Closing my company – Post-mortem analysis so you can learn from my mistakes

[Practic]

That is impressive!

Absolutely, but even if it is a smaller one it is not the same as a nice to have. I am thinking need in that terms. A need could be a productivity tool that saves you time and makes your life easier or a something that helps you make more money. That is more on the lines I was thinking of need, as something that solves an actual problem.

FDA issues warning as women abort healthy babies due to false positives on prenatal genetic screening tests
FDA issues warning as women abort healthy babies due to false positives on prenatal genetic screening tests

There are many solutions available, but majority of people are not aware about these solutions. Is it suitable problem?

 

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[windchaser]

FDA issues warning as women abort healthy babies due to false positives on prenatal genetic screening tests
FDA issues warning as women abort healthy babies due to false positives on prenatal genetic screening tests

There are many solutions available, but majority of people are not aware about these solutions. Is it suitable problem?

I don't know. I have zero knowledge of that industry and I am not familiar with the problem, but, it seems it could be an example of a need.

 

[windchaser]

Thank you for sharing. I learned a lot of things in a short period of time.
Me, what motivates me to continue working on the idea of creating an e-commerce website is this: People want to sell but are stuck in physical stores. not just business or store owners but also ordinary citizens. For example, several of my contacts are selling their products on their WhatsApp status. Which would mean they want to be seen on a grand scale. which is impossible with only a WhatsApp account. Since no one can stay from home and type on Google to find their WhatsApp account. They need a site.

now, as they will not be ready or able to create online store so i am doing this work (e-commerce) for them.

The job I would have to do would be to find suppliers and Once suppliers found ,it's all over.

Ecommerce is here to stay for sure. And I still belive it could be an excellent business, they key issue is what you sell and the size of your niche (not only number of people but average ticket and recurrence).

Best of luck in your venture! Let me know if you need some advice! I made some mistakes but I also made a llt of things right!

 

[Practic]

What I'm saying is...

People buy because they want to. Because the pain of not buying is greater than the pain of buying.

If someone needs something bit isn't aware of it then we can't sell it to them.

If they're aware they need it but don't want it then we still can't sell it to them.

It's only when they *want* to buy that we can sell it to them.

And people buy stuff they don't need even when money is tight. I bought a Starbucks coffee today which I didn't need but I wanted.

Of course, we can help people want to buy things they do or don't need.

I just prefer selling what people already want to buy, and to the people who already want to buy it.

"And people buy stuff they don't need even when money is tight. I bought a Starbucks coffee today which I didn't need but I wanted."

Andy, you bought a Starbucks coffee because you have enough money to do this, even so money is tight.
If you will be in conditions when you need to make a choice to pay for basic needs (food and shelter) or to buy a coffee and do not pay a rent or mortgage payment (and risk to be evicted) most likely you will not buy a coffee (until you are a risk taker). Most people (about 97%) are risk averse that is why when they make such type of choices they select a choice that minimize their risks.

 

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[windchaser]

This work well in normal economic conditions.

It does not work in recession, inflation, etc., because people do not have enough money to buy what they want and spend first on what they need.

I agree, although, it is also important to focus on willingness to buy. There are many things people need but they still do not want to pay for them, (we humans are irrational creatures), or sometimes they don't even realize they actually need them.

 

[windchaser]

It was a good experience for you and for some of us which are read it.
Good luck with your next business and thanks for sharing

Many thanks! I am glad you found it helpful!

 

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[windchaser]

This is a good point, we sometimes do irrational things, but in extreme conditions we are forced to survive and make rational decisions.

Even so! Also, another crucial part is choosing your target customers. Not everybody is your customer and have the same situation.

 

[Practic]

Even so! Also, another crucial part is choosing your target customers. Not everybody is your customer and have the same situation.

Agree on this point, but nobody expect that everyone will be their customer.

 

[Scithe]

It was a good experience for you and for some of us which are reading it now.
Good luck with your next business and thanks for sharing. I am going to click here for more stories like yours and also for the ones with the "happy ending". Life is not simple but it makes it even more fun, right?

That link looks like a profile page for a website instead of a link to stories like this. Were you just trying to link build or am I missing something on that sales page?

 

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[windchaser]

Hello again! I have an update on this.
I am finally shutting down at the end of this month, it took longer than expected because, instead of liquidating all stock of clothes in a flash sale, I saw an opportunnity to monetize my brand and remaining stock of materials in a better way.

Here is what I did:

January and February I carried on with regular sales as usual. As generally, thise are good months where my clients buy a lot (even with 15%-20% discounts), so I saw no need to do an aggressive flash sale to shut down quickly.

Also, I barely have fixed costs (less than €1,000 per month) so no big hurry to shut down as fast as possible.

And the original plan was to announce on March we were shutting down and liquidate inventory, but Irealized we still have some fabric left that was used in some best-sellers that have been out of stock for long. It is true that our niche was smaller than expected to make a fastlane business out of it, but it is big enough for a small limited edition last collection.

So, we created a Legacy collection, on-demand, no returns. We made a selection of products that sold well and we "easier" to be manufactured together at smaller scale, and gave the clients a period of time to pre-order. Then we manufacture the products and send them to them. That way we could sell an additional collection without unsold stock risk and the die-hard fans of the brand get closure and can stock up their favourite garments for their kids.

We announced we were shutting down in March and we received a lot of love (that does not pay the bills but it was priceless to see how we made so many people happy). We started with a 3x2 promo and we sold 65% of remaining stock in 2 days. We also announce we will do a last special Legacy collection and they loved the idea.

At the end of March we announced the Legacy collection and it was a total success. We just gave 5 days for all orders and in those days we almost sold out the units we estimated we could manufacture with the remaining fabric, we even need to close orders for a couple of best-seller after the first day. The FOMO was real.

Than, we cut everything and realized we had some fabric left of those best-seller and reopened orders for those specific products. Same effect.

During April and May we are producing the clothes and sent them to clients as we receive them, and we keep liquidating the remaining stock, we have almost nothing by now. At the end of May we will shut down.

I still beilieve the company cannot be saved but even in that case, there was a way to monetize its assets while creating additional value for my most loyal customers, a win-win.

I also have another remaining important asset (the instagram account) but I have not decided what to do with it. I received a couple of offers for it, but I think I could do better with it. We will see!

As for my next venture, I have tried three different ones during these months (with business partners), but they were dead even before launching (mainly due to issues with the business partners), so my next adventure will be alone.

Thanks for reading

 

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