Q&A: “Can I sell the same thing with two business names?”

This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.

[Music]

Today's caller is wondering if she can sell the same line of products with two different brand names. Is this clever or is it unethical or is it both or is it something else? You know, in a way this reminds me of a question about different pricing for different customers. People ask this sometimes, they're like, can I charge dynamic pricing? Is it okay if one person pays one price and somebody else pays something else?

You know, and as I said at the time, it's not only okay, it's actually quite normal. Lots of businesses do that. Airlines, concert promoters like Ticketmaster, lots of other examples, dynamic pricing. But what about offering two or more brands that sell the same thing? Is that a little bit different?

What are the advantages and disadvantages? Let's get into it. My name's Chris Guillebeau, welcome to Side Hustle School, the detailed question and my answer coming right up. [Music]

Hi there, Chris, this is Kathy from Palm Springs. One of your other listeners inspired me with their question and got me thinking.

You see, I sell candles and other home accessories. While all of my products are of high quality and well-made, none of them are particularly unique. Hearing the other question made me think that maybe I could start a new brand that sells the same thing. Does that make sense? I'd list the same products on the same channels, but under a different name.

I'd make a simple Shopify store and just change a few basic details. But again, the products will be exactly the same. It will look like I'm competing with myself, but since all sales come to me one way or another, I won't be too worried about which brand gets more sales. Do you think I'm onto something here? Or is this a crazy idea?

Thanks. [Music]

Hey, Kathy, on the last point, are you onto something versus a crazy idea? I would say those are not mutually exclusive, right? Because crazy ideas are not necessarily bad. Some of the most successful projects that we've talked about here over the past 2,000 episodes sound kind of crazy, okay?

But this idea in particular, I don't know that it is crazy. I think it's actually pretty normal. As for selling the same thing with two different names, big companies do that all the time. The Marriott Hotel Group has 30 different brands. By the way, fun fact, a lot of people say Marriott, it's actually pronounced Marriott.

And they do this to market to different hotel owners, right? 30 different brands, you know, are they really that different? A lot of them are not, okay? In the grocery store, lots of food companies own multiple brands on the same shelf even. Then you've got generic products, you know, or private label products, which are often made in the same factories as the name brand, you know, with the same exact ingredients, the same recipes.

So yes, you could be onto something. There's absolutely nothing unethical about this. It's quite common, as I said. What is the disadvantage? It's just more work.

You know, it's just more work to keep up with, you know, two different brand identities and all the things associated with that. You know, the additional Shopify store, the additional customer service, you know, keeping track of which order goes with which brand and so on. So you have to decide if the cost benefit ratio is worth it. So I think that is the question you need to answer for yourself based on your sales volume, what you think would happen, you know, by adding a second line and so on. So nothing unethical, could be quite clever, just depends on if the workload is worth it.

All right, good luck. And listeners, if you've got a question for me, sidehustleschool.com/questions, let me know what's going on. We'll continue to feature them throughout the year, along with updates from listeners as they launch their projects. Wherever you are in the world, I am cheering you on. We've got a new episode every day, seven days a week.

My name's Chris Guillebeau, this is Side Hustle School. [Music]

From the Onward Project.