You have to just accept your body. You may not love it all the way, but you just have to be comfortable with it, comfortable with knowing that that’s your body.

It’s nice to look back on your life and see things as lessons, and not regrets.

When you realize who you live for, and who’s important to please, a lot of people will actually start living. I am never going to get caught up in that. I’m gonna look back on my life and say that I enjoyed it – and I lived it for me.

I believe everybody’s an individual. You can’t judge someone based on someone else’s actions.

It’s tougher to be vulnerable than to actually be tough.

Sure, you wish you did some things differently. But there is no sense in becoming burdened with regret over things you have no power to change.

Don’t hide from who you are.

Singer Rihanna born as Robyn Rihanna Fenty is also an actress and businesswoman. Since the beginning of her career, Rihanna has been a pop icon and inspiration for others. She was born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown of Barbados. Rihanna’s childhood was affected by her parents' divorce due to…

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

motivationandinspiration

Motivation & Inspiration

music

Music

12 Quotes By Rihanna That Will Inspire And Empower You - SheThePeople TV

<ul><li>The way you present your art, and what people know about it, completely changes how they perceive it.</li><li>Your creative decisions continue all the way to the end. Every step so far has been a creative expansion of your original idea.</li><li>The way you communicate with the world, how you make your music available, the stories you tell about your music and yourself - These are all the continuation of your creation.</li><li>Marketing is the final extension of your art.</li><li>A creative description also suggests that your work will be creative, too.</li></ul>

Art doesn’t end at the edge of the canvas

<ul><li>Turning off your creativity — trying to play it safe — is the worst thing you could do. Get confident, creative, playful, and experimental. Break the rules. Try some things that nobody else has done.</li><li>Think of how comfortable you are with your instrument — improvising, experimenting, and having fun with it. Now be that comfortable when marketing. Improvise. Experiment. And have fun with it.</li><li>Norms are for businesses without personality. Pour your personality and philosophy into the way you do business. People actually appreciate it when you do things in a surprising way. </li></ul>

Business is creative

Everything usually feels so serious — like if you make one mistake, it’ll all end in disaster. But really everything you do is just a test: an experiment to see what happens.It’s actually impossible to fail if your only mission was to see what happens!

This is a test. This is only a test

Don’t be so plain or obvious that there’s nothing left to wonder. But don’t be so cryptic that they give up.<ul><li>Give just enough to make people curious. Let them search for explanations, clues, or context.</li><li>Once something is explained, it stops captivating your curiosity.</li><li>Once people start wondering, they can’t stand not knowing.</li><li>Make up a curious answer to common questions. Make people curious.</li></ul>

Make people wonder

<ul><li> Put as much creativity into your marketing as you do your work. Marketing is just an extension of your work.</li><li>Start trying things just to see what happens.</li><li>Add creative restrictions when you're stuck.</li><li>Have a unique voice and persona. Stick to it.</li></ul>

Marketing your work

<ul><li>Marketing means being considerate. Marketing means making it easy for people to notice you, relate to you, remember you, and tell their friends about you.</li><li>The best marketers are the best listeners. Marketing means listening to what people need and creating something surprisingly tailored for them.</li><li>Marketing means getting to know people, making a deeper connection, and keeping in touch. Ask what people want, listen closely, and give it to them.</li></ul>

What marketing means

<ul><li>Set the tone. Pull in those people who love that kind of thing. Proudly alienate those that don’t.</li><li>Be different. Show who you are. It gives people’s lives more variety, too.</li></ul>

The way you communicate with people is part of your art

When communicating with your fans and contacts, don’t try to sound bigger than you are.<ul><li>Don’t appear flawless. Show a charming flaw. Confidence attracts, but vulnerability endears.</li><li>Don’t use corporate speak to try to sound like you’re a big business. It comes across as fake, insecure, or spam.</li><li>Your fans are your friends. Speak to them like real people. Be weird. Prove you’re a real person. Write every post or email as if it was from you to your best friend.</li><li>People have grown deaf to the bland language of big business. It all sounds like contrived posturing. It has no personality — no voice.</li></ul>

