Speaker 1This is The Road to 1 Million. I'm Ryan Daniel Moran. This is the show where I interview members of our community and I help them take their visions and get back on track so that they're back on the road to $1 million. Sometimes it's really helpful to just have an outsider who knows this business, keep you on track and hear about your specific situation and guide you back to where you need to go. And today I'm going to be joined by one of our members of the Capitalism Incubator. His name is Annes. And Annes started a business in the incubator that he was really doing because he wanted to make money. Annes got started in the incubator with a very clear person that he wanted to serve. He wanted to serve Muslims who were eating the halal diet because there were no brands that were targeting this person. There's all kinds of options for keto and even kosher, but no one for someone like him. So he wanted to go in that direction. He wanted to go in that direction. He wanted to go in that direction, but he thought it would be easier to start a supplement company first. Then he ran into challenges and setbacks, and he was feeling really discouraged until he went to a trade show and got feedback about the direction of his business. And he realized that starting a food brand instead of a supplement brand would actually be faster, easier, and more profitable for him. It would also create more opportunities with investors, partners, and influencers, because it's what the customer actually wanted. The ironic thing is, it's also what Annes wants to do too. You don't need to wait to do the business that you really want to do. When you do the business that you want to do, doors just tend to open. But Annes needed some help staying on track and being on the road to 1 million. So let's dive into the conversation. Well, Annes, welcome to the podcast. You've been a member of The Incubator for quite some time now. Why don't you give me an update about what's going on in your business and how it can help?
Speaker 2An update? Sure. Well, a lot changed in the last, I would say, 12 days. For the 12 days, we had an idea of a product. I was looking for a specific manufacturer. I had a hard time finding a manufacturer. And now we are kind of back to square one on picking a product. And I think it's a good thing, because I was so stressed out about this one product is not going to work out. I had a hard time finding a manufacturer and supplier. I've been posting in The Incubator about, I've contacted over, I lost count, but I have an associate with over 36 manufacturers. And what was the problem getting that product made? Two main problems with it is I needed to be halal certified, not friendly, not close to it, but halal certified. So the manufacturer needs to have the certification, know what is it, and willing to do it. And the second one is the MOQ. We're talking about some places I contacted, they're starting order about $150,000 for one single product.
Speaker 1And which one of those was harder? Were you able to find anyone that was halal certified? Or was that a wall you kept running into? What was the primary thing that was preventing you from moving forward?
Speaker 2I found, I would say one or two, but the communication was really, really hard. Until we got to the sample stage, it took us two months, over two or three months. And once we got the samples, just to find out that actually is not halal certified. And they don't know if they can do it. And the problem was with logistics and some supply chain issues, that when we started the conversation, they can source a specific ingredients easily or relatively easily. And now they can't do this ingredients anymore, for the lack of it. So it's a lot have changed.
Speaker 1And the product line that you're trying to get halal certified was a supplement line for people who eat that diet, correct? Exactly. Yes. Okay. So you've run into enough hurdles now to where you've had to come back to square one, where are you thinking about taking things now?
Speaker 2So all happens after I attended a trade show, like a conference trade show in Chicago. We booked the booth that we're going with product and samples to show to people, shares with the people, potentially take pre-sales. So four days to five days before the show, and the supplier was a no-no for us. Like, hey, we can't work with suppliers. They are not communicative and they don't know even what they're talking about right now at this point. So we have two options. Go to the show and with no products and just talk to people or just kind of sit back. So we just decided to go to the bazaar, to the trade show with no products, no samples. And we just decided to go to the bazaar to the trade show with no products, no samples, we basically went with a pen and post notes. And we're asking people, give us ideas. Like we know we are as a Muslim community have a problem finding halal products and halal food. And we're just basically, I was there sharing my vision, my vivid vision and the pitch deck. That's what I was doing for three, four days. And it just, we got like tons of ideas, like the engagement was crazy.
Speaker 1Well, and so you're just there with the vivid vision and the pitch deck that you put together inside the incubator. And you're just showing up, talking with people. What were they sharing with you? Were you getting advice? Were people offering to invest in the company? What type of engagement were you getting?
Speaker 2All of the above and even more. Like I got people who are like sharing ideas. They go get their kids to share ideas to write down. Like what can they do? What can they do? candies and things they like to get because it's actually the parents, they have different needs than the kids. And that's the company is the struggle of the parents finding things for their kids that permissible to eat, that things, they get good, like dragging them at the grocery store. No, we can't have this. And you have to explain why we can't have this for the hundred times, but my friends, they can't have it. Why I can't have it. So that's kind of, it was a big pain point there. Uh, some people offering consultation, uh, other people, they just straightforward said, Hey, when this thing picks up on you find the right product, here's my phone number contact me. I will be, I'll be interested to learn more about them. That's beautiful. How cool is that?
