Ryan Daniel Moran > Quotes

“1. To whom are you going to sell? You start by identifying your person. It can be you or someone you know, but once you identify them, look at what group of people they belong to. Are they CrossFitters? Do they eat a paleo diet? Are they nurses? Are they Christians? If you don’t know the answer, start with yourself. What groups do you identify with? 2. What do they already buy? Can you list at least three to five products that your group already buys? If you can’t list at least three products, you’re in the wrong market. At this point in the process, it’s really tempting to make up a product idea from scratch, but I recommend that you start by identifying what your person already buys. Just start writing down what your person already buys on their journey to be a great mom, a great entrepreneur, or a great designer. 3. Which product out of that suite of products do you want to focus on, to either make a great version of it or a version that solves one of their problems? Looking at the list of products you came up with, ask yourself, “How are those products not serving my group right now?” Does one of them jump out as a potential “gateway” to the rest of the list? If you identify the first product that solves a pain point or serves as a gateway into other purchases, then you know exactly where to start.”
― Ryan Daniel Moran, 12 Months to $1 Million: How to Pick a Winning Product, Build a Real Business, and Become a Seven-Figure Entrepreneur

“Most people think you need tens of thousands of dollars to get started, but you can get there with just a thousand, or less,” Jared told me. “The money isn’t the obstacle. The truth is that ninety percent of the battle is getting your head right and just pushing through all the obstacles, no matter what. You have to make it your mission to find a way.” Jared’s obstacles didn’t end that sleepless Christmas. To this day, competitors copy his ads, and even his products. Some of them are total scam artists who take orders with no intention of fulfilling them. “When I first started, I’d get so angry at the scammers, but that wasn’t helping me,” he said. “Now, if I see someone copying my stuff, I immediately get my lawyers involved and send a cease and desist. It’s part of the game. I’ve learned to just deal with it.”
― Ryan Daniel Moran, 12 Months to $1 Million: How to Pick a Winning Product, Build a Real Business, and Become a Seven-Figure Entrepreneur

“This book is designed to get you out of The Grind as quickly as humanly possible. If you follow the steps outlined, you will leave The Grind about four months after you finish reading. Your challenge will be making fast, bold decisions, and being okay with them being less than perfect. Otherwise, you will overthink every step, and you will stay stuck at “Stage Zero,” the state in which you’re just thinking about becoming an entrepreneur.”
― Ryan Daniel Moran, 12 Months to $1 Million: How to Pick a Winning Product, Build a Real Business, and Become a Seven-Figure Entrepreneur

“Your job is to identify three to five products that your ideal person might buy. You don’t need to worry about how to make it or how you will sell it—we’ll fix that later. Just brainstorm what your person already buys and potential things he or she might like to buy. People who do yoga buy mats, towels, and blocks. That’s three products. What else might they buy? Clothes, travel cases, or yoga pillows? Do people who do yoga buy other things, too? Like tea, meditation cushions, or essential oil? And do people who do yoga have different shopping habits than others? Do they buy organic, or avoid synthetic skin creams? Write it all down. You don’t need to worry about how you’re going to do anything just yet—just know that the internet has opened up opportunities for anyone who wants to create something from scratch. Anybody can do a Kickstarter campaign. Anybody can sell on Amazon. Any website can rank in Google. Anyone can run an ad on Facebook. Anyone can post on Instagram and connect with any influencer. Your job is to find out where your customers are, and drop your bait into that pond.”
― Ryan Daniel Moran, 12 Months to $1 Million: How to Pick a Winning Product, Build a Real Business, and Become a Seven-Figure Entrepreneur

“Even if your gateway product is the same as everyone else’s, you’re going to communicate in a way that’s specific for your target market. Remember, you’re not just selling a product. You’re creating a message. You’re taking something that’s already there and crafting a story that’s tailored to your customer. Two people can buy the same product for completely different reasons. Somebody who’s buying gloves to work in the garden might buy the exact same gloves for woodworking or going to the gym. Their preference would be to find a brand that speaks directly to them. Put simply, customers want to buy into brands that are going to serve them over the long term. You’re not just selling workout gloves. You’re selling to people who work out. This is nonnegotiable.”
― Ryan Daniel Moran, 12 Months to $1 Million: How to Pick a Winning Product, Build a Real Business, and Become a Seven-Figure Entrepreneur