Don’t try to sound big

<ul><li>Prepare the most succinct version of your reason for contacting someone. Make it so short that if the person only has 30 seconds to talk, you could communicate your point, ask your question, and get the answer.</li><li>With real-time communication, like text or phone, just start by asking if they have time. If they do, then take the time to get personal, be a friend, and have a good conversation. But if they don’t, then just use the short version.</li><li>With non-real-time communication, like email, assume you’ve only got ten seconds. Edit your emails down to a few sentences</li></ul>

Considerate communication

<ul><li>People send business to people they like. It’s all more personal than I had expected.</li><li>Don’t always be selling yourself. That keeps people at a distance from you because it shows you’re not friends.</li><li>The initial contact usually happens for professional reasons. Even if it starts professional, get personal as soon as possible. Be a friend. That’s how things are done.</li></ul>

Get personal

<ul><li>People like doing favors. They’ll gladly show off their knowledge.</li><li>Contact everyone you know and ask. Friends of friends will know how to get everything you want in life.</li><li>By making them feel important, connected, and needed, you’ll be doing them a favor, too.</li></ul>

Don’t be afraid to ask for favors

As you climb the ladder of success, giving a gift may go a long way and be remembered for years.<ul><li>Get presents for the people you’ve met that are probably under-appreciated.</li><li>Be generous. You’re going to see the same faces for years to come.</li></ul>

 Small gifts go a long way

Someone doesn’t reply, so you assume they must be swamped in work. You wait a week, and contact them again. If still no reply, you feel sympathy that they must be really overwhelmed. You wait a week, and try again. If still no reply, you try to reach them a different way.Overwhelmed people don’t have time for all the random first contacts. Patience and persistence separate you from the rest, and show how much you care.

Repeatedly follow up to show you care

Start with rejection therapy, but once you get into any of these places, your credibility sets you apart from the rest and opens more doors. You can even re-approach the places that rejected you before.

Overcome the fear of rejection by constantly exposing yourself to it

<ul><li>Extreme talent requires extreme practice. Extreme success requires extreme focus — saying no to distractions and leisure.</li><li>Extreme fame requires extreme ambition — taking the spotlight and its pressure.</li><li>When you are not practicing, someone somewhere is practicing. And when you meet him, he will win.</li></ul>

You don’t get extreme results without extreme actions

<ul><li>We’re drawn to the confidence of someone who is not trying to please anyone. We admire a strong, defiant stand. You can use this to attract your future fans.</li><li>You can say, “Don’t listen to this if you’re happy with your life.” Then people who hate all that happy crap will be intrigued.</li><li>Loudly reject 99%. It signals who you are. When someone in your target 1% hears you proudly excluding the rest, they’ll be drawn to you.</li><li>Make sure they can find you. You want the passionate fans of your niche, not the casual fans of the mainstream.</li></ul>

Proudly exclude most people

Every person you’ve ever met has the potential to help you.<ul><li>If you keep in touch and stay on their mind, there’s a good chance an opportunity will come your way.</li><li>When you contact each person, just find out how they’re doing. See if you can help them in any way.</li><li>This regular contact should be unselfish, and sincerely caring about how they are. Don’t ask a favor unless you’ve been in touch recently. </li><li>Most people are so bad at keeping in touch that they will really appreciate you doing it.</li><li>It takes effort to meet people. So once you’ve met someone, get the most out of the relationship for both of you.</li></ul>

Stay in touch with hundreds of people

As you get more successful, share that success with those who helped you years ago.When you are famous, return the favors. Reach out to contact them, and invite them into your new world. (Don’t wait for them to ask.)

