Finding a mentor

[grdshute]

Hi,
I recently started an online homeware business selling a range of baskets. I took out a business loan and have spent all of the money, and although I have a large following on social media (around 4000), I have had no sales since I launched a month ago. I know that I'll probably be more successful if I sold more than just baskets, but the thing is, my circumstances at home have suddenly changed and I can't exert any more energy on this business. I have a pretty good content marketing and social media plan, and engagement is great but I think the problem is that these types of baskets have trended before, and at a slightly lower cost. The baskets are bought fairtrade then decorated by myself, so I have to factor in my labour costs meaning that I can't charge low prices.

At this point, I just want to try to figure out the best avenue of selling my stock of around 35 baskets and using that money to help with the loan payments and cut my losses. I have had some interest from wholesalers, but after I send the price lists they don't seem to be interested as they only can make around 35% on my products. Ideally, I'd like to make the full retail amount rather than wholesale as I really can't make much on wholesale. I have other ideas like maybe selling at a local fair, but I think a mentor might be able to give me better direction, or maybe someone could even take this business off my hands. At the moment, I've been basing my decisions off reading business books and making educated guesses. Any help/suggestions are appreciated!

 

[grdshute]

I should also add that I have tried to get help from my start up loan company, but their advisors don't seem to have a clue. Looking back at my awful first business plan, I feel like they shouldn't even have given me a loan.

 

[Feet Warmer]

I read from other posts that when looking for mentor, you need to be prepared to pay for the advice given by the mentor, so it'll add more cost to your business.

I just wonder, why no one from the 4000 social media followers placed an order. Is it too pricey, or some other possible reasons?

 

[Deleted member 226268]

.

You don't need a mentor

You need marketing.

Take some pretty photographs of your baskets on a sunny day
out in the garden and put them onto to handmade craft sites.

https://www.etsy.com/uk

https://folksy.com/

http://smallbiztrends.com/2011/10/29-places-sell-handmade-creations.html


.

 

[tony84]

I think I have just found your site.
You are charging premium prices (£90) and your site looks like one of those where you pay £x a month. It gives off the wrong impression.

Also your site seems more geared towards being informative than it does to selling.

 

[Clinton]

I have a pretty good content marketing and social media plan...

No you don't. If they didn't result in sales then all you've done is collect some followers. You could have bought 4000 followers for $5.

You spent all the loan money in the first month and have zero sales to show for it?

My kindest advice is to get out of business, maybe work for someone else for a bit, continue your reading efforts, and give it another try a year or two down the line.

or maybe someone could even take this business off my hands.

Sorry to be blunt, but you don't have a business. You have some baskets.

Go with your idea of local fairs. That's probably your best bet. People who deal in distressed stock probably wouldn't be interested in such a small quantity but you could list on i-bidder.com and test the market. @dave archer has some good suggestions as well.

I'm sceptical about all this mentor nonsense. Somehow in the last few years having a mentor seems to have become a magic bullet. In fact, there's advice around that you shouldn't even start a business till you've got a mentor lined up. Crazy! In any case, you don't have a business so no point in getting a mentor.

 

[beasty]

So your good plan has resulted in no sales?

Social media followers and likes, its a plague, people care about this stuff when it is meaningless, you feel you have had success because you have accumulated a large number of people who follow your page but do not buy (Can you not see how this is plain dumb)

5 followers and 3 customers would be a damn site more useful

Sounds to me like you have taken a loan, spent it on doing the wrong things and now expect to magically sell all your stock at full retail, its not going to happen *Not so long ago i sold 30k worth of older stock rrp for just 5k... i was delighted to have it gone

Getting rid of job lots of stuff is a nightmare and you will do well to get half normal wholesale as the resellers will recognise your position.

Why is this thread talking about Mentors?

Take the best wholesale offer and move on

 

[MOIC]

As above.

 

[MBE1]

Very fair honest advice from several above.

You have learnt a lesson on not buying in too much stock before you have sales, ideally you should only have bought the baskets after selling them.

If you want out do as above, get what you can and move on in life.

 

[Mark T Jones]

Whilst you could get value from a mentor, I don't think it will solve your problem (unless you are lucky enough to find a mentor who is a marketing expert and is prepared to offer their knowledge for free)

As has been pointed out, what you need is professional marketing consultancy - whether this will give value really depends on to what extent you are committed to developing your product into a real, scaleable business.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

I would suggest you book a stall at your local market and sell them at coast or below

Expecting £90 for a basket is top of the range and few buyers will buy at that price band, Look at a couple of Garden Centres and see the prices they sell at and sell your 10% lower to clear the stock

Next time do much better market research before you buy and limit what you buy to absolute minimum you need. Forget selling to retailers they will have far bigger buying power than you as a start up

 

[MOIC]

If you aren't prepared to lose drastically on your cost price, the alternative is to approach a local store, where your products will fit in (garden centre, housewares, furniture) and see if they will take a few at a time on a sale or return basis.

