A little over a year ago, ML Necessities didn’t exist. There was no website, no brand, and definitely no plan to be selling products across multiple platforms.
It started when I came across a business that was going out of business and had the opportunity to buy some of their inventory. I figured I would try selling the products online and see what happened.
At the beginning, I was learning everything as I went. I had to figure out how to make listings, price products, ship orders, manage inventory, and actually get people to buy from me. There were plenty of mistakes, but every order made me want to keep going.
One of the first products that really took off was Zyrtec. Eventually, ML Necessities became the #1 seller of Zyrtec on eBay. That was one of the first moments where I realized this could become more than just selling a few products on the side.
From there, I started expanding.
I began selling on Amazon, experimenting with different products, and eventually started creating ML Necessities bundles of my own. Some ideas worked better than others, and I've learned pretty quickly that just because I think something will sell doesn't mean customers will agree.
That's probably been one of the biggest lessons of Year 1: you have to be willing to try things, learn from what doesn't work, and keep adjusting.
Over time, the orders started growing. This August, I hit a personal record of 14 orders in a single day, something I definitely wouldn't have expected when I first started.
Another huge step was launching MLNecessities.com.
Having my own website made the business feel different. Instead of ML Necessities just being the name behind products on Amazon or eBay, it finally had its own home.
And now, one year later, I'm still figuring it out.
There are products that sell well and products that don't. There are days with a bunch of orders and days that are much slower. I've dealt with delayed inventory, advertising that didn't work the way I expected, new product ideas, late nights getting orders ready, and plenty of moments where I've had to figure things out on the spot.
But that's also what has made building ML Necessities so much fun.
So, Why Am I Writing This?
Going into Year 2, I want to start documenting what actually happens while trying to grow ML Necessities.
Starting next week, I'm going to post here once a week about the journey. I'll share the wins, the mistakes, new products I'm working on, things I'm trying, problems that come up, and whatever else happens along the way.
I don't want this to only be a place where I post when something goes well. The goal is to show the real process of trying to build a business while I'm actually doing it.
I have no idea what ML Necessities will look like by the end of Year 2.
That's exactly why I want to document it.
Year 1 was just the beginning.
Welcome to the ML Necessities Journey.