What Should You Actually Sell? Decide It in 20 Minutes
Most creators lose months to this one question. Here is a four-column exercise, a pen, and twenty minutes - and you will walk away with your first product decided.
· 5 min read · tutorials
"I want to start selling, I just do not know what." We hear it every day, and it is usually not a shortage of ideas. It is too many ideas, none of them chosen.
So let us choose. Get a pen. Twenty minutes, four columns, done.
Column 1: What people already ask you
Scroll your DMs and comments for the last two months. Write down every question, even the ones that felt trivial. Trivial to you is exactly the point - the things you do without thinking are the things other people are stuck on.
Column 2: What you had to figure out the hard way
What did you struggle with a year ago that you are now fine at? Editing? Getting your first client? Studying while working? Cooking for one? Every hard-won thing is a shortcut somebody would happily pay to skip.
Column 3: What you already own
You almost certainly have raw material sitting in a folder right now. Your notes, your templates, your spreadsheets, your presets, your checklists, the swipe file you keep for yourself. Half your first product probably already exists.
Column 4: What can be finished this week
Ruthless filter. Cross out anything needing a video crew, three months, or software you have not used. What survives is your shortlist.
Now pick the row that appears in all four
There is almost always exactly one. It is asked often, you learned it painfully, you already own most of the material, and you could finish it by Sunday. That is your first product. Not your best idea - your first one.
Your first product is not a monument. It is a handshake. Make it, ship it, learn, and make a better one.
Formats that sell well in India right now
- Notes and guides - exam prep, skill breakdowns, city guides, checklists. Cheap to make, endlessly useful.
- Templates - Notion setups, Excel trackers, resume formats, invoice sets, content calendars.
- Creative packs - Lightroom presets, LUTs, fonts, overlays, Canva kits.
- Fillable PDF forms - registration forms, intake sheets, applications. Buyers fill and pay in one flow.
- Live sessions and workshops - ticketed, dated, and your calendar creates the urgency for you.
- 1:1 time - consults, portfolio reviews, mock interviews. The highest price per hour you will find.
Two traps to sidestep
"It already exists." Of course it does. It does not exist from you, explained your way, to people who follow you specifically. That is the whole product.
"I am not expert enough." You do not need to be the best in the country. You need to be a year ahead of the person buying, and able to explain the road you just walked.
Twenty minutes. Four columns. One decision. Go and get the pen.
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