“When you start with people and create products for them, you become a price setter, not a price follower. That gives you better profit margins. And you get repeat customers, rather than one-off sales.”
― Ryan Daniel Moran, 12 Months to $1 Million: How to Pick a Winning Product, Build a Real Business, and Become a Seven-Figure Entrepreneur

“4. What does your group think about similar products on the market? If you have a group of products you’re thinking about focusing on, you can start to identify “holes” in the marketplace by listening to what people are already saying. Read customer reviews and look at internet forums. You can also start vetting your idea by posting about it online. My buddy Moiz tried using Tom’s natural deodorant, and he hated it for a simple reason: It didn’t work. He thought, I wonder if I could do this better. So he started asking questions on online forums, getting feedback from other natural yuppies like him. From the response, he knew there was interest. He did a $500 round of prototypes and sold out immediately. That was the beginning of Native Deodorant, which was later acquired by Procter & Gamble for $100 million. It took Moiz only eighteen months to go from a $500 prototype to a million-dollar brand (and it sold for nine figures!). 5. Where does your person hang out with others? With an idea of what we might sell, we can start to think about where our first customers might come from. It’s much easier to make sales when you can drop your product in front of a group of your ideal people. Does your target customer listen to specific podcasts? Do they follow certain influencers? Do they belong to specific groups? Do they read certain blogs? Brainstorm where your ideal customer focuses his or her attention, and you will quickly know where to put your product in front of them. In the next chapters, you will also learn how to develop a micro-audience that is ready to buy your product from you. I also like to write down the names of ten friends who will get excited about a product because your ideal customers know other people just like them.”
― Ryan Daniel Moran, 12 Months to $1 Million: How to Pick a Winning Product, Build a Real Business, and Become a Seven-Figure Entrepreneur

“6. Do you know how you will get predictable sales? I don’t mean to overwhelm you just yet, but your sales process has to be scalable. For most people, Amazon is the easiest place to start. We’ll cover that later. Unless you have a different way to collect sales consistently, then Amazon will be your starting place. 7. What will be products two, three, and four? Do you know what your follow-up products are going to be? If you don’t know what else you might sell to your person, then you’re not ready to move on. Your job will be to roll out products for that same customer as quickly as possible and as fast as you can comfortably handle them for the first year. Having an idea of your subsequent products will put you far ahead in the process.”
― Ryan Daniel Moran, 12 Months to $1 Million: How to Pick a Winning Product, Build a Real Business, and Become a Seven-Figure Entrepreneur

“The next time they invited me over for lunch, they wanted to update me on their progress. I couldn’t wait to hear how their new business was going. As soon as I got there, however, question hour resumed: “Ryan, what business should we really start?” Here we were, back to square one. They had no prototype, no audience, and no proof of concept. They’d been stuck spinning in place because they were waiting to be told what to do. What I helped them discover was that there was no perfect product or “right” business to start. Instead, there’s simply a set of decisions you need to make. Once you make these decisions, you’ll have a good shot at success. But until you make these decisions, you’ll be stuck in analysis mode forever. Again, you don’t need to know how to do anything—we’ll go into more detail on the process throughout the rest of this book. First, you must make decisions. It’s also okay to change your decisions later, but answering these questions will allow you to start to move down the path to your own million-dollar business.”
― Ryan Daniel Moran, 12 Months to $1 Million: How to Pick a Winning Product, Build a Real Business, and Become a Seven-Figure Entrepreneur

“People buy products that say something about themselves. Paying twice the price for Bulletproof Coffee versus the competitors says that the person is a high performer. On the other hand, drinking Black Rifle Coffee, which we mentioned earlier, says you shoot guns, or that you don’t care about the opinions of other people. The product (coffee) is almost exactly the same, but the person is completely different.”
― Ryan Daniel Moran, 12 Months to $1 Million: How to Pick a Winning Product, Build a Real Business, and Become a Seven-Figure Entrepreneur