Include everyone in your success

a philosophy of getting your work to the world by being creative, considerate, resourceful, and connected

business

Business

creativity

Creativity

books

Books

Every creator has the same problems with marketing. <ul><li>How do you call attention to your work?</li><li>How do you get your creations into people's minds and hearts?</li><li>How do you get fans to tell their friends?</li><li>How do you charge money for your labor of love?</li><li>How do you get the media to help?</li></ul> Derek Sivers was a professional musician before he started a music distribution company that helped 150,000 musicians sell their music to over four million people. So after years of living the problems, he was able to learn the solutions. "Your Music and People" shares a successful philosophy of getting your work to the world by being creative, considerate, resourceful, and connected. It's not just for musicians.Though it uses music as the example, it is meant for any creator trying to reach people. Early readers called it one of the best books ever written on business marketing. Example points include: <ul><li>Business is just as creative as music.</li><li>Marketing is an extension of your art.</li><li>Marketing means being considerate. Focus on others.</li><li>Being weird is considerate.</li><li>People skills are counterintuitive. To be helped, be helpful.</li><li>Persistence is polite.</li><li>Call the destination and ask for directions.</li><li>Get specific about what you want.</li><li>Be extreme and sharply defined. Proudly exclude most people.</li><li>Money is just a neutral representation of value. Be valuable to others - not just yourself. People like to pay.</li><li>Nobody knows the future, so focus on what doesn't change.</li></ul> The first 10,000 early buyers of "Your Music and People" have posted hundreds of 5-star reviews at sive.rs/m - but it is now being released to a wider audience.

Derek Sivers is an author of philosophy and entrepreneurship, known for his surprising quotable insights and pithy succinct writing style.Formerly a musician, programmer, TED speaker, and circus clown, he sold his first company for $22 million and gave all the money to charity.Sivers’ books (How to Live, Hell Yeah or No, Your Music and People, Anything You Want) and newest projects are at his website: https://sive.rs/

Derek Sivers

Your Music and People

Your Music and People: creative and considerate fame

Some researchers point out that the choice of music in advertisements plays a vital role in convincing consumers that a product is green and that they should purchase it. A 2022 study found that using major-mode music with a fast templo in advertising helps consumers to buy the product. Modes are scale patterns with different melodic characteristics. The tempo is the speed of a piece. Major scales are usually associated with happiness while minor scales are perceived as more melancholy.

Sustainable green purchases

Advertising music can play a vital role in driving consumers to purchase green products. Researchers found that music with a major scale pattern of over 94 beats per minute made consumers more likely to buy an eco-friendly product, regardless of the advertised product or the consumer's music background. A lack of music or slower, more fearful music didn't have the same impact. However, the scope of the study only focused on green products, but what makes a product green may vary.

How music affects consumer's purchasing intentions

Greenwashing is a marketing practice where companies mislead consumers about the environmental benefits or sustainability of a particular product or service. Ads could use music to appeal to consumers so they feel more positive about the brand, even though they don't get factual information. Consumers may not recognise their feeling is caused by the music.

Companies use musical advertising cues for greenwashing

It’s crucial to focus on reducing consumers’ barriers to sustainable consumption. The purchase of green products shouldn't depend on the consumers' attitude towards green products. <ul><li>Companies should make engaging in sustainable behaviours more convenient for consumers.</li><li>It's also important to ensure that "sustainability" is not associated with "expensive."</li></ul>

Businesses can do more to overcome the barriers to sustainable purchasing

The technique could be used to shift shopper mindsets towards sustainable products—but it could also be used for greenwashing.

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

marketingandsales

Marketing & Sales

scienceandnature

Science & Nature

The surprising link between lively music and sustainable shopping

For most people, summer means vacation and traveling. As temperatures rise, 80 percent of Americans plan on changing their everyday scenery, and most of them will do so by taking a road trip. And it makes sense since driving is more flexible and cheaper than flying.The trunk of your car has a lot more room than a single carry-on, but it’s definitely limited and you’ll need to make the most of it. Packing for the road isn’t just about the satisfaction of winning a complicated game of luggage Tetris—safety is important, too.

Luggage Tetris!