Speaker 1Remember, you know, we say this all the time in the incubator. If you ask for money, you get advice. If you ask for advice, you get money. And so you're, you're there asking for advice and people are giving you their number saying, give me a call when you're ready to raise capital. So, so an S that's, that's a beautiful shot in the arm. I'm so glad this happened. What did you decide to change now that you've got this feedback going to this trade show? Um,
Speaker 2change a little bit of my vision. And in a sense, I need to think even bigger. I'm bolder. Good. Like don't know myself. That's, that's, that's kind of taking it from outside and that's the outside scope. That's one to the pain point is way bigger and way deeper than I thought the next I anticipated. Good. Like that's great. Everyone, everyone, everyone is feeling it, feeling it more. And as an unfortunate thing, but it's this pain kind of getting passed down to the next generation with minimal solutions available there. So it's just like the pain is getting passed. So that's the second thing. The third thing is that I can go in competitive categories now more confidently than before. Why is that specific space? Uh, because people are asking for things that I know they are available. Hello. There are brands there, but they just don't connect with the brands. Like they are, they are looking even more options, with the same, like one of the things gummy bears is as silly as they sound. Like it's, it's just something there are a brand or two. They produce them in halal form, but they just want more. They want more brands, the same thing, more options. Exactly. Yeah. And is it,
Speaker 1is it fair to say that the brands that are providing halal options are not catered specifically to the Muslim community? Is that fair? Is it fair to say, absolutely. So you've got a, you've got a person. This is so important. And I think so many people get this that if you cater specifically to that person, they will voluntarily choose you over the other brands and they'll come back and buy your other products as well. So where I think you're taking me in this conversation is that what you've decided to do is move away from the supplement brand and instead do a food brand for this community. Is that where this is going?
Speaker 2Yes and no. tell me the supplement is in in my vision is just going to be a one category of the bigger brand that's what it's going to be it's just going to be like a single category like we'll add more things so now what i'm looking and this is what problem asking help with is how this decides on one or two products to go after
Speaker 1to start with and how do you narrow in to like line up the next domino exactly well let me let me ask you this i mean kind of what i'm hearing you process this conversation is that you've run into challenges getting the halal certified supplements made but you know of options in the food space and it almost sounds like there are options for gummy bears or for snacks or candies or what have you so what is preventing you from making a food product the first product in the line since you know there are manufacturers for that and there's obvious demand based on the feedback that you
Speaker 2just received well that's another change i had to to change and i don't know if it would be in my vivid vision or just in general approach and my my approach was to have a u.s based manufacturer so it will be the brand is my halal company like american muslim brand by american muslims it's just like based here in the u.s but we're having a really hard time getting a u.s manufacturer to to work with us in in the capacity that we are in right now i understand yeah so the switch that we made we start looking abroad for those uh those products so that's the first thing so it happened two in one i i was looking for supplements only and in the u.s only now i'm looking for more of a food brands snacks condiments sauces all this line i'm looking inside the u.s and outside the u.s so whatever it comes in it just needs to be a quality cleaning ingredients
Speaker 1and all that stuff okay so i hear that data point i still have the question why would you not prioritize food instead of supplements since you know there's demand and there's supply for it
Speaker 2oh it is right now it is that's what i'm looking like since i came back from this ratio that's i'm contacting specifically about uh food products
Speaker 1good because i'll tell you an s i like a food brand for this community way more than i like a supplement brand like i i like this idea from an investor standpoint from a consumer standpoint from an advisor i like this all across the board better and from what i remember about our conversations and you doing your pitch supplements you thought were going to be easier you thought supplements were going to be easier to get into right right what you really wanted to do was
Speaker 2food yeah am i remembering correctly i just i just that's you're a second person in 24 hours telling me that says dude your pitch is about mashed potato is bacon bites or red skin potato whatever it is and you just switched to supplement how is that i said well i don't know it's just like the first part of my pitch yeah the first part of my picture was like is it really emotional that's my story and then the supplements i put it because i was looking at data points and i opportunities are using metrics i know i know it's just like it was you finally got it in us
Speaker 1i did i did yes so if nothing else of this conversation in this i want you to take full permission to go build the brand you want because i i'm telling you listen you know my model the owner's model having the vision having the pitch deck raising capital getting influencers and making a real go at this that is so much easier for a food brand than it is for a supplement brand and you're now finding that it's going to be easier to get the products made so your original thesis of having the supplements didn't pan out the way you thought because they're harder to make i will tell you that the investors who gave you their number that want to fund the 150 000 purchase order will be more excited by the food line than they will the supplement line so you'll you'll actually have an easier time raising capital partnering with influencers getting excited customers doing the thing that you want to do than the thing that you thought you were supposed to do because of the data so if nothing else happens from this conversation i would like for you to take full permission to go in the direction that you always wanted which was a halal food brand for american muslims with high quality well-sourced ingredients that make parents feel comfortable giving their kids those snacks yes yes
