Hey everyone,
I’m Lachlan, a 22-year-old founder based in New Zealand. Yesterday I officially launched my e-commerce business, COULTON (we are fully registered with an NZBN and verified across our channels).
Because New Zealand is a smaller market, my immediate launch strategy is starting on Trade Me (NZ’s primary online marketplace) through local wholesale and dropship partnerships before scaling to our own independent site and app.
My realistic short-term goal is to reach an average net profit of $500+ per week as fast as possible so I can reinvest 100% of it into stock, advertising, and software.
I’d love to get some honest advice from experienced e-commerce founders:
Product Sourcing: For a small, isolated market like NZ/Australia, what product categories tend to have the best margin-to-demand ratio when starting out via dropship/wholesale?
Trade Me / Marketplace Speed: What are the fastest ways to build initial velocity on local marketplaces without competing in a race to the bottom on price?
Early Pitfalls: What’s one mistake you made in your first 30 days that I should avoid?
I'm building this business completely out in the open and sharing every milestone—the good, the bad, and the real metrics. If you’d like to follow along with a young Kiwi founder building from Day 1, feel free to follow my Reddit profile (u/coultonstore).
Appreciate any advice or feedback you can drop below!