<ul><li>Disassemble or collapse large items (e.g. strollers) to pack down as small as possible.</li><li>To make the most of the space in your car, pack anything especially bulky or with sharp edges in its own box, and fill in any nooks and crannies with soft, pliable goods like blankets, pillows or jackets.</li><li>To avoid a flying suitcase ruining your trip, stow heavy items at the bottom of the trunk and away from people</li><li>For added safety, use rope or bungee cords to strap down heavy objects to your vehicle's built-in tie-down anchors</li><li>If you have luggage piled in the backseat, secure it with a safety net</li></ul>

Packing Tips

Packing for the road isn’t just about the satisfaction of winning a complicated game of luggage Tetris—safety is important, too. 

travel

Travel

The best way to pack your car for any road trip

If you’ve ever moved to a beat, joined in a chorus or felt your heart quicken to the lyrics of a song, you’ve felt the power of music. That power runs deep in the human experience, and the urge to dive fully into the sounds, to make those sounds and share them, is strong.Most of us had musical experiences as children, whether it was singing during religious services, taking lessons that our parents supervised, or attending music clubs in school. But playing music as an adult is different. We have pressing obligations, no supervising parents and fewer opportunities thrust upon us.

Our Relationship With Music

Those who have the desire to play often fear that they waited too long, that learning music as an adult is just too hard. But it’s never too late. People of all ages have chosen music and are prospering with it. As adults, we have learned how to learn, we value what music has to offer, and we have the patience to watch our abilities and joys compound with time. We might not learn to play as quickly as a teenager would, but we can play with feeling and nuance, and deeply appreciate those we play with.

Never Too Late

Music brings us joy. But what else can it do? It can relax us, offer us solace, and give us a creative outlet. It can deepen our emotional experience, <a href="https://makingmusicmag.com/improve-your-hearing-and-your-musicianship/">sharpen</a> our hearing, and produce <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/116/9/3793">changes</a> in our nervous systems that create a natural high. We’re able to enjoy tapping our feet to a beat because music fires up our neural systems through <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0128839">entrainment</a> – the synchronisation of one’s own rhythms to an external musical rhythm.

The Benefits of Music

Whether you approach music as a child would a playground, as a mathematician would a proof, as a painter would a canvas, or as an athlete would spring training, you can find satisfaction in your pursuit. This Guide will help you take the first steps as you choose an instrument, learn how to practise, find ways to play with others, and develop techniques to keep moving forward.Who knows where music might take you? Like all of us, you have music in your genes and in your head. Now you just need to take the next step toward music and follow the path where it leads you.

You Can Find Your Own Way to Make Music

Finding an instrument that feels right is your first step. Whether or not you’ve played one in the past, this is a good time to consider what suits you now.One approach is to follow your feelings. What instruments move you? Which ones draw you in when you’re listening to music?  Open your eyes and ears to the instruments you encounter and see if one moves you more than the others.

Choose an Instrument

Do your hands, lungs or ears constrain your options? Does your wallet? For many, getting quick results, measured in months rather than years, matters most. In the acoustic world, some instruments yield pleasing results in less time: the ukulele, the drum, the dulcimer, the autoharp, the harmonica. Electric instruments (such as the electric guitar) can be easier on the hands.Electronic instruments, such as synthesisers and drum machines, offer versatility and a quicker means of getting sounds from your head out into the world.

The Instrument Which Is Easier To Get And Use

Consider who you might be playing with, and what role you want to take on. Do you see yourself in an orchestra, a jazz band, a folk duo, a rock group, or a choir? Do you want to shine in the limelight, taking solos and basking in that glow, or do you want to support others in the group? Instruments lend themselves to some roles and genres more than others. Often people think of an instrument as a standalone object. But they really should think of it as part of an ensemble.

Your Role In The Music

A singer's body is their instrument, intimate and unique. Your voice will change with time, and how it changes is partly up to you. With the help of a voice teacher, choir director or experienced friend, you can find your voice and develop it. Then you can explore how best to share it. Many people begin with singing, and then learn an instrument to accompany their voices. Others play an instrument and realise they can learn to sing along with it.