Speaker 2i think you defined it better than i
Speaker 1did beautiful i mean i i think i think we just clarified your biggest sticking point this is a perfect example of why i tell people to always start with a person instead of a product many entrepreneurs in their quest to get it just right look at data and trends and use tools to tell them what a good product to sell is when the answer is whatever is in service to the person that you want to serve and as fell into this trap he thought hey i got my person and so an easy way for me to get in with them is to sell them a supplement and the marketplace went what he really wanted was to start a food brand and that's what the customer wanted to and as a result of him focusing there he'll have way faster momentum and he'll be on the road to a million dollars do you what else would you like to take from our time together today
Speaker 2well how do you well i i think is my brain is a bit more analytical even though i i have a hard time with this so right now i have ideas okay which one to attack first is it gonna based on the simplest one the low budget one especially tell me your ideas just just
Speaker 1riff at me what some of your ideas are and i'm gonna be taking a couple
Speaker 2notes okay well the ideas that came from the people so it's not my ideas and we're going through them but they have a a line of gummy bears marshmallows candies wait did you say
Speaker 1gummy bears marshmallows and candies yes okay keep going just hit me with
Speaker 2them yeah uh uh bone broth beef broth chicken broth all of that that one they use for cooking so this is in the in the cooking line yeah some salad dressings but not much of it some salad it uh condiments though condiments all of them like kind of few of those uh there some stuff in the in the cosmetics and in the skincare but that's not where my passion or expertise so that's something i don't want to go into right theoretically
Speaker 1if the vision was bigger it might include a cosmetic line that was halal certified it does exactly or you might buy one buy a company that already does that and fold it into the line or something like that i love that
Speaker 2because there are great companies i'm have my eye on okay good good so anything else that you're considering uh beef jerky is like a protein snack great i like that a lot uh beef jerky uh the beef sticks one they are based that one the other one i really like that one yeah those ones those one i found good source for them overseas halal certified clean all the listings but um any anything else before i give you kind of my feedback
Speaker 1on where you should
Speaker 2go the other things the other things which is i really really like but i'm i don't know if it's a good starting point maybe we can talk about it here yeah frozen meals okay ready ready to go meals frozen pop them in the in the microwave okay so i let oh keep going i see i got another one yeah it's something something i learned when i was talking to people availability versus accessibility so yeah so it's like something available in one place it does not mean they are accessible to them so they can get it somewhere else like for example they said yeah we know this halal is there's a halal product but we are only in one single place like in a in a store you have to go downtown to get it so they would like to see it in target market which is this is my vision to get those products in there okay
Speaker 1makes a lot of sense so here is here is my initial feedback so the the the company that i'm sort of comparing you to in my mind is uh mark sisson's company primal kitchen primal kitchen was a paleo company that started with one specific vertical they went with condiments they went with condiments and then salad dressings and then they started doing packaged food bars like protein bars yep and then they went then they went frozen meals actually they sold to heinz and then they did frozen meals so i tell you that because you can do all of these eventually you just can't do them all at the same time correct so let me riff out my thoughts so far gummy bears marshmallows and candies i think that is a great entry-level product it will solve a major pain point and it's wide enough to where like you're hitting mom so we're going to buy multiple products you could have an entire line around halal treats. I feel good about that. I think your margins will be a bit low, but you'll have a high repeat customer rate and it will be easy to advertise all of these. So I like this as a starting point. Bone broth, I like, but you can theoretically get halal bone broth in other places. And that's going to be tough to source for the longterm. It's going to be, or it's going to be tough for you to start with, I think, because I think you might have sourcing problems, but I like this as maybe a product three or a product four. Your condiment and salad dressing line, I love it. I love it. Because my guess is people have a very hard time finding this on the Target store shelves. My guess is that every single person who eats a halal diet struggles with this one. You can tell me if I'm right or wrong, but I think this is probably a major pain point for your customers. You can comment on that in a second. My favorite is actually beef jerky and protein snacks. Now I'm a little bit biased because I like the protein space. I eat a high protein, mostly low carb diet. So I'm biased on this, but I can see a lot of this market looking for healthy snack options, beef jerky and protein snacks. I think you'll get, the best buyers in that. Frozen meals, I want you to wait on. That's going to be hard for you to start with. So my three favorites are the treats, gummy bears, marshmallows, candies, salad dressings, and condiments, and beef jerky and protein snacks. All three of those are going to be fairly easy to get made. I'm going to guess that salad dressing and beef jerky are going to be the easiest to get made. And I have a slight bias towards those two. I've only narrowed it down to half your list, but tell me what you're thinking. Is your thinking in alignment with what I'm feeding to you?
