Have you always wanted to go out on your own, deep down?
Would you like to test yourself? Do you want to realize an idea from scratch?
Becky Verma felt the same.
Her career as a software development manager for a Fortune 500 company was secure but unfulfilling, and she wanted to give entrepreneurship a try. She finally did it last year.
Becx was born in 2023.
Last fall, Verma’s new company launched its first product: SpinnStir. It is a hand mixer that seamlessly mixes powder into water without the foamy side effects of traditional mixers. The SpinnStir allows health enthusiasts to enjoy powdered nutritional supplements without any lumps or unnecessary bubbles.
With the mentorship of Natasha Marcello, her business coach, Verma brought a product to fruition and became the entrepreneur she always knew she could be. Her one-day presale brought in $2,000 in sales and her Instagram reach increased by more than 4,000 percent in just two months. She has almost sold out of her first product order and plans to launch new colors in 2024.
We caught up with Verma and asked how Foundr’s coaching program kept her on the path to confidently manufacturing and bringing SpinnStir to market.
Q&A with Becky Verma
Q: How did you come up with the company name becx?
A: It’s a cheeky nickname that people gave me when I was young.
Q: What problem does your product solve?
A: The product I’m currently selling that Foundr helped me design, manufacture and sell is called SpinnStir. It’s a replacement for a handheld frother that you use to mix your vegetables or your protein powder or something you don’t want foam to form in. So a [normal] The frother is great for mixing with milk, and a frother is great for frothing milk, but isn’t as good if you want to mix other things, like hot chocolate for your kids or a protein shake.
Q: How has the Foundr Coaching Program helped you?
A: Before the Foundr Coaching Program, I was really struggling with what I should do for the rest of my life and how I should become the entrepreneur I always wanted to be. Through the coaching program, I was able to design a product, manufacture it, develop a website and start a pre-sale.
Q: How did the store launch go?
A: I started social media on June 24th [2023] However, with the expectation of opening the store in September, there were delays in manufacturing and shipping.
So I decided to do a presale to see what interest I would get, and online store sessions increased 417 percent in five days.
We opened the store for pre-sales for one day, [and] I made $2,000 in sales and over 40 orders.
To start the presale, I sent an email to my email list saying they would be getting a 15 percent discount, and then two more emails right before the sale and during the sale. In total, the emails sent accounted for almost $800.
Q: Did you use social media for pre-sales?
A: For the presale, I ran a $10 Instagram ad for 24 hours that reached over 5,000 people, and from that ad alone I got six sales totaling $223.
What next steps did you focus on after launching?
After launching, I focused on getting micro-influencers to make videos from the SpinnStir. I set up a TikTok store and connected it to my Shopify so I can manage all orders through my website.
Since the SpinnStir is also a perfect item for Amazon, I opened my Amazon shop. SpinnStir quickly caught on on Amazon and I was able to convert the product to Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), which allowed me to focus more on testing different product bundles on my website.
Q: What is the biggest challenge you have overcome with your business?
A: Looking back, there were two challenges last fall (after launch) that were most significant. The first struggle was moving forward with confidence and believing in myself as a small business owner. I’m not risk-averse, which is a great trait, but I’ve always lacked the confidence to give my all to a company. The Foundr Coaching Program helped me build my confidence and Natasha, my coach, showed me that I could overcome my self-doubt and be successful.
I’m not risk-averse, which is a great trait, but I’ve always lacked the confidence to give my all to a company.
The second challenge was getting through the holidays. As a small, standalone business that self-funded the entire launch, I found it very difficult to keep up during the holidays. Ads were extremely expensive, making it very difficult to get a look at the product. If I could go back and do it all over again, I would have released the product earlier in the year so I could get more attention before the holiday rush.
Q: Where do you see becx in five years?
A: I hope to mass produce the SpinnStir or have it mass produced and sold.
I hope we have some partners who will adopt the product and either use it in their packaging or sell it on their websites.
I quickly lose interest in things [but] I’m excited to see where this takes me from here because I think there’s more to come.
Q: What have you learned about yourself through developing becx?
A: The mind can be your best friend or your worst enemy. Constantly overcoming self-doubt is part of everyday life and can be exhausting. It’s important to have a clear goal and vision that will keep you moving forward, even in times of greatest doubt and fear.
It’s important to have a clear goal and vision that will keep you moving forward, even in times of greatest doubt and fear.
Q: What advice would you give to someone thinking about the Foundr coaching program?
A: The coaching program gave me the confidence and roadmap to believe in my product and get it manufactured and sold. I believe that everyone needs a mentor who has not only been successful in the field that interests you, but is also clearly close to you.
I believe that everyone needs a mentor who has not only been successful in the field that interests you, but is also clearly close to you.
I think it has something to do with not knowing what you’re going to do and then you go to a program and find it.
By all means, join in. It’s a confidence boost. You always have someone at your side to help you with the really difficult questions that you think about too much and can’t make a decision on. That alone is really worth it.
Q: What’s the best thing about being a founder?
A: I am grateful every day to be able to work towards my own goal and vision. Sometimes it can be scary not having a stable income and trying to do this alone, but I have found that I have grown tremendously over the last six months by adapting to change and pivoting quickly.
Keep learning: This founder believes that entrepreneurship is a spiritual practice
You don’t have to do it alone
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