Negotiate a realistic selling price and let them keep 60% - 70% of the proceeds.

 

[Rockpapercopy_biz]

Feel free to post a link to your site and we'll review it and give you few tips what to improve

 

[ethical PR]

Feel free to post a link to your site and we'll review it and give you few tips what to improve

Actually we won't - it's against the forum rules - you need to be a paid up member for a website review.

I don't think improving her website is going to solve her issue. She has developed a product with a high price tag, without doing her market research. Taken out a loan and spent it all and now wants to recoup her money.

OP you have been given the advice you need. As already advised do some market research, see what similar products sell at. Put your products on the handmade websites such as Etsy at a competitive price. Promote your goods through your social media channels and local handmade goods and for sale websites.

Next time do your market research and have a marketing plan to support your business.

 

[Simon Dunant]

Best advice to the OP is to read Geoff Burch's great book "Self Made Me" from Amazon. Take note of the chapter about coffee tables, then go through the book and cross out coffee tables and write in 'baskets'. It'll tell you exactly where you went wrong

 

[NewGardenStyle]

Why do you need 'a mentor'? Identifying sales channels for a homewares retail start up is quite straightforward - you either sell to customers directly at the marketplaces they frequent (both offline and online) or you develop a strategy to bring customers to you (SEO, PPC , print advertising, etc). Ideally, you do both. However, in your situation, I would concentrate on the former. So that means to craft fairs, Etsy and the other channels that have already been discussed

Whether you will be able to sell at the 'full retail' you mention is a different problem. As you didn't establish this in a business plan, you will have to experiment. Are your Etsy listings getting hundreds of views but no sales? I'm not in your target market but £90 for a basket will only be acceptable to a small % of your potential customers, though a £20 - £30 basket is likely to be acceptable to many.

If all this is too much work, be prepared to sell as a wholesale lot for a fraction of the price, if you can find a buyer. Accept the losses (and lessons) and move on.

Best advice to the OP is to read Geoff Burch's great book "Self Made Me"

Excellent book, recommended reading

 

[Ian PES]

Hi....the answers here seem really harsh to me. I don't get this. An inexperienced business person comes to the forum and wants to find some wisdom and gets comments like 'get out of business now'...In other words 'you f****** idiot, who do you think you are to come here and ask such a dumb question!' ..Someone said try Etsy and other sites. My daughter sells jewellery on Etsy...It's a good place to do some research to find out what people are willing to pay for hand crafted baskets...Then set up shop competitively. (There is actually a lot of wisdom in what has been written here but the merciless style annoys me. We all have to start somewhere).

 

[MOIC]

The question should have been asked prior to spending all the money.

The crux of the majority of answers was to show where her problem lies.

Given that she has said the following:

I took out a business loan and have spent all of the money

As well as . . . .

my circumstances at home have suddenly changed and I can't exert any more energy on this business

As well as . . .

At this point, I just want to try to figure out the best avenue of selling my stock of around 35 baskets and using that money to help with the loan payments and cut my losses

It's best the OP gets rid of the baskets without incurring any further additional costs.

Some replies may seem harsh, but I'm sure the OP (as well as other people in similar circumstances reading this thread) will have enough information to decide what to do now and in the future should the same situation occur.

As it's an open forum, posters may give direct answers, which not everybody will like or appreciate, but based on their experiences.

People can take from the thread what suits them, including the OP.

 

[NewGardenStyle]

Eh?

My kindest advice is to get out of business, maybe work for someone else for a bit, continue your reading efforts, and give it another try a year or two down the line.

The inference I get here is liquidate this business (which OP no longer has time for), carry on your research, and try again with a different approach in the future. Not 'you f***ing idiot'.

 

[Clinton]

Hi....the answers here seem really harsh to me. I don't get this.

This isn't an emotional support forum, darling. This isn't about giving everyone fake encouragment. This is business.

Delicate little flowers - the kind who think my comments are harsh - could get very badly burnt in the business world. Negative reviews online - whether on eBay or going viral on Twitter - can shake even the hardest business nuts.You need to be tough.