Speaker 2Okay. Yeah. Salad dressing, I got people talking about it, but not as many as I thought, because I thought the same thing like you. There are just different brands and people like to kind of make it from scratch, but there are more people asking that they go into meal, like meals, like pasta sauce. That was a, that was a big one. Love it. Teriyaki sauces, like more of the things that actually they can't cook with. And that's what got me to the, like a bone, bone broth on all these, all the slime. So that's, that's, that's one of them. Gummy bears, definitely for kids, it's a, it's a snack. My only problem with sugary things is that I don't let my kids eat a lot of it. So if I'm going to make a healthy version of it, how I'm going to do that. So I can just get that one with a better source of the halal sourced one. That's ethically being sourced. I know of it. So I feel bad about it, but it's not something that I would get my kid to eat all day, every day. I completely understand. So that's kind of a feeling around it. The beef jerky one. It's a, is there something you want to say?
Speaker 1I wanted to ask you about the beef jerky. So keep going.
Speaker 2Oh yeah. Yeah. So the beef jerky one, it's, it's more of a target because I know it's a younger generation. They like to have it. It's more of a healthy snack. Uh, mom's likes it to put it in the lunch boxes for the kids. Um, talk to more young people, college, college age, that's what they like. They like to like a snack. This is what they like. They see everyone else having it, but they can't have it because it's not a lot is mixed up with different things. It's beef, but pork casing and so on. So people share the specific things with me about it.
Speaker 1So that's kind of my runner zone. So, so here's, here's what I'm just picking up from you energetically in the way that you're, you're talking this out. You feel the most clear. You have the least resistance to a cooking line, which is maybe not salad dressings, but sauces, condiments, we'll put dressings in there, spices. So you have the least amount of mental hangups on that, on that category. And what's cool about starting there is that is the largest swath of the market because those people will buy three, four different products sometimes at a time, and if they like it, they'll come back again and again and again. Yes. So that has like the most meat on the bone in this market. And if you get that market, you'll have no problem adding a beef jerky line, adding a protein snack line, adding a halal protein powder line, adding gummy bears and marshmallows and candies. You'll have no problem. If you can get that swath of the market, that is the sauces and the cooking line. Since you feel, the clearest there, would you feel comfortable starting with that as the foundation of the brand?
Speaker 2Yes, but that's why I need help with just clarifying because right away when I thought, when I thought, okay, sauces and these things say, oh man, it's going to be hard to ship. The margin is really low. It's a, this is, comes in a glass. That's breakable. I had a brand before with a glass and it just like, it's pain in the butt. It just, it around. And so my head started thinking of, oh, well, exactly, exactly. Like, Hey, if it's going to be sold for three, $4 and how I'm going to be able to ship it because for my strategy, e-commerce first. And people got excited when I say, Hey, it's going to be available online. If you have Amazon prime, you can order it because people complained about prices as well. Say, well, we go to the store and it's $3. We order it online. It's $6. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm taking in all these data points. I'm trying to make sense of first
Speaker 1product. My advice to you, like you've, you've got to run a successful, profitable business and you're not going to do that out of the gate selling $3, $3 jars of pasta sauce. Yeah. So first you'll have to be a premium brand. You just have to accept that you're going to be a premium brand Remember, you know, this, if you are creating a product specific for your person, they will pay a premium. They absolutely will pay a premium. Number two, I think I'm looking at your face. Yeah. Yeah. So tell me before I, before I go to number two, tell me what about your challenge with that? I think,
Speaker 2I think it's purely is a belief challenge. I don't have the data to bike it up, people always going to compare you. Oh, just because this is a notion. Hey, just because it's halal, you're charging double the price. That's what people say. Like there is a saying, oh, just because it's organic is three times the price. And that's, that's kind of this thing plays in, in my head. So let me, I love, I love to be a premium brand because actually I'm sourcing premium ingredients. That's right.
Speaker 1So let me, let me ask you a couple of questions and ask, are there halal pasta sauce brands right now?
