The Journal

Notes on building
a business that's yours

Real lessons on e-commerce, marketplaces, mindset and AI — written from ten years of building stores, losing money, and starting again.

Jun 13, 2026 Dmytro Lavryniuk

Vision boards are mostly junk. What actually works is a different kind of mental rehearsal. The version backed by results.

Jun 13, 2026 Dmytro Lavryniuk

The categories crushing it on TikTok Shop in 2026 - with margin notes, competition level, and the trap categories.

Jun 12, 2026 Dmytro Lavryniuk

The 6 apps I actually open every day - not the 60 listicle bait. With my exact setup and one cut from last year.

Jun 12, 2026 Dmytro Lavryniuk

Free and near-free AI photo workflows for sellers under $30/month. What is good enough for Etsy vs Amazon vs Shopify.

Jun 11, 2026 Dmytro Lavryniuk

The actual process I use - Keepa, Seller Assistant, Helium 10, demand checks, the kill criteria, the green-light criteria.

Jun 11, 2026 Dmytro Lavryniuk

The five identity flips you have to make to actually run a business - and the order that does not break you.

Jun 10, 2026 Dmytro Lavryniuk

A full anti-procrastination system - 5-minute rule, environment design, decision pre-loading, and the dopamine reset.

Jun 10, 2026 Dmytro Lavryniuk

What Etsy search actually weights in the description in 2026, with two before/after rewrites that doubled traffic.

Jun 9, 2026 Dmytro Lavryniuk

The end-to-end workflow for AI product photos - prompt formula, character consistency, transferring real products into scenes.

Jun 9, 2026 Dmytro Lavryniuk

Rewarding outcomes builds anxiety. Rewarding action builds momentum. The shift I learned the hard way.

Notes on buildinga business that's yours