The OP played princess, then hit the real world. And then didn't see that the real world is different (hence the request for a mentor ie. - someone to provide free assistance to make the real world better - a fairy godmother).

There are venues where they'll give some words of encouragement, pat the OP on the back for trying, praise her entrepreneurial spirit etc. That's a lot of BS. This business venture has been a disaster. The sooner someone cuts to the chase and says that the better.

 

[Ian PES]

You are all right of course. All I'm saying is it was heaped on like a ton of bricks. The OP wanted mentoring. He/she made a stab at business, made mistakes and hit problems. But it might actually be a good business model. If you can find people to pay 90 quid for a basket then it could work. My daughter recently sold a carved pencil to a guy in the USA for £50 which amazed me. It's a pity the OP never returned, wonder why. Anyway enjoy being right.

 

[grdshute]

Sorry guys, I have returned, I was away with no online access. Thank you for all of the tough love, very helpful. When I said that I had a good marketing plan, I meant that I was doing what I thought was good (content marketing plan, following social media posting rules blah blah blah). But I'm trying to be flexible here, so I'm going to listen to your advice and try to sell in local fairs and etsy. I think another problem with my product is probably because I didn't invest in professional product photography, which after getting quotes costs from £500 up to £2000 so that was a no go.

What do you guys think about sending them to bloggers for promotional purposes?

 

[Clinton]

Good that you didn't get offended and go all weepy on us. We do get some snowflakes here!

The blogger idea is sound. But bloggers may want a free basket in return for writing a post. The size of their following and / or the number of visitors they get per day should not give you a false sense of the number of units of sale they can generate. For all you know, they could have thousands of daily visitors and write you the most glowing of reviews ... and you don't sell a single unit. So don't give baskets away lightly in exchange for reviews.

It was a smart move to not pay £2,000 for photography. Find a local secondary school that's teaching a photography GCSE, offer to teach a class or two in crafts in exchange for some good photographs. (When they take those photos home you never know, their parents might want to buy a basket or two! Two birds with one stone.)

 

[grdshute]

This isn't an emotional support forum, darling. This isn't about giving everyone fake encouragment. This is business.

Delicate little flowers - the kind who think my comments are harsh - could get very badly burnt in the business world. Negative reviews online - whether on eBay or going viral on Twitter - can shake even the hardest business nuts.You need to be tough.

The OP played princess, then hit the real world. And then didn't see that the real world is different (hence the request for a mentor ie. - someone to provide free assistance to make the real world better - a fairy godmother).

There are venues where they'll give some words of encouragement, pat the OP on the back for trying, praise her entrepreneurial spirit etc. That's a lot of BS. This business venture has been a disaster. The sooner someone cuts to the chase and says that the better.

Lol, it's a bit unfair to say I played princess, I worked damn hard but I made (huge) mistakes, I'm sure even you had to start somewhere and made plenty of mistakes at the beginning too. I clearly don't have enough business experience as you, so I tried to make educated decisions by trusting books. I think it was the book 'the one thing' that misled me with the whole mentor thing, it says that nobody succeeds in business without a mentor. Thank you very much for your advice though, I value it and will take it on board xx

 

[grdshute]

Good that you didn't get offended and go all weepy on us. We do get some snowflakes here!

The blogger idea is sound. But bloggers may want a free basket in return for writing a post. The size of their following and / or the number of visitors they get per day should not give you a false sense of the number of units of sale they can generate. For all you know, they could have thousands of daily visitors and write you the most glowing of reviews ... and you don't sell a single unit. So don't give baskets away lightly in exchange for reviews.

It was a smart move to not pay £2,000 for photography. Find a local secondary school that's teaching a photography GCSE, offer to teach a class or two in crafts in exchange for some good photographs. (When they take those photos home you never know, their parents might want to buy a basket or two! Two birds with one stone.)

Sorry, think we were typing replies at the same time! Cheers for that advice xx

 

[Clinton]

No worries. I do wish you all the best with getting rid of the baskets at a good price.

 

[NewGardenStyle]

What do you guys think about sending them to bloggers for promotional purposes?

Personally, I wouldn't bother. You might generate a couple of sales, and the backlinks are good for SEO, but if I were you I'd concentrate on Etsy and craft fairs. You'll also have to wait a while for a product review, as upper and mid tier bloggers often schedule their content well in advance.

For photography, why not stick to producing your own? You'd be surprised at what you can achieve with a smartphone, and there are plenty of DIY product photography guides to point you in the right direction.