Speaker 2Not that I know of, unless it gets imported. So it's not us a brand and because it's imported, it's more expensive. So people know that.
Speaker 1Okay. Yeah. So if someone wants to make a pasta sauce, they have to make it homemade. Is that correct? Yep. For the most time. Yep. How much time does it take them to make a homemade halal sauce, pasta sauce? 45 minutes, at least 45 minutes. Okay, great. What is the cost of someone's time per hour? Yeah, it'll be $20. I'll say at least what it, what does a jar of pasta at the store cost? Uh, five, $6, probably five or $6. Okay. So would it be fair to say that if someone paid $10 for a jar of pasta, they just saved an hour and therefore saved money since their time is worth two times that? Yes. Okay. Okay. So if here's the thing, I had a mentor named Kevin nations who used to say, you don't compare your price to other people. You don't compare your price to what the value is that they get. And then you charge a little bit less. So for example, I could write a book called 12 months to 1 million, and I could sell it for $20, which I did hundreds of thousands of copies of it. And, you know, I didn't, I didn't make much money from that book, but it got me people in the door. Was that book worth $20 or was that book worth a thousand dollars? Or was that book worth a thousand dollars? And I was like, I don't know. or $5,000 to the right person. Now, I wrote it for a different reason, right? And if you look at my consulting rates, my consulting rate is $10,000 an hour. Is that the same price as someone else? No, but it's a filter to get the right people to which I can create $100,000 worth of value in that same time. Okay. I hear what you're saying. Are you talking about like, yeah. So in your case, you are not selling a competitive pasta sauce. You are selling an hour to two hours of someone's time. You are also selling representation in the marketplace. That's what I want.
Speaker 2Yeah. That's what you want. That's what I want. That's the, let's say, that's our mindset. My, not tagline, but it's more of the, of the vision is like, you have all these different groups that are represented with their food. You have the vegan, the vegetarian, you have the kosher, you have all other places like paleo, keto, you have like more keto than anything else. It's like, you know what I'm saying? Exactly. And that's actually, that's one of the messages that hit home with people. I said, we are just the number of people. Is we are similar to the Jewish community in the US, but we have way, way less than products than them. It's like, that should be an example for us to increase our product line. Be available, available in the market. And that's, people said, yeah, true. Like why I can't have it at Walmart or Target or Costco or all these big stores. I have to go to a specific shop and get it from there. So that's, that's one, that's the messaging. That's the vision and the goal.
Speaker 1That, that's right. And that's why I say people will pay a premium if they feel like it's specifically for them. They are, they are supporting their own representation. So before I mentioned, you just have to own the facts that you're a premium brand. You just, you've just got to accept you're going to be a premium brand. Justify it however you want. Justify it by the mission. Justify it by the ingredients. Justify it by what, whatever. The second thing. The second thing is since you're going to be an e-commerce first brand, you're going to have to sell this in bundles. Someone is going to have to buy three to six jars of pasta sauce in order for you to have the margin to be able to run advertising. And, and, and by the way, and that's like, I, I love honesty in marketing. So I love saying that kind of stuff up front. You know, there's a question. There's a question on the sales page. Can I buy just one? No. In order for us to advertise to the Muslim community, we need to have healthy margins. Therefore, as of right now, we're a new company looking for our super fans. And that's why we can only sell it in bundles of three, six, and nine jars. I hope you'll decide to support us as we try to represent this community in the marketplace. And as we grow, we hope to see you in Target and Costco. And Walmart and all these other places where you'll be able to buy single jars, right? That is the most honest answer in the world. And everyone who gets it will be like, that makes sense. Yeah, that makes sense to me.
Speaker 2I like that. I like it. I like it a lot.
Speaker 1Yes. So theoretically, if, if you sold a $9 jars of pasta sauce, which to me like does not seem crazy. There's, there's this one brand I really like. Let me look them up. They're called Victoria. It's called Victoria's, and I think they're on the, on the more expensive side. Yeah. So they're, they're an $8 jar of pasta sauce, right? And I buy them like, it's nothing. It's my favorite pasta sauce. Get it at Whole Foods or H-E-P-R or Target or whatever. Right. Okay. So, so you selling a $9 jar of pasta sauce is like, yeah. And like, that's, that's not even expensive to me. So I'm like, let's just round it up and say it's, it's $10. You sell a $10. You sell a three pack of halal pasta sauce for $30. And guess what? You're right in Target with the four times 25 times 30 formula. Mm-hmm. You get that to 25 sales a day. And you think about product number two and you do the same thing. Ines is building a brand for a very specific person, a specific person that is underserved in the marketplace and for him to do a great job. At serving that person, he's going to have to charge a premium price point. And yet, because it's for a specific person, that customer will willingly pay more for that product versus a generic competitor always every time. And that's why it's a good idea to think of yourself as a premium brand that is specifically made for your perfect customer. Now that we've figured out the overall vision for Ines's business. Now we're going to talk about the specific tactics to use to get this brand on track and on the road to 1 million.
