E356: Passion to Profit: Why Hobbies Make the Best Product Niches

Jan 7, 2021

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I absolutely dread bees. But for this episode, I’m casting my fear aside because our guest is someone who’s made a thriving e-commerce business out of his personal hobby—beekeeping.

Adam Hickman is an EAS Master Beekeeper and is the founder of Foxhound Bee Company, a full-service beekeeping company in Alabama. It offers everything from honey, to cypress hive parts, to educational content about beekeeping.

In this Under the Hood episode, we talk about how he turned his personal hobby into an e-commerce business and why I think hobbies make the best niches.

We then unpack some pain points which could also… sting your company, including his inefficiencies with Amazon, concerns about suppliers in China, and hiring his first employee.

Timestamps:

Introduction to our guest, Adam Hickman – 2:41
How Adam got started in ecommerce – 4:08
The focus of his business: Beekeeping – 6:12
Mike's kryptonite – 7:33
Recapping the Foxhound Bee Company timeline – 8:14
Making ecommerce your full-time job – 10:23
The best model for ecommerce - 11:48
Scaling from the solopreneur stage to getting a retail space – 19:58
Why a retail space is a great idea for Adam – 21:56
The importance of your first employee – 24:11
Ecomcrew's first public webinar of 2021 – 39:21
Tackling some Amazon Inefficiencies – 40:41
Supply chain issues from China – 47:43
Knowing your limits – 53:22
Increasing the perceived value of your products through packaging – 56:16
Importance of pre-inspections – 61:46
How returns affect your Amazon ranking – 65:20
Transitioning from Squarespace to WordPress – 68:38

I’d like to thank Adam for coming on the show. Check out his buzzworthy products and classes on https://www.foxhoundbeecompany.com.

If you’re currently struggling to turn leads into sales or are looking to maximize your conversion rate, join our upcoming Free Public Webinar on January 21 at 10 AM (PST), where we’ll be sharing a tried-and-tested roadmap for turning your potential customers into actual buyers.

Got a hobby that you’d like to turn into a profitable e-commerce business? We’d love to hear from you! Also, don’t forget to leave us a review over on iTunes.

Happy selling!