Mistake #3: Betting 100% on Your Product (Overstocking Too Soon)

Another mistake I made early in my journey — and I see it all the time with new founders — is betting everything on a product by buying too much inventory up front. It’s tempting to think: “I believe in this product. Customers are going to love it. Let’s order big, lower our unit cost, and get ready to scale.”

On paper, it feels smart. In reality, it can tie up your cash, fill your warehouse, and leave you stuck with inventory you can’t move if the market doesn’t respond the way you expect.

The Danger of Going All In

Here’s the problem with overstocking: the market rarely behaves exactly the way you imagine. A scent you thought would be a bestseller might flop. Packaging that looks great online might not move in-store. Even if the product is good, sales cycles are often slower than planned.

When you’ve tied up tens of thousands of dollars in bulk inventory, you lose flexibility. You can’t pivot easily. You can’t repackage or reformulate without eating a huge loss. And worse, you might end up discounting heavily just to clear space — which erodes your margins and cheapens your brand.

The Smarter Approach

Instead of betting everything up front, start small — even if it costs you more per unit. Yes, it stings to pay a higher price when you know your manufacturer would give you a big discount at higher quantities. But that extra cost is really a form of insurance. It buys you information: How do customers respond? What do they like or complain about? Which channels actually move the product?

Once you know the answers, you can double down with confidence. But until then, overbuying is just guessing at scale — and guesses can be expensive.

My Costly Lesson

One of my early brand launches taught me this the hard way. I believed so strongly in a particular formula that I ordered pallets of it, convinced it would be a hit. But when we launched, sales trickled in slower than expected. Retail buyers weren’t ready to commit, and the product sat in storage. For months, my cash was tied up in unsold units. We eventually moved it, but at a discount that hurt profitability.

If I had started with a smaller test run, even at a higher cost per unit, I would have learned faster, saved money, and had the freedom to adjust packaging and positioning before going big.

What to Do Instead

too much inventory

1. Test Small — Run a first batch just large enough to get feedback from real customers.

2. Think of Inventory as Cash — Every case you buy is money sitting on a shelf. Protect your liquidity.

3. Listen Before Scaling — Wait to see market reaction before committing to large POs.

4. Negotiate Flexibility — Some manufacturers will let you split POs into staggered deliveries. That helps balance risk.

The Takeaway

Confidence in your product is important. But blind confidence, backed by too much inventory, can cripple your growth. It’s better to pay more for a smaller run and learn than to save a few cents per unit and end up stuck with stock no one’s buying.

💡 Founder’s Reflection (Mayer):When I walk through my warehouse today, I still remember the sting of those early pallets I couldn’t move. They remind me that belief in a product has to be balanced with proof from the market. Now, I’d rather pay more up front, test small, and let my customers tell me if it’s worth scaling.