Speaker 2Yeah. No, it's the good, the good thing is don't have, I don't have a lack of product ideas. That's a good thing. That is good. The other thing is which one to start with that can be a good foundation is not going to break the bank that I can't go to product number two. I understand. I think I'm looking. I'm looking for validation, data points. I don't know if I need them.
Speaker 1Does that make sense? It does. You're wrestling with the analytical brain versus what you want. So let's just, let's just, the analytical brain is very important. Let's just let it come out in a second. What does Ines want to bring to the marketplace? Based on the feedback that you got, the experience. The excitement you have, what your family needs. What do you want to bring to the marketplace as a first product? Protein-based product. Okay. Cause I know this is the hardest. Okay. All right. So are we going, are we going back and saying the cooking line is not actually what you want to start with? You want to start with.
Speaker 2No, no, no. But anything has a protein, anything has, has meat in it. That's like, that's straightforward is going to be, that's what the community needs. Like pasta sauce with meat. Uh, if you have any, like that's, that's specifically, people are more asking or asking that a protein, uh, like, uh, the beef stick, the beef jerky, uh, the sauces, the, the bone broth, some with something with vegetables that they can cook with the curry based chicken sauce, whatever it is. So all these lines will have proteins in them. That's, that's the home run.
Speaker 1I feel. Okay. Where can I support you in making a decision? Because I like all. All of these ideas and they all sound like they're the same to me. It sounds like you're talking about a sauce line that makes making halal cooking really simple and easy and they're delicious and healthy with premium ingredients at a premium price. Like that, that's how I heard. Well, that's what I heard you say. So I don't see, I don't see any conflict in you choosing any of those. The first one's going to be curry. The second one's going to be pasta sauce. That all doesn't matter to me because you're going to do them all. So if you're going to stick with my formula, I would say, pick the gateway product, pick the one that makes someone likely to buy future products and start with that. And based on this conversation, I think that's a pasta sauce. Okay. Process out loud, please.
Speaker 2Yeah. I just think is that, is it the, is it the would be pasta sauce or the. The bone, bone broth, this one. But I'm thinking if I get three products, because the manufacturer want to, if you're importing it, it's going to be way cheaper to get three products on a container, bring them with shipping and everything. So should I pick three products within the same line or three products in different lines?
Speaker 1Let me make this easy for you. Pick three products in the same line. Okay. And take that. And take that as close to the million or above as possible. So you have the margin and the customer base and the flexibility to be able to launch whatever the hell you want next. Because when you, when you've got a business that you love with a raving fan base, that's spitting off cashflow and you're growing and you're excited and you have people who are supporting the brand and choosing you, then you can go do the jerky or the. Marshmallow and not worry about, is it going to sell? You know, it's going to sell. You at least know you're going to sell through the inventory because you have this giant customer base and if the product flops, you didn't lose anything. So start with the three in the same space and do it really well. And again, based on this conversation, it sounds like that is sauces with protein and you make three different kinds and you make three packs at premium prices. So you've got the margin. So you have the margin to be able to acquire customers, you do it extremely well. you can go do the lunch snacks and the treats and you've got the margin and the customer base to be able to do that well. Okay. I want to tell you, Anas, I like this vision for your business way better than the business that you presented in your pitch deck. This to me is a slam dunk, whereas a supplement brand felt like a good idea. Like, oh yeah, that's a good idea. But I wasn't chomping at the bit to invest in a supplement company that was halal. I'm really interested in a food line that is halal because it's such a clear person and it's such a clear pain point and it's such a raving audience. You'll have no problem doing whatever it is that you want to do, getting influencers, getting user-generated content, getting investors. No problem at all.
Speaker 2Good to hear that because all of this playing in my head is like, what if this or what if that happened? I think what I'm lacking, we always look for example and there is no clear example within our audience, within our community, for someone who has done something like this. Right. But you could
Speaker 1go with examples like Primal Kitchen that did it for the keto and paleo space.
Speaker 2Exactly. And that's what motivates me. There is a company, I don't know if you've heard of them, it's called Publix Good. They launched on Indiegogo two, three years ago and I've been following what they're doing. So I want to do something similar to them, what they are doing, but to the Muslim community in the United States. And that's, you build your category, as you go and whatever sales expand, whatever doesn't sell, just discontinue it. That's right. Do you know
Speaker 1what Primal Kitchen sold for? No. Do you want to take a guess?