“But anyone can sit and “kick around ideas” all day. That’s the easy part. The hard part is deciding to take the risk of actually bringing that product to life. The hardest part is getting past the head noise: What will my family think? What if my product sucks? What if I get a negative review? While I will help you with the “how to,” you have to go all in on getting through the mental hurdles. It’s time to make a decision: Are you willing to go all in?”
― Ryan Daniel Moran, 12 Months to $1 Million: How to Pick a Winning Product, Build a Real Business, and Become a Seven-Figure Entrepreneur

“Check out Kickstarter and look at projects that raised a million dollars. Go to Amazon and find the best-selling toilet paper. Watch Facebook ads and see what companies are being talked about. You can do this kind of research on any channel where you’re thinking about selling, or simply by paying attention.”
― Ryan Daniel Moran, 12 Months to $1 Million: How to Pick a Winning Product, Build a Real Business, and Become a Seven-Figure Entrepreneur

“Author and trainer Craig Ballantyne famously said, “Success is simple once you accept how hard it is.”
― Ryan Daniel Moran, 12 Months to $1 Million: How to Pick a Winning Product, Build a Real Business, and Become a Seven-Figure Entrepreneur

“When we cut our price, we sold really well (because when you follow the method in this book, it works), but we ran out of stock. It was a predictable outcome. Being out of stock is the worst thing that can possibly happen to your new business because you’re essentially out of business when you can’t take orders. We had to wait out the four-week lag for another shipment to cross an ocean and get to the Amazon warehouse. When we finally got new stock back in, we were essentially starting over. Yes, we had customer reviews, but our momentum was dead. We had to run another discount to get moving again. We did recover, but that one mistake set us back months. I can’t say whether an extra month of planning would have kept us from making that awful choice; probably not, honestly. You can’t control for everything. Your goal is just to take your product from an idea to a physical item in a customer’s hand. It’s simpler than most people think it is. Find the right supplier, get samples, refine with research, put in a small order, and get the product online. That’s all you need to worry about right now. Don’t overthink it. Just fix the mistakes as they come.”
― Ryan Daniel Moran, 12 Months to $1 Million: How to Pick a Winning Product, Build a Real Business, and Become a Seven-Figure Entrepreneur

“Entrepreneurs are weird. We are few. We see things differently. The rest of the world debates us, judges us, and even sometimes blames us for achieving success. But we create change, and the world needs more people like us.”
― Ryan Daniel Moran, 12 Months to $1 Million: How to Pick a Winning Product, Build a Real Business, and Become a Seven-Figure Entrepreneur

“Its next product was a different style of blue-blocker glasses, and it bombed. What happened? Well, James had bought into the belief that he was selling glasses, not helping people with sleep problems. He had focused on the product, not the person. He needed to discover that he was a sleep company, not a glasses company. Once that was solved, it was easy to come up with three to five new products that the company could sell. That changes everything. It’s tempting to fall into the trap that your business sells products, because that’s where the money comes from. But products are bought by people, and you must know who they are if you want to hit a million dollars.”
― Ryan Daniel Moran, 12 Months to $1 Million: How to Pick a Winning Product, Build a Real Business, and Become a Seven-Figure Entrepreneur

“The ends don’t necessarily justify the means, either; if you’re unhappy with the process, you are likely to be unhappy with the results. When I’ve worked on ideas in the past, and they haven’t been enjoyable throughout, I’ve never liked the end product. While you should definitely prepare for hard work, you shouldn’t have to suffer through misery for an idea. Here’s the difference: If you are working to prove something or to overcome your mental blocks, then you will run into stress, burnout, frustration, and failure. I call it scaling unhappiness. However, if you are creating from a place of abundance and genuinely serving others in the process, then life and business is deliriously enjoyable. When I’ve been my most successful, I can trace it back to how much I enjoyed the journey. When Matt and I worked on Sheer Strength, we were driven by our passion for the products and the idea of making something we both wanted to buy. Every time we stopped ourselves and listened to the market or new trends, we hit a roadblock. Those bad decisions cost us time and money. Right now, I’m working on a new food company. The project is a blast, and it’s either going to be the most successful thing I’ve ever done, or the best time I’ll ever have on a failure. Either way, the project is enjoyable, and that’s a worthy goal. Make sure you’re enjoying the ride you’re on, or I can guarantee you’ll burn out.”
― Ryan Daniel Moran, 12 Months to $1 Million: How to Pick a Winning Product, Build a Real Business, and Become a Seven-Figure Entrepreneur

