When to Go All In On Your Dream

Hey friends,

Happy Wednesday! I can’t believe we’re almost two months through with the year. As I get older, time just keeps going faster and that’s going to be the theme of today’s newsletter.

Before I kick this off I want to give the craziest shout-out to my friends over at Walmart.com for sponsoring this newsletter. I started writing CROSSED Commerce just a bit over two years ago as a way to vent once a week to a couple hundred of you and now Walmart is sponsoring the newsletter. Honestly can’t even believe I’m typing these words.

Not only have I got my products into thousands of their stores but now I’ve earned their trust as a writer. Readers don’t let me down!

Before we get into this week's send, if you're only subscribed to the LinkedIn version of this newsletter you are REALLY missing out. Subscribe here to the real thing get more advice, tips, special meet-up invites and much more.

When Is The Right Time?

I just got back from a two-hour walk with one of my best friends. He was stressed and needed to get some things off his chest. Like any good friend, I said I was there to listen.

So what was weighing him down?

The age-old question that every entrepreneur is faced with. Why is everyone else around me living my dream?

As he went on to compare himself to his boss and other entrepreneurs, he constantly kept mentioning “Why not me?” but then immediately followed up with is now even the right time? With 100 reasons why it could or couldn’t be.

He’s in the hospitality space and here were what his concerns were:

• His boss has been really good to him and he feels like he’d be betraying her if he opened up a competing business
• He doesn’t want to step on toes
• He just got promoted and in his position right now he has a lot of time to do the things he enjoys.
• Is it worth the financial risk instead of buying a house?

As he rambled off these excuses I just looked at him and wanted to shake him. This is his dream and has been since the day I met him. He fell into this cushy trap of a comfortable life and now is seeing everyone around him go on to build their dream. He’s in a better position now to step off the ledge and build than 99% of people are when they start their business.

I sat him down and then hit him with the hard truth. We’ll get into that in a moment. But before we do, maybe you’re reading this and thinking wow I actually resonate with him. I read this newsletter every single week and I’m still working my 9-5 for a boss that I hate. I’m still putting off that dream that I said I was going to get to this weekend.

Or maybe you’ve turned the page. Put in the work and came out the other side and launched that business.

Whatever side of the coin you land on, you’re okay. I think it’s important to not compare yourself to others, but to the person you were yesterday. I’ll tell you the person I was yesterday would NEVER have thought it was possible to own a business that has done over $30M in revenue. Hell, I still feel like I’m the same kid who had a print out of a TD Bank statement that showed I had negative 17 cents in my bank account for a month.

So why did I decide to make the leap?

Before we get into that…if you’ve been following along closely than you know that one of my 2024 goals is to make CROSSNET a global sport.

To do so we need to make CROSSNET available at more places than ever and to continue to drive brand awareness for the game. This all starts with channel expansion.

For a few years now, Walmart has been a major channel for our expansion. Did you know that sellers can come on and list their products on Walmart.com to an audience of 120+ million customers?*?

I’ll tell you from experience, that it’s one thing to spin up a Shopify store, it’s another to have the badge of trust that comes with selling on Walmart.com. The platform has potential and we’re focused on growing this part of our business in 2024.?

Walmart has the power to transform companies for the better.?

This is exactly what happened to Cleancult when they joined the Walmart Marketplace in 2022. They became one of the top Marketplace sellers in the Household Essentials category by using Walmart’s massive network of customers and fulfillment capabilities to increase conversion and grow sales. And that was just the first step in its journey, ultimately leading to the distribution of Cleancult products in more than 3,000 Walmart stores nationwide.?

Unlike other marketplaces, the best part is that the entire process is extremely simple.

Step 1. Verify your business?

Submit your business details to complete your Seller Profile. The quick verification check will only take a few minutes to confirm your business tax ID.?

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Step 2. Tell them where to send your payments?

There is no setup, subscription, or monthly fees.?

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Step 3. Configure your shipping?

Configure your shipping methods and costs.?

You can ship or you can use Walmart’s Fulfillment Services which can ship your orders in two-days across the contiguous U.S.

Looking to become the next Walmart success story? Now’s the best time to start. For a limited time, new sellers that join Walmart Marketplace get up to 50% off on referral fees and up to 50% off fulfillment fees.**

Sign up to Sell on Walmart.com Now

* Comscore Feb 2022-Jan 2023, U.S.

**Conditions apply

It’s Time to Live Your Dream

If you are like me at one point in your life you felt one of these things:

• I don’t want to look my children in the eyes and tell them that their dad never took a chance on themselves
• I’m tired of everyone else starting a business
• I’m so sick of not having freedom and these days 10 vacation days
• Why can’t I ever go have fun and see the world?
• I’m legit living paycheck to paycheck and there’s no end in sight
• I hate my boss more than anything on this planet
• I hate waking up at 5am
• I’m commuting three hours round trip for a job that doesn’t pay enough

If you can’t tell I could probably keep this list going for another thousand words. I can also tell you that the other side is not always greener. Entrepreneurship is tough. Scary. I still haven’t gotten that big exit I so badly crave. Hell, I started this newsletter out of scratching that entrepreneurial itch and now its evolved into a full on business.

My biggest advice to my friend and anyone else out there reading this feeling lost is just get started. There will never be a perfect time. Save up cash for a few months of survival and go all in. Make it your everything. 10,12,14 hours a day. I don’t care. Do everything you can do to make it work.

If it doesn’t atleast you can say you tried.

That’s gotta be worth something.

Talk soon.

All the love in the world,

Chris