Speaker 2I would guess based on what you said, probably close to half a billion. $200 million. $200 million.
Speaker 1And they were about four years, they were four or five years old before COVID. Oh. Nice. That's before the frozen meals, right? Before the frozen meals. And their audience was the paleo community, started by a 60-some-year-old guy who was a blogger.
Speaker 2Oh, that's right.
Speaker 1That's right. So Anas, I really like this brand for you. Thank you. The missing piece for you is your conviction. And the reason you're caught up in it is because you have doubt that it's going to go away. You have doubt that it's going to, quote, "work." You want to know what the outcome and the result is going to be in order to have conviction. You've got to find your conviction from another place. Your conviction has to come from the fact that your audience needs this. Mm. Yeah. Your conviction needs to come from the fact that your audience needs and wants representation in the marketplace. Right. Your conviction needs to come from those places. You'll let the results fall where they're going to fall.
Speaker 2Yeah. I think you said something really hit me a while back in the book. You said if you're looking for success, you'll find it. If you're looking for failure, find it, like the evidence for it. And I'm stuck on the, not, I say, the failure part, but if it's going to work part because I had previous experiences where it didn't work. Well, it did not work out.
Speaker 1Yes. And let me guess, you did those things for money.
Speaker 2Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, you did.
Speaker 1Yeah. So your conviction just needs to come from a different place. Mm-hmm. And it needs to come from the fact that you're going to be the source. You're going to be the person that solves the problem, this annoying problem, the fact that it's hard to find halal foods in stores. Exactly. That's exactly it. You fix that problem. And, like, the money will take over. It will take care of itself. I mean, theoretically, you could make no money for two years, but Heinz says, oh, this is a growing category. We're going to buy them. And they write you a check for your business. Why? Because your customers are choosing you, not because of what the margins were, not because you were profitable, but because your customers were prioritizing you. Mm. So that needs to be your conviction, giving your customers the option, solving this problem. And you can always be excited about that. You can always be excited about making things accessible and available for your customers. You won't always be excited about the daily sales. But if your North Star is service to that person and the representation of them in the marketplace, then you're going to have to be very, very excited about the daily sales. and the representation of them in the marketplace, then you will always find a reason to continue to serve them, which means that long-term this company works out.
Speaker 2Okay. Exactly. That's what I need to hear. Because one of my questions that can come back and rather even few places is how to enjoy the process before I get to my goals. Because so many times I just say, why I'm even doing this? I understand. I hope I have a job so I just can't go and don't get a lot of them. I hope I have this.
Speaker 1You get what I'm saying? I do. I totally get it. And the way is to have a way that you are rewarded that isn't financial. I'll give you an example from my own life. Right. I used to get really hung up on my podcast download numbers, my YouTube watch numbers. That was my edification. That's what determined if I felt good about my progress or not. Because I was comparing myself to other people who had larger followings. I don't have the largest following in the space. I have a very loyal one, but I do not have the largest following. People tell me all the time, I don't understand why you're not more popular. And I wonder this too sometimes. I had to stop making myself feel good. I had to stop making that my North Star. And I had to start making my North Star, did I enjoy making this content? Because I love to speak and write and create and share opinions and debate and interview and grow and learn. Money is how I sustain the space to be able to do that from a place of contribution. Hmm. Okay. You picking up what I'm laying down?
Speaker 2Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm just belating to what you're saying. Like, what do I enjoy? I enjoy business. You do. You also
Speaker 1enjoy serving your community. Serving. Yeah. Yes, exactly. You enjoy coming up with ideas that solve problems for your people. You enjoy the idea of people like you being represented publicly. You enjoy the process of getting feedback about how much people like your idea and like your product.
Speaker 2And by the way, is this is this thing is about serving people. I always felt it. But I shied from it for the longest time. Yeah. I just, it's not comfortable. Like, yeah, that's a different story. But it's not comfortable to say I'm a Muslim, where you're here walking in day in the US market. Oh, is this halal? And ask what's halal? What's wrong with this guy? Why you don't eat this? So it's just like, it's all these things is more of when I was talking to people, I say it's more of what you said is identity is like more than the product. And this is the first time ever that I'm focusing on the person more than any product. Good. So I didn't have a hard time switching or dropping the supplements. That's fine. Whatever, whatever is going to serve this person.
