# 079: How To Start Selling Your Product Then Scale

- Show: [Product Startup](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup)
- Published: 2021-06-09
- Length: 40m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-06-09-079-how-to-start-selling-your-product-then-scale
- Listen: https://productstartup.com/

## Summary

Jan Cavelle, founder of Jan Cavelle Furniture Company and author of 'Scale for Success', explains how she built a multi-million dollar furniture business by starting with direct B2B phone sales and identifying market gaps through customer listening. She details the transition from a cottage industry to a scaled operation, emphasizing the critical importance of implementing CRM systems and operational processes early to avoid complexity and data loss as the team grows. Cavelle argues that building a great product based on customer feedback is the foundation for successful scaling, while maintaining creative freedom through structured but flexible systems.

## Chapters

- [0:45](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-06-09-079-how-to-start-selling-your-product-then-scale#t=45) Introduction: Jan Cavelle and Jan Cavelle Furniture Company
- [2:59](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-06-09-079-how-to-start-selling-your-product-then-scale#t=179) Starting with B2B Phone Sales and Identifying Market Gaps
- [9:35](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-06-09-079-how-to-start-selling-your-product-then-scale#t=575) Scaling from Cottage Industry to Factory Operations
- [14:01](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-06-09-079-how-to-start-selling-your-product-then-scale#t=841) The Importance of Brochures and Modern Marketing Assets
- [18:21](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-06-09-079-how-to-start-selling-your-product-then-scale#t=1101) Sales Tactics: Persistence, Relationship Building, and CRM
- [24:33](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-06-09-079-how-to-start-selling-your-product-then-scale#t=1473) Balancing Creativity with Operational Systems and Six Sigma
- [36:35](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-06-09-079-how-to-start-selling-your-product-then-scale#t=2195) Lessons from 'Scale for Success' and Avoiding Scaling Pitfalls

## Topics

- [Direct-to-consumer & e-commerce](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/direct-to-consumer)
- [Scaling production](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/scaling-production)
- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Factory operations & automation](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/factory-operations)
- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies, companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- Jan Cavelle Furniture Company (company)
- Scale for Success (other)
- Mako Design + Invent (company)
- Bloomsbury Publishing (company)
- Amazon (other)
- Barnes & Noble (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Advice Line with Brett Schulman of CAVA](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2024-07-04-advice-line-with-brett-schulman-of-cava) (How I Built This)
- [Advice Line: Playing to Your Strengths](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2025-09-04-advice-line-playing-to-your-strengths) (How I Built This)
- [Advice Line with Jon Stein of Betterment](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2026-02-05-advice-line-with-jon-stein-of-betterment) (How I Built This)
- [7 Steps for Manufacturing Leaders to Take Off the Sales Hat w/ Mike Huey](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2026-05-26-7-steps-for-manufacturing-leaders-to-take-off-the-sales-hat-w-mike-huey) (The Manufacturing Executive)
- [Advice Line with Brett Schulman of CAVA (July 2024)](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/how-i-built-this/2025-01-02-advice-line-with-brett-schulman-of-cava-july-2024) (How I Built This)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-06-09-079-how-to-start-selling-your-product-then-scale. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to Product Startup.