Shower Seats

• Hammocks

• Fans

• Humidifiers

• Heaters

• Ice Cream Makers

• Towel Warmers

If they’re not a winner I just leave the unadvertised products on my store for potential organic visitors. A winning brand and product would be indicated by PROFITTING after cost of goods sold, shipping, and advertising cost. As you can see by the extensive lists of products I have not had success competing in these product categories and niches. My revenue numbers and sales keep climbing but my profit is not. So what’s happening is that my store and products lines are getting larger but I am spending tons of money to advertise and test these products and I break even at best.

Year to Date and Year over Year Comparisons

Looking at how things are shaping up this year you would say “wow you’re starting to see real growth!”

Don’t get me wrong all of my sales numbers are up and fundamentally that means I have a respectable website, can run ads, get traffic, convert customers, and sell stuff. As you can see my sales for this year are up 400% from this point last year and most of my metrics are trending up year over year. Also, 60% of my entire business in a year is done in Q4. By that math, we are estimated to finish the year at around $500k in revenue if I kept doing what I’m doing.

You might be wondering why do I keep side stepping the profit column?! Well it’s because I have not made $1 on this business. In fact, the business is in some debt from not recouping advertising expenses over the last 3 years and I need to refocus on profit instead of sales and revenue. By setting revenue and sales goals, I’ve completely missed the most important and #1 rule of business- Profit. It’s literally the life blood of the business and the #1 reason why businesses cannot stay open longer than 5-7 years.

Needless to say, I’m not in this business to make other people money and take all the risk. My store has gotten so wide in products, brands, and niches what even is Trusted Home Goods?! What is my brand and what am I expert in? The hard truth is, Trusted Home Goods is a mediocre e-commerce general store that is not an expert at anything. If you’ve got your hand in everything, you’ve got your hand in nothing. I got some advice from a mentor that went something like this “Be more like chick fil-a, not McDonald’s.” That means be known for one thing and do that one thing really well.

So even though we are forecasted to do another $220,000 in revenue in the next 3 months, I can’t wait any longer to pivot the path of my company. Let’s continue looking at the business and see what we can take away from what’s working well to forge a new path towards having a profitable business.

What Has Been Working?

In the entire list of products I sell I keep coming back to cigar humidors. Specifically humidor cabinets, electric humidors, and cigar furniture. What’s unique about cigar humidors is that you cannot pay to advertise tobacco related products on google or social media so my customers are 100% organic which means FREE. They find me because I rank high on google for these products and have relevant blogs/content that they are searching for. Take a look at one of our cigar humidor pages to get an idea of how I am starting to shift our focus in this niche: Cigar Humidors.

Benefits of Only Selling Cigar Humidors?

1. All traffic is organic and free

2. They have a high average order value

3. The profit margins are 40-50%

4. I have a pretty solid current customer base and foundation built for cigar humidors

5. I have two A+ suppliers

6. The customers are relatively low maintenance

7. I will be able to focus on one niche

8. There is low competition on the internet

9. There are 18,000 cigar related businesses in the United States and millions of cigar smokers so there is a lot of demand

Tell me which business you would rather have?

Business #1 is my business if I only sold humidors this year. Business #2 is my current business spending thousands advertising and trying to find winning products across many niches. The answer is unequivocally business #1. You’re telling me I only have to deal with 48 people instead of over 1000?! The average order value is 6x and we actually profit. Especially, if I can put all my focus towards one thing I can easily double or triple the business and now we’re talking about bringing home some nice side income and have a resealable asset.

So, as of October 1 I made the decision to shift the entire business towards transitioning to become a cigar humidor store. This will take some time but I know it’s the right decision. I will still be called Trusted Home Goods (for now) and put all my effort into selling cigar humidors to cigar smokers, collectors, and businesses.

In Conclusion

These changes are coming on the heels of 3 years of work, 400% increase in sales, and a lot of positive progress. BUT never settle and always be ready to pivot and adapt when things aren’t quite working - even when things seems pretty good. I had some hard conversations with Kara about the direction of the business and I kept telling myself lies like I’m a quitter, I’m not good enough, people will look at me like a failure if I change niches. But that’s the thing, those are all lies. Over the last 3 years I’ve learned to:

• Run Google Ads

• Create websites

• Rank on google search engines

• Integrate AI solutions into an e-commerce business

• Ask for help

• Negotiate partnerships

• Learn customer motivations and buying habits

• And Countless other things

This decision to pivot really scares the crap out of me but I’ve learned that it’s often the things that scare the shit out of you that are the things you should be running towards.

Wish me luck, Love you All!

Georgie B