Speaker 1So well, and as we need to wrap, but I don't have a hard time switching or dropping the supplements. That's fine. That's fine. So well, and as we need to wrap, but I don't have a hard time preventing or anything you want to run by me. In order for you to feel clear on moving forward in this direction.
Speaker 2Probably I would say my next step. My next step, what would you see it is invest my time in? Is it the product or still like, building the audience or reaching to people or investors, or your neck, your neck?
Speaker 1My next step is to go get a really great prototype. And share publicly what you're doing. Share publicly that this is the direction you're going in, why you're doing it. Go into Whole Foods and be like, are any of these Hello? Nope, can't see Hello. I think our pasta sauce belongs right here on this shelf. What do you think? So start documenting the fact that you're going on this journey. Do it publicly. Go get a great prototype. When you've got a great prototype, then it's time to do a pre launch. You take the orders ahead of time so you can place the order. And then you're off to the races.
Speaker 2Okay. I like that. No focus, I shouldn't focus on Okay. Trying to process, because one of the things that I've been focusing on, but you addressed it. So I have to keep in mind, I'm a premium brand. So don't focus too much on the price. No. Okay. Got it.
Speaker 1That helps a lot. Congratulations. Thank you.
Speaker 2Thank you. I really
Speaker 1appreciate it. I appreciate the time. All right, Ines. Keep me posted. Keep us all posted. We'll be watching your progress and we're rooting for you. All right. We'll do. Thank you. Great to see
Speaker 2you. I have nothing to add.
Speaker 1That was a masterclass on how to bring an idea into reality. And the fact that Ines actually cares about this group of people because it's him means that he can document the whole process, go all in on his customer, have a great launch and build a million dollar business. The process is not hard. It's choose a person you want to serve. Select four products that serve that person. Build a tiny audience. Launch. Get a $10,000 launch under your belt and then start building from $10,000 to $100,000 a month. All of the complicated stuff is how we think about it. It's how we complicate the process and how we doubt ourselves and how we think we're going to take shortcuts when the reality is we'll get to the million if we just focus on serving the people that we're in the business of serving. That's what we do at capitalism.com. We mentor entrepreneurs on their road to a million dollars. The more that we focus on our customers, the more results they get, the more people who follow our work, the more people who join our programs. Entrepreneurship is the process of selflessly serving other people and having the money show up to sustain that good work. And as soon as you're in that energy, the road to one million is fast, simple, and usually enjoyable. Thanks for watching. I'll see you next time. And now a quick word from Beatrice, one of our community members in the Capitalism Incubator.
Speaker 3It's very lonely being an entrepreneur. Yeah. Like I sit in my office every day and it's just me. And then I look forward to our meetings because it's actually pretty like entertaining. I laugh a lot. Everybody makes funny comments. And then I always leave there with like an aha moment or something that it was so not obvious. They make it so like, yeah, how come you didn't see this? It's so obvious. I'm like, oh my God, I can't believe it. So I think the more we talk about things and the more we hear other people going through things, it helps you sort of apply that to your business or you're able to help other people too. So it's, I like that. Yeah. Don't wait until tomorrow. Cause the longer you wait, the more competition there's going to be the, you're never going to get it off the ground. And there's no reason why you can't. You could either, if you don't have a product to sell, sell a core, create something, you know? So I think a hundred percent, because what that means, it means freedom. For me, you being an entrepreneur and having your own business means freedom to do wherever you're at from wherever you're at. And the it's funny because with, with this, my told my husband, like, I want to make money while I'm sleeping. Like that is my goal, you know? And then with the Shopify app, I don't know, you know, every time Excel comes in, you hear the little cha-ching, cha-ching. So I had it. He tells me that it was in the middle of the night. I had my phone. Like as soon as I opened, I officially opened on June 12th, 2019. And then I had the phone next to my bed and I'm sleeping. And then all of a sudden we hear the noise, cha-ching. And then he goes on, he's like, she did it. She's making money while she's sleeping. And I'm like, and then he wakes me up. He's like, you just made money while you're sleeping. I'm like, yes. So many more.
Speaker 1If you found value in this podcast and you're ready to go deeper, here are three resources where we can help you. One, you can grab my book, 12 Months to 1 Million on Audible or Amazon. It has over a thousand reviews and it's the playbook to building a seven figure business. Second, you can join our community of entrepreneurs who are following a plan to build a 1% net worth by building businesses and investing the profits. You can get plugged in at capitalism.com slash one. And third, if you're looking to go deeper and build a seven figure business that you can sell, you can work closely with us inside the Capitalism Incubator. And you can get on the waiting list and find out what we do over at capitalism.com slash inc. That's capitalism.com slash inc. We'll be right back.
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