When I started my little online shop last august, all I had was a dream and a will to make it real. I had no business plan, no marketing plan and no business knowledge what so ever. I honestly thought that if I did something I loved and put my stuff out there customers would come. So, I jumped head first into the great unknown, and what do you think happened? Nothing. For months. I’ve made a few sales over the year, but my business never got going the way I had anticipated. Here’s why.
The biggest lesson I’ve learned over the past year, is that you need to have a plan, even if it’s a mini plan scribbled in your notebook. You may have a passion and an idea how to turn that passion into a business, but if you haven’t thought things through, chances are your business won’t have the succes you are looking for. I’m going to use my own business to illustrate my point.
I’ve been a passionate refashionista for several years now. I love sewing and transforming unwanted garments into something new, exciting and unique. So, I thought I’d turn my passion into business by opening an Etsy shop to sell my remade garments online. I jumped right in and made a punch of creations, made nice photos of them and listed them in the shop. I never gave much thought to what kind of sales figures I would like to have, or needed to have to support myself, how many garments I could be able to make in a month, or how I would market my shop. At first, I was so excited, but after a while of tumblewheed spinning around my shop, my motivation was gone. My views were low, not mention no sales. Here’s what was wrong with my shop:
1) I sell one of a kind clothing items. The concept is good and all, but it’s hard to get yourself infront of the ideal customer, because she has to have a certain taste AND very specific measurements.
2) I had no business plan: I didn’t know who my competitors were, what kind of sales figures I would have to reach to support myself financially, if I even had enough time to make the number of garments needed to keep my shop stocked, or the time it would take me to run my shop succesfully. Not to mention any longterm plans.
3) No SEO skills. I didn’t know how to make my shop easily findable on Etsy and big search engines. You’re customers need to find you!
4) I had no marketing plan. I didn’t even know anything about marketing. I’ve always been bad at marketing myself - it was hard for me to talk about my business and products even to my friends. How was I supposed to shout it out to the world? Even more, I didn’t know where to start shouting. I’m no marketing expert now, but I’ve tried to educate myself and to learn from my mistakes.
5) I underestimated my resources. I had way too much on my plate at that point. I had just started a new school and was writing my Master’s thesis for my psychology degree. I didn’t have the time needed to make a new business work.
6) I underestimated running a business. When I started, I had no idea what running a business is like. I only thought about the creative side of things: getting the material, designing and sewing. But, there are a hundred other things that are not that much fun: product photography, editing, listing, marketing (social media, blogging), customer service, labels, packing, shipping.
These are the things I need to improve on in my shop. My first step will be formulating a business plan, which I’ll write about next week.
Is there anything on the list that has been a stumbling point for you? Are there any other points that you’d like to add? I’d love to hear about your experiences. Tell me in the comments below!
xoxo Hanna
Something that is probably part of a business plan but it seemed the most important aspect to me - mapping the target group: which people would be clothes like yours (their characteristics), who usually buys online and why from you and not elsewhere. I would maybe also start small, maybe advertise the business directly to friends and their friends, ask what they would change if they for example say that they do not want to buy from you.
ReplyDeleteand lastly an idea for Estonia - refashioning 2nd hand clothing as a product: someone buys a skirt, it is too big and too boring and then she comes to ask for your advice? = personalised service, no shipping, downside that it can only be a very local and limited service.
Thank you for your input! The target market is indeed a very important part of a business plan and I'm certainly going to take more time to think about it this time. And the personal service idea, it has crossed my mind for so many times and I've offered this service to my family and friends, the only "but" is that it tends to hinder my own creativity. Then again, I think that idea has more potential than I've given it credit for so far.
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