Welcome to the Pilot Program
Double your business
We're going to solve the 3 biggest problems that stop entrepreneurs from growing their product businesses:
Tight profits
Slow sales
Cash for inventory
The program is designed to provide product-based entrepreneurs with the knowledge, mentorship and community to double their business. We'll give you everything you need to make that happen, and nothing you don't.
Why is it a Pilot Program? Our goal with the pilot program is to work with a handful of entrepreneurs who are interested in creating successful case-studies before our official launch later this year. We’ll help you grow your business, give you special access and special pricing.
How Does the Program Work?
Create Strong Margins
We’ll start by increasing your product margins. Making sure that we are clear on your niche and your unique positioning with your customers. That will allow us to refine your offer and increase your pricing. We'll make it a no-brainer for your prospects, and super profitable for you.
Build a Sales Pipeline
Next, we’ll develop a sales pipeline. We’ll choose your primary channel, direct-to-consumer or wholesale, and build a sales process that finds and nurtures new prospects, turning them into customers. We’ll start growing sales in a consistent and repeatable way.
Get in Complete Cash Control
Finally, we’ll put you in complete cash control. We’ll build cash driving programs and implement a system for forecasting your inventory, resulting in more cash on-hand and less risk. Your business will be more attractive to funders, while decreasing the amount of funding you need.
This is how you can double your business.
Any one of these things can move the needle immediately and my experience is that ONE of these is going to resonate with you and stand out as the BIG opportunity.
Meet James
As a Senior Merchant I manage a successful 60 million-dollar product portfolio. I’ve seen, first-hand, the success and failure of thousands of products.
But long before that, I was a start-up entrepreneur. After finishing my engineering degree I launched a snowboard company, Class Five Snowboards. As entrepreneur I encountered many of the same challenges you are experiencing today. I know what you are going through.
Since running Class Five, my career in new products has taken me to both sides of the table.
Product Development Engineer – I brought hundreds of products to market, many of them generating over $1 million in annual revenue.
Product Manager – Developing and refining multi-million-dollar product launches with sales, marketing and product teams.
Senior Merchant – Managing thousands of products and working with the biggest companies in the outdoor industry.
I have a unique window into the product world. Having founded a startup and now working with the biggest companies in the outdoor industry. I’ve seen the inner workings of top brands and retailers, completed extensive research on best practices, and gained battle tested insights on how successful products are repeatedly created.
My goal is to provide entrepreneurs with the knowledge, mentorship and community I wished I’d had when I started Class Five many years ago.
Here’s What You’ll Learn in the Program
The Pilot Program is a virtual program with robust strategies, tactics and tools. We meet one-on-one and in small groups. Each week we’ll focus on one of the strategies below, spending more time on the areas that will make the biggest impact for you.
Phase 1
Create Strong Margins
Module 1: Niche - We are going to make sure we're clear on your niche, using a specific exercise to define your target. We'll get faster results by focusing on one target market that you want to be a hero to.
Module 2: Positioning - We are going to discover the unique performance that your product creates and position your product against the biggest pain points in your niche. This will create tremendous value and desire for your product.
Module 3: Price – We’ll use performance-based pricing to increase your prices and your profit margins. This offer will be win-win for your target market and for your business.
You'll be 100% confident in your niche, targeted in your approach and your profitability will be increased. You’ll have a confidence boost that will make marketing and sales night-and-day different for you.
After Phase 1 you will make more profit on every product that you sell.
Phase 2
Build a Sales Pipeline
Module 5: Finding Prospects – Whether your business is direct-to-consumer or B2B we’ll show you the 3 ways to find and target your niche. You’ll be able to choose a strategy that perfectly fits your strengths, budget and sales channel.
Module 4: The Perfect Pitch – You don’t need to be a slick salesman or expert copywriter. We’ll use a proven system for creating your pitch. Having a logical, systematic approach will take the fear and guesswork out of sales.
Module 6: Nurturing Prospects – We’ll run through the three types of prospects and how to deal with each of them. We will take the fear out of hearing “no” and replace that with an effective method for nurturing prospects and converting them to customers.
Whether your business is direct-to-consumer or B2B, after Phase 2 you won’t have any mystery or fear of sales. Without using any uncomfortable hard-sell techniques, you’ll create an ethical and systematic way of generating new prospects and filling your sales pipeline.
After Phase 2 your sales will increase.
Phase 3
Get in Complete Cash Control
Module 7: Drive Cash – You’ll learn how to use your customers to drive cash into your business. By creating win-win deals we will build on your sales pipeline and increase your cash flow.
Module 8: Eliminate Waste – We will dive into your costs, and you’ll learn tactics to dramatically change your cash conversion cycle. This will transform your financing needs and reduce your financial risk.
Module 9: Forecast the Future – We’ll use our forecasting tool to create a simple and robust view of your sales, inventory and cash. You’ll understand your future needs and have a clear view of how to scale your operations.
After Phase 3, your cash on hand will increase, your need for external funding will decrease and your business will become more attractive to future funders.
Most product businesses are only a few tweaks away from dramatically changing their profitability and growth.
Any one of the modules above can move the needle immediately for your business, and my experience is that ONE of these is going to resonate with you and stand out as the BIG opportunity that can easily double your business...so we'll be able to spend more time on that with you.
We’ve Got Your Back
Our only goal is to make your business more successful.
For any reason in the first 30 days of the program it isn’t going the way that you want it to go, you’re not making progress, you’re not loving it… any reason. We will refund 100% of your money.
Join the Pilot Program
For the Pilot Program we want to work with entrepreneurs to create great case studies. To do that we are giving special access and special pricing.
We only have space for a handful of people who can implement, test and report back on the results. So, don’t wait.
Right now, all we need to know is that you’re interested.