Good luck

 

[grdshute]

Personally, I wouldn't bother. You might generate a couple of sales, and the backlinks are good for SEO, but if I were you I'd concentrate on Etsy and craft fairs. You'll also have to wait a while for a product review, as upper and mid tier bloggers often schedule their content well in advance.

For photography, why not stick to producing your own? You'd be surprised at what you can achieve with a smartphone, and there are plenty of DIY product photography guides to point you in the right direction.

Good luck

Thank you!

 

[Rockpapercopy_biz]

actually, sending the items to bloggers, or connecting with Pinterest and Instagram influencers is the way to go. Make sure to research first, see if you both have the same target audience, how popular are their posts [if they don't have a large following, the ROI will be small] - But social media marketing and connecting with social influencers IS the way to go. So do not give up. And well done on not paying £2k for the photo shoot. After all, you can take photos yourself, just place a basket on a table with some rustic decor and take photos on a bright day, ideally outdoors, and avoiding direct sunlight. That's how I was shooting all my photos back when I was selling furniture.
Best of luck!

 

[NewGardenStyle]

actually, sending the items to bloggers, or connecting with Pinterest and Instagram influencers is the way to go.

Why is this superior to selling through marketplaces, where such items are traditionally sold? OP tried some digital marketing without any success. Forget 'connecting with influencers' and get out there and sell them.

 

[Rockpapercopy_biz]

because business moves on, and traditional marketing approach often doesn't work any more. Hence people are continually adapting to new marketplace in order to keep up with the new demands of more savvy shoppers.
As OP discovered, traditional approach doesn't work anymore and she is here to learn about new techniques. Let's not send her back to 1990s!

 

[NewGardenStyle]

As OP discovered, traditional approach doesn't work anymore

Eh? She hasn't even tried the 'traditional approach'. She tried your social media approach which netted exactly zero sales.

So don't bother going to craft fairs??? That are, you know, full of people buying crafts and you can actually speak to them. Or Etsy, where people go to shop online for craft items. Nope, far better to target people looking at their SM accounts in the hope they'll follow the links and buy from your website (!) People have always shopped at marketplaces and always will. There is nothing '1990's' about that, and it's utterly ridiculous to suggest this approach doesn't work anymore. Craft / artisan / garden / Xmas / farmers markets etc are more popular than ever.

I worked with some bloggers this summer. Got some great product reviews that resulted in no sales at all. Though I was more interested in the backlinks anyway, as SEO is one of my main strategies. It's a long term strategy that wouldn't suit the OP's current needs - she wants to get rid of her baskets ASAP.

Whilst digital marketing, SM et al can certainly work, you are preaching the same approach that got OP into this mess in the first place.​

 

[Rockpapercopy_biz]

It depends on your approach. I know about people making £££ a day from working with influencers. And no, it's not 'my' SMM approach, all wide world is using it? Try it one day, you might change your opinion about craft markets.
Craft markets have one flaw: they are full of people who are looking for a £1 bargains, not £90 baskets, so without a custom marketing approach, targeting a certain customer willing to spend more [who happens to be not within the certain radius from an OP], selling online as the only way. I have never thought I will be having this kind of conversation in 2016...

 

[NewGardenStyle]

Look, I'm a website owner and marketer so I'm quite aware of all the different strategies / tactics that can form part of your marketing plan. But you have failed to appreciate OP's dilemma. She wants to get rid of her stock and recoup her losses ASAP - not embark on some longer term strategy. So no point in talking to me like I'm some ignorant technophobe luddite - I'm just suggesting what is likely best for OP...which certainly isn't influencer marketing as a means to quickly shift some baskets!

 

[ethical PR]

I think before trying to sell her products the OP has to see if she has priced them realistically for her target market and that she understands what sort of people will buy them. She can then use copy and images to promote her bags with this audience in mind.

Once she has some great photos and copy, I agree if she is looking to sell her products quickly selling her products through sites like Etsy is much more likely to give her a quicker return than focussing on online influencers. As I advised earlier, she can also post on her local FB groups which sell handmade items.

That isn't to say that she shouldn't use social media to drive traffic to her site. Or that she shouldn't provide bloggers and other influencers with a range of eye catching promo shots of the bag as product shots and being used. However this is a longer term strategy.

She could also use FB and online advertising to drive traffic to her site.

Unlike other posters, I think it was definitely a mistake for the OP not to invest in professional photography - if she's outside London she could easily have got an professional photography for a half day for £100- £200 which would have been a good use of her marketing budget.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

There is no budget left, that's the main problem she has spent all the available money

 

[ethical PR]

Perhaps she has a contact who is a keen amateur?