“Some people are held back by a belief that money is scarce and hard to come by. These people allow that belief to form their worldview, which in turn triggers their actions. If you believe money is scarce and hard to come by, you sure as hell won’t take the risk of quitting a crappy job to go after a more lucrative but less certain future. You’ll take the safe route.”
― Ryan Daniel Moran, 12 Months to $1 Million: How to Pick a Winning Product, Build a Real Business, and Become a Seven-Figure Entrepreneur

“One of my mastermind members, Travis Killian, once told me about how he gets products to stand out in a busy, loud marketplace. His answer was simple: “We listen to people. We execute so many split tests, it’s insane. We’ll mock up the product and ask people, Which do you like better? This one or this other one from our competitor? We do that for all the top competitors in the market, all the ones we think have the best products in the niche.” Split testing requires nothing more than asking people which one of two things they like better. That’s it. Show someone two items, and ask for his or her preference. It’s one of those rare things that happens to be simple, easy, and effective. “I remember one time, when we were just starting out,” Travis told me, “we paid one of our friends to go to the mall in Austin, show pictures of our products versus our competitor’s products, and collect survey answers on which one they preferred.” If it sounds like a ton of time and money to pay someone to do inperson surveys and split testing, Travis says that’s not even essential. “When we started out, that’s what we did. Now, we use services online to run constant split tests of our products against our competitors’ products. The most important thing is to get the feedback on why survey respondents have a preference. Why do they like the other guy’s product over mine? That’s the data we really want to collect. We spend our time analyzing that data and applying it to the products—deciding first if the feedback is something we can, and want, to address, and then making changes from there.”
― Ryan Daniel Moran, 12 Months to $1 Million: How to Pick a Winning Product, Build a Real Business, and Become a Seven-Figure Entrepreneur

“1. Opportunity. What is the best opportunity for a new entrepreneur to build a successful business? Why is now the time to do it? How does the new landscape of e-commerce and social media create an environment of opportunity? And how do you fit into it all? You will discover why now is the perfect time to create your pie, and why there are others who are ready and willing to buy a slice. 2. Mindset. There’s a reason not every wantrepreneur becomes a successful entrepreneur, and psychology is a big piece of the puzzle. I’ll take you through the development of the right mindset to take a business from zero to one million in a year. 3. Getting customers. A million-dollar business doesn’t start with a product; it starts with a person. Your first step in building your business must be identifying your customer, and then answering his or her need. This builds a real brand, not just a revenue stream. If you get this piece right, you will have droves of repeat buyers who will eagerly “overpay” for your products, thank you for it, and tell all of their friends about you. 4. Product. Choosing your first product will be the biggest hurdle you face. It will take research, patience, and determination. Most importantly, it will require listening to what your customer is saying. I’ll take you through the whole process, from ideation to prototyping and refinement, helping you clear this hurdle in no time flat. 5. Funding. Sure, you’ve got a great product, and you know to whom you’re selling—but how do you fund your inventory? Here’s how to bootstrap, borrow, and build your way to a self-sustaining revenue machine, without stressing about money. 6. Stacking the deck. How do you nearly guarantee that your first product is successful, right out of the gate? Once you’ve decided what business you’re in, we will work to ensure that you don’t get stuck holding a product no one wants; this is where you stack the deck so your launch day is set up to blast off. 7. Launch. Your first product is ready to launch. What do you do now? Do you just let it ride? No. Here’s where building relationships and a few strategic marketing tips will take your business from a single product to a world-class brand, as we cover what you need to do to reach the key growth point of twenty-five sales per day.”
― Ryan Daniel Moran, 12 Months to $1 Million: How to Pick a Winning Product, Build a Real Business, and Become a Seven-Figure Entrepreneur

