Find the real opportunity.
For a new product, check demand, competition, timing and your offer. For an existing seller, find the bottleneck in the current business first.
Know why someone would choose your productBRANDS WE BUILT
caajuXEXYSELECTED CLIENT WORK THROUGH SCALE ON STEROIDS
CravistaInduSol
Own-brand and client work spans product launches, sourcing, creative and growth. Services differ by brand.
LET’S START WHERE YOU ARE
You don’t need another
“business idea.”
You need a way forward.
You’ve seen the products. Saved the reels. Maybe even spoken to a supplier. The hard part is deciding which move deserves your money.
YOUR FIRST LAUNCH
“I have some savings. What should I actually sell?”
Learn how to narrow your product choices, check whether people already buy them, and divide your budget between stock, setup and getting your first orders.
- A product shortlist with a reason behind each choice
- A first channel you can realistically manage
- The costs to plan before placing an order
JOIN THE FREE WEBINAR
Make your next step
a real plan.
You do not need a product, a website or a business plan to join. Come with the question you keep coming back to. We’ll show you the product research, margin checks and channel decisions behind a practical launch plan.
- Know what makes a product worth buying stock for
- See what you keep after ads, fees and failed deliveries
- Decide where to start: Amazon, your own store, or both over time
Free · 25–45 minutes · In English · For new and existing sellers
Register for a WhatsApp confirmation. We will share the next session details when they are ready.
REGISTRATION RECEIVED
You’re on the list.
Your details have been saved for ECOM Launchpad. Session details will follow on WhatsApp once they’re ready.
Your registration is saved. We’ll confirm it on WhatsApp.
While you wait, start with the product and profit example below.
Explore the free lessonA PREVIEW OF THE SESSIONTry the sample lesson before you join
BEFORE YOU BUY YOUR FIRST STOCKBought for ₹250.
Bought for ₹250.
Sold for ₹1,200.
What do you keep?
The ₹950 difference has a lot of bills to pay.
An excerpt from the profitability lesson
LANDED COST ₹250Illustrative productHaving trouble with the video?
01 Find evidence of demand02 Check the full cost of a sale03 Decide what to launch or fix next
THE PART BETWEEN THE IDEA AND THE FIRST ORDER
A supplier quote
isn’t a launch plan.
Before ordering 100 pieces, you need to know who will buy, why they’ll choose you, and what it costs to reach them. We’ll connect those decisions in the session.
01“Will people buy this?”Demand, competing offers, timing
↓02“Can I make the numbers work?”Landed cost, ads, fees, returns
↓03“What do I do first?”Product checks, channel, first test
A QUICK LOOK AT THE MATH
The selling price
can look great.
The profit can disappear.
In this simplified example, 100 orders are dispatched at ₹1,200 each. Twenty come back undelivered, so only 80 produce revenue.
You still paid to advertise and ship all 100. That is why we calculate the whole batch before deciding to buy more stock.
“Returns” here means undelivered parcels sent back to the seller, also called RTO.
100 DISPATCHED ORDERSEXAMPLE, NOT A FORECAST
- Money from delivered orders
- ₹96,000
- Cost of delivered products
- −₹20,000
- Advertising for all 100 orders
- −₹45,000
- Packing, delivery, fees & damage
- −₹13,300
- Fixed costs for the period
- −₹5,000
What remains before tax₹12,700
₹450 advertising per dispatched order. 80 orders delivered.
See the assumptions
Each unit costs ₹250 landed. Packing ₹20 and forward delivery ₹70 apply to all 100 parcels. Return delivery costs ₹70 per returned parcel. Collection fees are ₹30 per delivered order. 10% of returned stock is written off; the rest stays in inventory.
The second scenario uses ₹550 advertising per dispatched order and 30% RTO. Both exclude GST, pre-dispatch cancellations, post-delivery refunds and financing costs. Real costs vary.
HOW WE MAKE THE DECISION
The first 30 days:
what deserves your attention.
Whether you have no product yet or already have orders, this is the order we use to decide what deserves attention.
Run the honest P&L.
Model landed cost, fees, advertising, fulfilment, COD returns and replenishment cash. Stress-test the margin before calling a product “high margin.”