What Singers Do

Talk to amateur and professional musicians. Read music blogs. Visit a music store. Listen to live music. Attend a music jam, where you can see how people at different skill levels play informally and improvise together. Experience instruments in different settings to open your eyes to new possibilities. And if you try one instrument and it doesn’t suit you, don’t give up. Consider it an adventure that can guide you to the next instrument, the one you’ll come to love best.

Expand And Explore

You could learn to play one chord or scale, learn the lyrics to one song, or get started on one technique. A medium-term goal might be achieved in months. You could take private or group lessons, develop calluses and muscles to extend your practice time, learn to sing in tune, expand your repertoire, or explore a new musical genre. A long-term goal is measured in years. You might aim to play comfortably with others, learn to read music or play by ear, form a band, perform in public, or record your music.

Set Goals for Yourself

As with other goals we pursue, our musical ambitions can change as we mature. A 20-year-old might hope to make a career with music or to hit it big. A 40-year-old with work deadlines and kitchen duty might be pleased to carve out a few hours a week to play. And a 70-year-old might find that learning new skills and deepening friendships is the richest reward. Your goals can change as you progress with music, too.

Our Rewards And Ambitions Change As We Age

Do you prefer the privacy of learning in a quiet corner, with no one else listening? Do you like the structure of a class with assignments and deadlines? Do you like the freedom of YouTube instruction? Do you like working with a teacher one on one, and if so, what sort of teacher helps you prosper – someone who’s gently supportive or someone who prods? Someone who is a pro at their instrument or someone who is a mentor and peer? Experiment and see what feels right for you.

Find out How You Learn Best – and What Will Keep You Going

Online teachers are now readily accessible for those who face obstacles to working with someone in person. And year-long subscriptions to mass video lessons, audio files and other materials offer a wealth of targeted information and individual feedback from working musicians.If you have self-discipline and can stay motivated without structure or deadlines, YouTube videos can take you far. You could spend a lifetime exploring online resources for singing, writing songs, playing instruments, and synthesising music.

Go Deep In The Online World

After a few weeks of practising how to hold your hands and arms or how to sing a line, you may ask yourself: ‘Isn’t there more to music than this?’ But you’re just like a toddler taking her first steps, not realising that one day those legs will take her anywhere she wants to go.So pace yourself. Plan to practise as much as you realistically can, whether it’s 15 minutes each evening or several short sessions in a day. Work your way up to longer practices, which will be easier when you’ve developed calluses or muscle strength, and can work on a wider variety of skills.

Get the Most Out Of Your Practice

There are many learning resources focused on how to practise. Here are a few basics to get you going:<ul><li>include warm-ups to prepare you mentally and physically;</li><li>learn scales, which lay the foundation for understanding how to play a melody line or improvise;</li><li>play slowly while learning a piece to help you play it cleanly;</li><li>focus on sections that give you trouble rather than playing an entire piece repeatedly;</li><li>practise in shorter and more frequent sessions for best results; and</li><li>incorporate mental practice into your routine (here’s why and how).</li></ul>

Learning Tips

When we’re new to an instrument and fumbling to make satisfying sounds, it’s more comfortable to make them in private. But some teachers argue that playing with others early is the key to learning and to sticking with it. Why? Because you’ll learn what you need to work on, experience moments of connection that keep you going, meet people who can help you, as well as get inspired and avoid the rut that can come from exclusively playing by yourself.

Find Others To Play With

Music stores and centres commonly offer group classes that focus on different instruments and genres. Community orchestras often cultivate newcomers. Many churches, synagogues and other places of worship bring their congregants together with music and welcome members to sing, chant or play instruments during services. You can find local jams in both rural and urban areas through online platforms like Meetup, and it’s easy to play quietly at the beginning as you learn how to play by ear.

Resources for Finding Others Abound

Camps offer different genres, levels and learning styles, whether the focus is on jazz, folk, roots, bluegrass, orchestra, rock, singing, songwriting or other subjects. But no matter which camp you attend, you’ll be offered camaraderie, meals, late-night jams, concerts, inspiring teachers who might be the best in their genre, and a big boost of musical adrenaline.

