Pick what to sell

Choose a category you can win and a product people actually want.

4 steps, 25 questions, laid out in the order you'll hit them

Each step is a topic with the real questions D2C founders ask; open whichever one you're stuck on for the answer and the resources on it.

1. 1
   Choosing what to sell

   Pick a category you can win and want to live in.

   I want to build a D2C brand but I haven't picked a product yet. How do I actually decide what to sell? 3 → Which product categories are actually good for a new D2C brand in India right now? 4 → Should I chase a high-margin niche product or a high-volume everyday product? 3 → I have a product idea. How do I evaluate whether it's actually worth building a brand around? 3 → The category I like is already crowded with brands. Can I still differentiate and win? 3 → All 7 questions in Choosing what to sell →
2. 2
   Category & competitor research

   Read the shelf and the reviews better than incumbents.

   Who counts as my competitor - only brands selling the exact same product, or more than that? 3 → How do I actually read competitor reviews to find real product gaps, not just random complaints? 2 → What tools should I actually use to track competitor pricing, traffic and ads without paying for an enterprise suite? 4 → How do I get a real sense of how big my category actually is in India before I bet my capital on it? 3 → How do successful Indian D2C brands actually do their category and product research in practice, not just in theory? 3 → All 6 questions in Category & competitor research →
3. 3
   Niche & positioning

   Own a wedge before you fight the giants.

   How do I know if my niche is too narrow to matter or too broad to stand out? 3 → What's actually the difference between positioning, branding and differentiation - and which one do I need to nail first? 3 → The category I want to enter already has ten funded brands doing the same thing - how do I find a real wedge? 3 → Should I try to create a whole new category like 'bed in a box' did, or just fight for share in an existing one? 3 → My product solves a problem people don't like to talk about (hygiene, intimacy, mental health) - how do I position it without scaring off buyers? 3 → All 6 questions in Niche & positioning →
4. 4
   Validating demand before inventory

   Prove people will pay before you place a PO.

   How many pre-orders or sign-ups actually prove people will pay, versus just being polite interest? 4 → How do I run a landing page or waitlist test properly before I spend money on inventory? 3 → Should I run a crowdfunding or pre-order campaign to validate demand, and does that even work for Indian founders? 3 → How do I do customer interviews without everyone just telling me what I want to hear? 3 → Can I dropship or run ads on a 'coming soon' page to test a product before I commit to a real manufacturing PO? 3 → All 6 questions in Validating demand before inventory →