“When you have a massive shift like that, you almost always have a Wild West period, followed by a big correction or consolidation. For years, I warned my listeners and followers to use the opportunities on Amazon to build a real brand. Those who did made millions of dollars. Those who did not got swallowed up when bigger players came onto the scene selling spatulas for 50 cents cheaper than they were.”
― Ryan Daniel Moran, 12 Months to $1 Million: How to Pick a Winning Product, Build a Real Business, and Become a Seven-Figure Entrepreneur

“If you have three to five products, at an average price point of $30 per unit, each selling twenty-five to thirty units per day, you have a million-dollar business.”
― Ryan Daniel Moran, 12 Months to $1 Million: How to Pick a Winning Product, Build a Real Business, and Become a Seven-Figure Entrepreneur

“If you only think about products based on what’s hot right now, you’ll eventually be threatened by a mass of competitors, and that’s when profit margins get squeezed. Amazon can be the best place to get started selling products, but if you just look at what’s selling on Amazon and try to sell that, you’ll struggle to build a real business. Why? Well, if someone else sells the same product for $30, you have to sell yours for $28. Then the next person will price his or her product at $26. Now there’s a race to the bottom on profit margin.”
― Ryan Daniel Moran, 12 Months to $1 Million: How to Pick a Winning Product, Build a Real Business, and Become a Seven-Figure Entrepreneur

“Your Twelve Months Starts Now I tell my students to prepare for a year because that’s how long it takes. That year isn’t spent sitting around. You’re working, growing, and building toward your goals. Those habits you develop only grow stronger, and that time builds up quality exponentially. Think about it like compound interest.”
― Ryan Daniel Moran, 12 Months to $1 Million: How to Pick a Winning Product, Build a Real Business, and Become a Seven-Figure Entrepreneur

“Most people think you need tens of thousands of dollars to get started, but you can get there with just a thousand, or less,” Jared told me. “The money isn’t the obstacle. The truth is that ninety percent of the battle is getting your head right and just pushing through all the obstacles, no matter what. You have to make it your mission to find a way.”
― Ryan Daniel Moran, 12 Months to $1 Million: How to Pick a Winning Product, Build a Real Business, and Become a Seven-Figure Entrepreneur

“Most people fail because they never make it out of The Grind. Those are the initial months in which you make decisions around what product to sell, what your price point will be, and what launch strategy you will use. You’re in The Grind until you can sustain at least twenty-five sales per day on your first product.”
― Ryan Daniel Moran, 12 Months to $1 Million: How to Pick a Winning Product, Build a Real Business, and Become a Seven-Figure Entrepreneur

“You’ll find a ton of contract manufacturers if you search for them on Google, but the biggest marketplace in the world is Alibaba.com, where you can shop contract manufacturers to find the product you want to create.”
― Ryan Daniel Moran, 12 Months to $1 Million: How to Pick a Winning Product, Build a Real Business, and Become a Seven-Figure Entrepreneur

“Identify Your Gateway Product Once you’ve thought of a target person and are brainstorming at least three to five products that make up your brand, your next step is to start narrowing down the first product you’ll sell.”
― Ryan Daniel Moran, 12 Months to $1 Million: How to Pick a Winning Product, Build a Real Business, and Become a Seven-Figure Entrepreneur

“Throughout the long years Matt and I spent building our method, I documented our experiments and all our many iterations, failures, and successes, on my podcast and on my YouTube channel.”
― Ryan Daniel Moran, 12 Months to $1 Million: How to Pick a Winning Product, Build a Real Business, and Become a Seven-Figure Entrepreneur

“After Matt and I sold our company, I started Capitalism.com, which empowers entrepreneurs to create change through business. I also started an annual event, the Capitalism Conference, where I bring together all the top entrepreneurs from whom I most want to learn and have them tell their stories to entrepreneurs like you. With the 12 Months to $1 Million method, we’ve inspired a community of entrepreneurs who are impacting their corners of the world, and I want you to be a part of that community. Hundreds of people have told me that they built seven-figure businesses as a result of listening to the free information that I publish on the internet. All of this is a way of saying that there are people rooting for you. We want you to succeed. But it’s a huge responsibility. You have to commit. You have to go all in.”
― Ryan Daniel Moran, 12 Months to $1 Million: How to Pick a Winning Product, Build a Real Business, and Become a Seven-Figure Entrepreneur