Notes from Chris

Episode 997

Michael Reed works as an assistant manager for Weis Markets, a popular grocery store chain in New England. On any given shift he might be motivating staff, helping customers or lifting heavy boxes while helping pack shelves.

For the most part Michael enjoys his job, especially the latter of those tasks. Because you see, in Michael’s spare time he’s an avid gym junkie. In the words of Arnold Schwarznnegger, he likes to pump iron. Weight training in particular is one of his favorite ways to exercise.

In particular he enjoys barbell training. It provides a measurable way to progress by keeping track of how much weight you’re able to lift. If you put in the work this week, next week you’d be slightly stronger, then, slightly stronger again the week after that.

Eventually though, lifters reach what’s known as a plateau. That’s the point at which they stop making rapid improvements and the work doesn’t produce the results it used to.

When Michael hit his plateau, he looked ways to remedy the situation. Before long he came across weight plates. Weight plates are small sets of weights that lifters add to their dumbbells to increase the overall weight in smaller increments. So, instead of adding five pounds, they can add a quarter, half, three quarters or a full pound. It enables them to make the incremental increases in weight that help bash through weight lifting plateaus.

Michael knew this was exactly the product he needed. So he hopped on over to Amazon to see what was on offer. The options there were limited, expensive and almost all were made in China. Being a handy kind of guy, Michael figured he could make some cheaper himself right at home. He also thought he might be able to sell a few on the side. He called it Micro Gainz—with a z—Micro for the small plates and Gainz for the inevitable gains weightlifters would have using them.

To start, Michael went to a local steel laser cutter and had twenty five of each size cut, from a quarter pound to one pound. That was enough for him to make eight sets.

The first batch of sets sold relatively quickly and Michael was left with a small profit when all was said and done. He chose to invest all the proceeds into buying more steel plates. After a few reps, he realized his process of making the plates was far too time consuming.

Over the next year, he refined his plates and process even further. Consequently, he sold more than four times what he did in the first year, one hundred and thirty thousand dollars worth.

In October 2018, he listed Micro Gainz on Amazon and sales exploded again. With a huge uptick, revenue in 2019 is already at one hundred and sixty thousand dollars.

With that sort of money on the weight lifting bench, you might think that Mike has quit his full-time job by now. But that’s not the case, he has been pouring all the profit generated back into Micro Gainz with maximum intensity.

To do that, he’s now working on the next line of Micro Gainz plates which will be color coded. He also has ideas for another couple of product lines he can create in the same space. With enough sets and reps, he’ll go from Micro Gainz to macro profits.

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MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Micro Gainz: Looking to maximize your gains? Check out Michael's website to see his entire product line.

SEE ALSO:

• Resistance Is Futile! Brooklyn Fitness Fanatics Sell “No Days Off” Exercise Bands: A love of fitness and fashion inspires a real estate broker and his workout buddy to sell resistance bands in custom colors.
• Jiu-Jitsu Instructor Pins Down Mobile Workout Tool: An unconventional workout tool becomes a hit on Kickstarter, then goes on to earn $20,000 a month for its creator.
• Mini Foam Roller Works Out the Kinks: A San Diego project manager creates a tiny foam roller relieve pain and prevent injury no matter where you are.

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,

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