Know what happens if costs rise or orders returnChoose the route and first test.
Decide what to launch, repair or postpone. Then define the channel, sourcing checks, listing, creative tests and a stop condition.
Know what to do before spending againStarting your first business with ₹50,000–₹1 lakh?
That may be enough for a selected product and a small test, provided it covers stock, setup, advertising and a cash buffer. A managed agency retainer or a complex import may need a separate budget.
WHAT OUR OWN PRODUCTS TAUGHT US
The same category.
Two very different outcomes.
Flower Teddy worked for us. Convertible Rabbit did not. Here is why we now check timing, quality and margin together.
We saw the demand
before the market filled up.
We spotted Flower Teddy on TikTok and moved while we saw little competition in India. It worked well for us through D2C.
The useful lesson: spot the demand, check availability and act while the offer still has room.
A popular product.
Too little margin left.
We launched later, into a market already crowded with lower-priced alternatives. The margins were too thin, and we lost money.
The useful lesson: proven demand does not make every purchase price a good one.
Founder-reported experiences, shared as lessons. Neither is a promise of your results.
Vaibhav Thakur
“Flower Teddy worked.Your host · Building e-commerce businesses since 2016
Convertible Rabbit lost money.
Both are in the lesson.”
MEET YOUR HOST
I’ve bought the stock.
I’ve made the mistakes.
I’ll show you both.
Vaibhav Thakur CSTE Direct & Scale on Steroids
I started with US dropshipping in 2016. By 2018, we were doing affiliate marketing and selling on Amazon India. From 2019, we built our own brands across marketplaces and D2C.
For the past two years, we’ve also helped other founders launch and grow across categories including toys, supplements, home decor and fashion accessories. Scale on Steroids handles paid growth; CSTE Direct handles sourcing and trade.
Across our own brands, we have generated over ₹20 crore in cumulative revenue. We also work with other businesses through Scale on Steroids and CSTE Direct. In this session, I’ll use the decisions behind that work to explain what I would check before starting again.
2016 US stores2018 Amazon India2019 Own brandsToday Helping founders
WHAT THE SESSION WILL SETTLE
Walk in with questions.
Leave with a way
to answer them.
You will see the actual sequence: find evidence, calculate the order economics, choose the channel, then plan the first test.
- Which product is worth a closer lookLearn how we use sales signals, competition, timing, supplier cost and product quality to narrow a shortlist.
- What a sale really leaves youFollow a ₹250-to-₹1,200 example through ads, shipping, returns and fixed costs. See how a small change can turn a profit into a loss.
- Where to sell firstUnderstand the trade-offs between Amazon and other marketplaces, a D2C store, and a gradual hybrid.
- What to do in the first 30 daysWrite down the product checks, cash requirement, listing or creative work, and stop/go point for your own next test.
BEFORE YOU DECIDE
A few fair questions.
Yes. There is no charge for the webinar or the written lesson on this page. You do not need to book a consultation or buy a service to learn from it.
It depends on the product and route. ₹50,000 to ₹1 lakh is a planning range for selected products and a small launch, including inventory and setup. It is not enough for every import order or private-label idea. Keep money aside for testing, delivery and delays.
No. We cover how to investigate one. If you already sell, bring your existing product or expansion question instead.
The webinar teaches the decision framework. A paid working consultation and any sourcing, operations or ads work are separate. We explain those options after the training if they fit your business.
Check the requirements for your exact product and supplier before ordering. Toys and other notified products can require mandatory certification. A marketplace listing does not replace those requirements. We can discuss the questions to take into your sourcing process; certification, testing and specialist advice may be separate. See BIS guidance.
Vaibhav Thakur, from CSTE Direct and Scale on Steroids, teaches the webinar in English. It draws on our experience building e-commerce businesses since 2016, including products that worked and products that lost money.
YOUR FIRST STEP
You’ve thought about
starting long enough.
Work out the first step.
Join us for a practical session on choosing a product, finding the margin and building a launch plan you can act on. Already selling? Bring the part that isn’t working.
Register for the free webinar Free · In English · New and existing sellers welcome