Close the Loop and Product

I set out with the goal of getting one paying customer. I wanted to be able to say that I took a product from idea to product and 0 to 1 sales. I did just that. I mentioned to one of my friends that I had finally finished the stripe integration and that you could actually go to the site, pay for it, and expect to receive a custom piece of Mondrian art on a physical object. Somewhat unexpectedly he said, "I'll buy one". So he went to the site, put in his CC, and bought one. I got the confirmation and the order in my email and I was on my way.

Now that I had an order I got to experience the fulfillment process. I wanted to do something better than a home print on flimsy paper. To do that I went to the nearest FedEx office for some nice card stock printing. It was my first print so I wanted to do it all myself. It turns out that the fulfillment of physical products is a bit of an adventure. Printing and shipping a product so that it's free from damage and maintains it's quality took more effort than I had expected. It was fun though. Not the kind of fun you wanted to do again and again. The novelty was fun.

Since my original goal was accomplished and I knew I didn't have the enthusiasm required to automate the fulfillment, I informed my friend that he was the proud owner of the first and only piece of Mondrian art that would ever be created from this service. I shut down the app having fulfilled my goal and moved on to the next project.

After shipping I believe I made about $6 in profit. 💰