Joining A Music Camp

It’s never too late to play an instrument or learn to sing. Take the leap from listener to maker in the way that suits you

education

Learning & Education

entertainment

Entertainment

How to start making music | Psyche Guides

The hardest part of startups is making choices. Not decisions but choices. A choice is a decision between alternatives, whereby deciding to do one thing you are also deciding not to do another. Pricing strategy selection is a choice. Or at least it should be.Compared to the other work you need to do on pricing, however, choosing a pricing strategy is actually pretty easy.

Pricing is a Critical Choice

<ul><li>Set goals and make sure the pricing goals align with the larger business strategy.</li><li>Understand how you create value for different market segments (consider economic, emotional and community value).</li><li>Figure out your value metric and find a pricing metric that tracks the value.</li></ul>Value metric: the unit of consumption by which your users get value.Pricing metric: the unit of consumption that your buyers pay for.

Setting The Price: Three Steps

Grow: Setting a low price, leaving most of the value in the hands of your customers, shutting off margin from your competitors.Skim: Initially setting a relatively high price to reinforce your value and capture the profit you need to invest in more innovation.Follow: Setting price based on your largest competitor or a dominant input so that you track changing market conditions.

The Three Pricing Strategies

The Follow strategy needs a bit more explanation. This used to mean finding a dominant competitor and setting prices at a premium or discount to their price (in practice usually the latter).In some industries, there is a dominant input that has a big impact on value propositions. In others, it is the interest rate—pricing strategies for solutions for financial services companies are very dependent on interest rates. The price that makes sense in a low-interest-rate environment can be very different from what works in a high-interest rate environment.

The Follow Strategy

<ul><li>Adopt a grow pricing strategy when market share (first mover advantage) is the most important thing about your market. Keep in mind you will need to raise a lot of money to win.</li><li>Adopt a skim or premium strategy when you have a compelling value differentiation and have identified a well-defined and relatively small market entry segment.</li><li>Adopt a market following strategy when there is a dominant incumbent that you are going to be compared to, or if there is some input that determines the value of your offer.</li></ul>

Pricing Strategies for Startups

<ul><li>Your price makes a statement about your brand. You cannot claim a premium brand and pursue a grow pricing strategy. And a discount brand cannot pursue a skimming strategy.</li><li>Market Following strategies are the most difficult to execute. You have to be in close touch with the market, be able to change prices quickly, and be able to communicate the logic of the price change, and why the price change is in the customer’s interest. </li><li>You can only have one pricing strategy per segment. Even if you have multiple segments you can probably only afford to have one strategy. </li></ul>

Constraints on Pricing Strategy

Pricing strategy can change as you move across Geoffrey Moore’s technology adoption cycle (see <a href="https://labs.openviewpartners.com/b2b-pricing-technology-adoption-lifecycle/">B2B Pricing Black Magic</a>). As you move from Early Adopters to Bowling Alley to Tornado you may want to change your pricing strategy at each phase.Companies buy for different reasons at each phase and pricing strategy needs to reflect this. Innovators are looking at things because they are cool. They are not real buyers. They are important, as Early Adopters tend to follow innovators and are influenced by them.

The Evolution of Your Pricing Strategy

Early Adopters buy because the solution gives them a competitive advantage. They expect to pay a premium and are not persuaded by discounts. In the Bowling Alley, people are buying because their peers are buying. This is a critical phase as it is when the market gets framed and anchor prices are set. Be very careful about using a grow strategy here (low prices) as you can do long term damage.

