For a long time, we’ve dreamed of creating and selling original Hello Seven merch. Mugs, apparel, jewelry, the works.
And last November, we decided to turn that dream into reality.
Thus, the Hello Seven Swag Shop was born — in just 3 weeks, and just in time for Black Friday!
We knew this would be a massive undertaking, but we managed to have a successful launch that exceeded our expectations.
And, of course, we learned a LOT of lessons along the way.
Here are 3 key things we learned while launching the Hello Seven Swag Shop:
Lesson 1: Be flexible (because sh*t happens, always).
Maybe you’ve heard the saying, “Man (or woman, or non-binary person) makes plans, and God (or the universe, or destiny) laughs.” Well, that statement couldn’t have been more true for us during this launch.
We made a super-organized plan, taking into account all possible angles.
Where would we get our products from?
How would we build out the website?
How would we get orders out to folks in a timely way?
We asked every possible question and came up with every possible answer.
And despite all this preparation, we still got a million curveballs thrown at us.
New questions came up, like:
How would we account for taxes paid on each order?
What about international shipping?
Would the supplier let us change out the ceramic mug for the porcelain mug??
For any big launch, you have to be able to bend without breaking.
We rolled with the punches and stayed solution-oriented, even when things came up that we hadn’t anticipated.
Despite all the curveballs, the Swag Shop did really well (several items were totally sold out!), and is currently open with some exclusive, limited merch — so shop now if you’re ready to get swaggalicious!
We’re so excited to take all we’ve learned, reenvision, and relaunch in the future for a bigger and better Swag Shop experience. Stay tuned for our next launch. ;)
Lesson 2: The impossible becomes possible with a strong, dedicated team.
We pulled in about half of our Hello Seven team members to create a dedicated Swag Shop team.
To cover all bases, we made sure to include folks who had expertise in project management, tech & systems, design, marketing, and decision-making.
Not only did having a great team help us get more tasks done quicker, it also opened up opportunities for folks to share even deeper levels of expertise.
For example, one of our copywriters had some previous experience working with an email management system that integrated with the platform we wanted to use to run the Shop.
Without her suggestions, we probably would’ve had a much harder time trying to integrate our emails with our website and order fulfillment.
Our Swag Shop team wasn’t just great because the people on it were great — they were also totally dedicated to the launch.
Our select group of team members was focused ONLY on the Shop for a few weeks, while the rest of the team held down the daily operations of the business.
When your team is focused, you can make magic!
Lesson 3: The work doesn't end when you launch.
We spent nearly 3 weeks fully dedicated to working on the Swag Shop and working our tails off to pull off a great launch…
But that was just the beginning.
Having a solid launch strategy is 100% necessary to get the results you’re looking for.
But without a just-as-solid post-launch strategy, anything you’re trying to launch — your course or book or e-commerce store — could fall flat.
We had to do a lot of follow-up work to make sure that orders were being fulfilled correctly, emails were being sent to update customers, our inventory was being tracked properly, and so much more.
No matter what you’re launching, be sure to make a list of all the things you may need to keep track of after your launch. Then create a (flexible) plan to tackle each of those possible outcomes.
To recap, here’s what we learned while launching the Swag Shop:
1. You need to be flexible with your plans, because curve balls are inevitable.
2. A solid, focused team makes a world of difference.
3. Think through your post-launch strategy just as much as your launch strategy.
Even though Hello Seven is an 8-figure business (and growing!), we’re still learning every day about how to get to our next revenue level faster.
But we love sharing what we’ve learned from the action steps we’ve taken along the way — and that’s the entire basis of the Hello Seven Growth Scale™, which helps business owners at all levels determine the exact steps they need to take to grow their revenue.
If you’re ready to learn what’s holding you back at your current level, take the Growth Scale Assessment.
It places you on one of 7 levels, each with different growth-inducing action steps you need to take to get to the next level quickly and sustainably.
Getting to 7 figures and beyond doesn’t have to be a mystery. Take the Assessment today to discover your next step to millions.
xo,
The Swag Shop Team @ Hello Seven
