You've made the product. Here's how to start selling it

You've made it, and it works. Maybe you use it every day. People who've seen it have told you to sell it. Now you're stuck on how.

These are the steps between a finished product and the first stranger paying for it. None of them needs a big budget.

1. Find the people who already want it

Your first buyers will rarely be strangers from Google. They'll be people with the same problem you had.

Find where they talk about it. That might be a Facebook group, a forum, a club or a support group. Read what they say, and note the words they use for the problem. Use those words on your page.

2. Put it on one page

Give the product a page of its own. Show clear photos from more than one side. Say what it does, what sizes it comes in and what's in the box.

Then answer the questions people ask you face to face. If everyone asks "does it fit under clothes?", the answer belongs on the page.

3. Work out postage before you set the price

Pack one up the way you'll post it, and weigh it. Look up what it costs to send to each country you'll sell to. Decide where you won't post, so a buyer finds out before they pay.

Then set your price. Know what is left for you after postage, your costs and the fees.

4. Take the card

Most people want to pay by card on a page that looks safe. You can use a payment link, a full shop or a single product page. We compare the costs in Shopify alternatives when you only sell one thing.

5. Go back to the people from step 1

Share your page where those people already talk. Ask your first buyers what nearly stopped them from buying. Fix that on the page, then share it again.

Do I need a patent first?

You don't need a patent to start selling. A patent can cost thousands of dollars, and it won't find you a single buyer.

Think your idea is new and worth protecting? Speak to a patent attorney before you show it in public. Showing it first can limit what you can patent later. IP Australia and the UK Intellectual Property Office both publish free guides.

Where to get help

• In the UK, the British Library's Business & IP Centre gives free help to inventors and small businesses. It has centres in public libraries around the country, and an Inventors' Club.
• In Australia, the Inventors Association of Australia (Victoria) holds monthly meetings where members get feedback on their products.
• On Trove Grove, a person reads every application to sell and helps set up your first gem with you. A gem is A$12 for the year.