Early Adoptors

<ul><li>I have aligned pricing goals with the overall strategy.</li><li>I have a focused target segment.</li><li>I understand what factors determine profit and loss in my target segment.</li><li>I understand the pricing metrics used by the alternatives (competitors or other options customers have).</li><li>I have chosen a pricing metric that tracks value for the segment I am targeting.</li><li>I have checked to see if my pricing metrics are obsolete and no longer track value.</li><li>I know what my brand represents.</li><li>I have a Grow, Skim, or Market Following strategy.</li><li>My pricing strategy is aligned with the phase of the technology adoption cycle.</li></ul>

Pricing Strategy Checklist

Value management and pricing strategy consultant Steven Forth breaks down the three pricing strategy options: grow, skim, or follow.

strategy

Strategy

startup

Startups

The 3 Pricing Strategy Options | OpenView Labs

The first and biggest question you need to ask, before designing a product that can be used by everyone is 'whom are you building for?' When building their AstroBot Amazon made a list of potential user groups: software developers, business analysts, data scientists, designers, researchers, marketers. The product team reached out to potential users in those roles and spoke with them about their pain points and needs.  On the basis of those conversations, the company determined that software developers were most likely to use the product.

Determine who your user is

The best way to determine that their product is useful is to put it in front of the people most likely to use it. This can mean market testing, or it can mean asking people on your own team--ideally, those in roles it's designed for--to give it a go. Treat your prototypes not as <a href="https://www.inc.com/anna-meyer/amazon-retail-space.html?cid=search">finished products</a> but as conversation pieces. You're not only trying to find faults in your design, but also validate that the use cases that you identified are correct and identify if there is something for the future that you can put on the road map.

Test whether your assumptions are valid.

It's important to have an idea of what your product will look like down the road. Early stages of product design are when you should take stock of the features that didn't make it into your minimum viable product and store them away for later. You should decide at the onset what data points you'll use to measure the success of your product. These metrics are critical and help you decide what features to roll out later on, and will help ensure you have a product that keeps users engaged for years to come.

Understand how the product will grow.

product

Product & Design

How Amazon Brings Its Products From Ideas to Execution

As a company selling products, you need to know the costs of creating those products. That’s where the cost of goods sold (COGS) formula comes in. Beyond calculating the costs to produce a good, the COGS formula can also unveil profits for an accounting period, if price changes are necessary, or whether you need to cut down on production costs.Whether you fancy yourself as a business owner or a consumer or both, understanding how to calculate the cost of goods sold can help you feel more informed about the products you’re purchasing — or producing.

Cost Of Goods Sold: A Primer

Cost of goods sold is the cost of producing the goods sold by a company. It includes the cost of materials and labor directly related to that good. However, it excludes indirect expenses such as distribution and sales force costs.

Defining COGS

When <a href="https://mint.intuit.com/blog/how-to/sell-online/">selling a product</a>, you need to understand the production costs associated with it in a given period, ​​which could be a month, quarter, or year. You can do that by using the cost of goods sold formula. It’s a straightforward calculation that accounts for the beginning and ending inventory, and purchases during the accounting period. Here is a simple breakdown of the cost of goods sold formula:COGS = beginning inventory + purchases during the period – ending inventory

The Formula

To calculate cost of goods sold, you have to determine your beginning inventory — meaning your merchandise, including raw materials and supplies, for instance — at the beginning of your <a href="https://mint.intuit.com/blog/investing/balance-sheet/">accounting period</a>. Then add in the new inventory purchased during that period and subtract the ending inventory — meaning the inventory leftover at the end for your accounting period. The extended COGS formula also accounts for returns, allowances, discounts, and freight charges, but we’re sticking to the basics in this explanation.

Calculate Cost of Goods Sold

Direct CostsDirect costs are the costs tied to the production or purchase of a product. <ul><li>Direct labor</li><li>Direct materials</li><li>Manufacturing supplies</li><li>Fuel consumption</li><li>Power consumption</li><li>Production staff wages</li></ul> Indirect CostsIndirect costs go beyond costs tied to the production of a product. They include the costs involved in maintaining and running the company. <ul><li>Utilities</li><li>Marketing campaigns</li><li>Office supplies</li><li>Accounting and payroll services</li><li>Insurance costs</li><li>Employee benefits and perks</li></ul>

The Steps: Identify Direct and Indirect Costs

The beginning inventory will be the amount of inventory leftover from the previous time period, which could be a month, quarter, or year. Beginning inventory is your merchandise, including raw materials, supplies, and finished and unfinished products that were not sold in the previous period.Keep in mind that your beginning inventory cost for that time period should be exactly the same as the ending inventory from the previous period.

