Building a sustainable business with an unsustainable product

Building a sustainable business with an unsustainable product

Hi there. My name is Riad, and I am the owner of Potato Parcel (www.potatoparcel.com). I am an ecommerce entrepreneur running a business that most people claim as the “dumbest idea ever.” On our site, you can send an anonymous message to anyone...on a potato. We also have products that allow you to upload images to the potato. My goal with this business is to have it consistently bring in new customers, create excitement, and for it not to be a fad. Many people compare our company to one that was wildly successful for many years; The Pet Rock.

In my experience with ecommerce, it seems that almost every industry is saturated with competitors from everywhere. In a time where it has never been easier to start a business; in terms of the startup costs and accessibility to tools to help get you there, it is still hard to differentiate yourself from the pack...unless you are selling potatoes with messages on them. A business like this is what many people have said to be “so stupid that it actually works.”

Potato Parcel is a business that brings out emotion in people, when they open their package. In our age, mostly all communication between friends, family, and coworkers have come down to a few methods: email, texts, phone calls, and greeting cards. This is something we are all used to; hence there is no excitement anymore when we communicate using these methods. Potato Parcel is large deviation from these methods.

So how successful is this “dumbest idea ever?” Our average monthly sales range from $10k - $20k per month. We have ambassadors in different parts of the world offering potatoes to people in many other countries. We have been featured by USA Today, CNBC, Yahoo!, and the Steve Harvey Show, just to name a few. A big reason why Potato Parcel is continuing to grow, month-to-month (besides the uniqueness of the idea) is that there is low competition. In fact, we have had many business directly copy us, using our verbage/images and branding and we receive requests to our support email from people asking permission to copy our model in other countries. We see it as form of flattery in our opinion.

The large question to many readers of this post is, how long will this last before it dies off and becomes another short term fad? In my opinion, it will continue to grow for years to come. And your opinion, honestly does not matter. If I were to give you an opinion of your startup or business, and I did not think it would last, well my opinion should not matter to you either. Why? because onlookers from the outside simply cannot see the value that those of founder’s point of view. And that is what matters most.

There are a few points that I am trying to get across with writing of this post. Firstly, it is possible to build a growing business regardless of the thoughts and opinions of others. Secondly, in order to not be pummeled by competition, your product or service must create excitement and emotion when engaging with that product or service. You want it to be something that can be spread by word of mouth, without asking your audience to “share” it. And lastly, you must continually drive your business towards sustainability by marketing, outreach, product expansion, and other form in your control to make it sustainable. Even if the product is as unsustainable as potatoes are.

Von Tyrone Kierulf

Founder and CEO at Elegant Bots

6y

It's a unique concept....

Like
Reply
Pranay Mehrotra

Embedded finance & employability 🇮🇳🇧🇷

7y

You're an inspiration Riad!

Carrye Perkins

“Never quit, you have to resist to the utmost. ‘Til you drop, like a Samurai.” - Carlson Gracie Sr.

7y

Riad Bekhit The truth is most haters that have an opinion on what a stupid idea Potato Parcel is have to wake up tomorrow and go to a job they hate and answer to a boss they don't respect. I'm not saying that having a job is a bad thing, but if those are your working conditions then it's a bad thing, period. Whether or not Potato Parcel is a long term business or not it still has to be considered successful. The same people hating are the same people trading 5 for 2. In other words, they are trading 5 days a week (Mon-Fri) for 2 days (Sat & Sun) each week. In what world is that a good trade off? Or think of it this way $500 for $200 each week? Yet, it's their entire life they're trading which is much worse. Maybe they should concentrate on self development so they can know what a stupid idea really is...

Like
Reply
Joshua Dance

Senior Product Manager

8y

You say there is low competition but people are copying you? What keeps the competition low?

Katarzyna Kolarz

Procurement I Contract Management I Finance

8y

Truly hats off to Riad Bekhit .

To view or add a comment, sign in

Insights from the community

Explore topics