The Steps: Determine Beginning Inventory

After determining your beginning inventory, you also have to account for any inventory purchases throughout the period. It’s important to keep track of the cost of shipment and manufacturing for each product, which adds to the inventory costs during the period.

The Steps:  Tally Up Items Added to Your Inventory

The ending inventory is the cost of merchandise leftover in the current period. It can be determined by taking a physical inventory of products or estimating that amount. The ending inventory costs can also be reduced if any inventory is damaged, obsolete, or worthless.

The Steps: Determine Ending Inventory

Now that you have all the information to calculate cost of goods sold, all there’s left to do is plug it into the COGS formula.

Final Step: Plug the Info Into the Cost of Goods Sold Equation

FIFO: First In, First OutThe first in, first out method, also known as FIFO, is when the earliest goods that were purchased are sold first. Since merchandise prices have a tendency of going up, by using the FIFO method, the company would be selling the least expensive item first. LIFO: Last In, First OutThe last in, first out method, also known as LIFO, is when the most recent goods added to the inventory are sold first.Average Cost MethodThe average cost method is when a company uses the average price of all goods in stock to calculate the beginning and ending inventory costs.

Accounting for Cost of Goods Sold

Business owners are likely familiar with the term “operating expenses.” However, this shouldn’t be confused with the cost of goods sold. Although they are both company expenditures, operating expenses are not directly tied to the production of goods.Operating expenses are indirect costs that keep a company up and running, and can include rent, equipment, insurance, salaries, marketing, and office supplies.

Considerations for Cost of Goods Sold: COGS vs. Operating Expenses

The COGS calculation focuses on the inventory of your business. Inventory can be items purchased or made yourself, which is why manufacturing costs are only sometimes considered in the direct costs associated with your COGS.

COGS and Inventory

Another thing to consider when calculating COGS is that it’s not the same as cost of revenue. Cost of revenue takes into consideration some of the indirect costs associated with sales, such as marketing and distribution, while COGS does not take any indirect costs into consideration.

Cost of Revenue vs. COGS

Since service companies do not have an inventory to sell and COGS accounts for the cost of inventory, they can’t use COGS because they don’t sell a product — they would instead calculate the cost of services. Examples of service companies are accounting firms, law offices, consultants, and real estate appraisers.

Exclusions From COGS Deduction

How do you calculate cost of goods sold? Learn how to use the cost of goods sold formula and how it pays off for companies.

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Money & Investments

Cost of Goods Sold Formula: A Step-by-Step Guide

Brands and brand managers must learn to embrace the more inflationary environment.Inflation gives you the flexibility to do a lot of things.&nbsp;It’s not particularly fun to brainstorm ways to cut back your marketing budget year after year. It’s far more invigorating to consider an environment where you have more money to play with and a broader set of tools at your disposal for continuing to grow your brand.

Realize That Some Inflation Is Not a Bad Thing

In many categories, if you wait too long to increase your prices, you’ll be hit with rising costs without a corresponding increase in your own prices.While airlines are able to change prices dynamically, most producers of, say, consumer packaged goods are not. So if a company such as Kimberly-Clark wants to change the price of its Kleenex products, it could certainly do so—but it can easily be three months or six months before that price increase shows up at the shelf.

Move Sooner Rather Than Later

Keep your ears to the ground: What are others in your industry doing—or broadcasting that they will do in the future?Companies are changing prices; they are very aggressively talking about it. Everybody is communicating to everybody, and you want to be hyperaware of what people are saying so that you don’t get caught underpricing or overpricing other brands in your category.

Watch the Competition

4 things for brands to consider as inflation provides more opportunities for growth.

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