10 Lessons We Learned from 10 Stores in 2016
There is something about a new year, that brings with it hope and renewed commitment. It is also a time for reflection, now that the sales and festive season has passed.
2016 was an interesting year for us, we learned many lessons from our own expansion and rebirth as CM Commerce (previously Receiptful). But we also learned from you, our customers. In our First Season of the One Stop Shop Ecommerce Podcast, we interviewed 10 awesome Ecommerce brands. Here are 10 things we learned from them:
1) If your gut is telling you something, give it a listen
When Yanne Root decided to create a business that makes patchwork messages, no one could have predicted the huge demand there was going to be for such product. Violent Little Machine makes hilarious, politically incorrect messages, and Yanne doesnât care if someone will take it the wrong way, because he knows his products are not for everyone, and he is completely at peace with that. While we donât think itâs prudent to advocate for decisions that are solely based on gut feelings, we believe that your intuition serves a purpose. If you have a persistent, nagging feeling of going in a particular direction, you owe it to yourself to give it a chance.
2) Good karma comes to those who do good by their suppliers
As a business owner, you have many options to source products. Generally, businesses look for the cheapest, most convenient supply chain. But what happens when you care about more than your bottom line? Sander Cohen founded Dharmashop in late 90âs, and since 1999, he dedicated his store to supporting Himalayan artisans. For nearly 17 years now, Dharmashop never looked for cheaper alternatives, such as Chinese factories, or street vendors. The team travels to Nepal every year to maintain relationships, and ensure that their sourced manpower is treated justly. Today, Buddhist Jewelry has become a trend. No matter how low a price, youâre sure to find the same piece at a price thatâs even lower. But that doesnât hurt Dharmashopâs business, because if you have fair business practices, you can maintain loyal, dedicated employees and suppliers, and in the long run, you will be more profitable than the shorter-visioned counterparts.
Listen to Dharma Shop’s Episode Now
3) When you spot talent, work with it, not against it
We learned from Hello Holiday that if you help others shine, your business will go far. Having been frustrated with the difficulties of breaking into the fashion industry herself, Megan Hunt founded Hello Holiday, an Ecommerce platform that focuses on independent fashion designers. On her website, Megan puts the spotlight not on herself, but on the designers she features on her store. By turning her attention to them, she was able to leverage  their talent into creating mutually beneficial partnerships.
Listen to Hello Holiday’s Episode Now
4) Selling is a bit like dating
Only talking to customers when you want to sell, is like walking up to a stranger and asking them to be in a committed relationship. Stacy Carlson, COO at SitStay, went as far as picking up the phone and calling some customers up to get to know them and understand their pain points. Thatâs bold, and while itâs not practical to call more than a few customers per day (for the average business owner who has no time to eat!), we have to remember that listening is an integral skill of selling, and there are many ways to do that. As Stacy puts it, don’t just advertise when you want to sell. Learn to communicate with your customers just for the sake of building trust-based relationships.
Listen to SitStayâs Episode Now
5) Customers are not loyal by nature (but they can become so)
The idea that âcustomers are loyal by natureâ is a fallacy. Customers generally look for the best option at the moment when they need the solution (product or service), and your job is to not only earn their trust, but remain present in their memory by consistently reminding them of your existence.
Blackstone Labs is an example of a business that mastered the art of communicating authentically and effectively. As their Director of Marketing & IT David Winsauer explains, this business couldnât have thrived without the level of openness that they have demonstrated, by going as far as creating a Youtube channel that follows the business founders around in their day-to-day activities, in what looks almost like a Reality TV Show. In fact, they even speak candidly about the negative effects of using their products, it is almost like they are their own critics. Still, tens of thousands of dedicated followers and buyers swear by their products, because authenticity is valuable commodity in today’s market.
Listen to Blackstone Labsâ Episode Now
6) You can survive a market change, if you swim with the current
FiXT is a record label thatâs been around for over 10 years. Think about how drastically the music industry has changed in the past decade. FiXT survived just that. James Rodhes, co-founder, Â tells the story of how he was able to grow his business through the evolution of the music industry from CDâs, to iTunes, to today, where music streaming is FiXTâs primary source of music-related revenue.
While itâs important to make goals, you have to be aware of changes in your market, and remain flexible and ready to pivot. If you maintain a tunnel vision, you will be out of business before you know it. Being willing to adapt is just as important as making plans.
Listen to FiXTâs Episode Now
7) Positive action beats self-pity
What would you do if you failed your first 9 businesses? Nic Haralambous went on to build the 10th, and this time around, it worked out for him. He started his business, Nic Harry Socks, simply selling socks that he designed with photoshop, and he did so to help himself get out of his depressive funk which he was in because of a past business failure.
If this isnât your first business project, pat yourself on the shoulder for having the courage to even start one, learn from your past mistakes, and remember that life goes on. To further prove to you that you are not an odd case, even Adii Pienaar, founder of CM Commerce (previously Receiptful), failed many times in the past, as he shares in his Exhale podcast episode called Behind The Scenes.
Listen to Nic Harryâs Episode Now
8) Huge success is not a one-time event
What appears to others as one big success, is actually a series of good small decisions. Therefore, itâs safe to say that long term success is about being meticulous.
Neal’s Yard is one such success story. It has been in business for over 35 years, and experienced tremendous growth in the process. What started as a small line of organic skin care products grew to become an international chain with retail stores. We learned from Neal Yardâs CEO, Lisa Costello, Â that the best way to be great at sales, is to offer products that you believe in; and that if you are passionate about what you do, it will help you stay persistent when it comes to solving issues. But the most important lesson to take, is that you have to have vision.
Create a long term, stretch goal for your business, break it down into small milestones and tasks, and complete each task like you mean it.
Listen to Neal Yardâs Episode
9) You donât have to get âfilthy richâ
How do you define success? How much revenue do you hope to make? When you pick a number, do you ask yourself âwhy this numberâ? In fact, why have you started this particular business, and not something else?
Itâs important to remember, that while business is about making profit, not every business is about making huge profits.
Often times, we measure business success with numbers. We learned from Oberon Design that it is OK if your financial aim is modest compared to competition, if you’re happy with what you do and have. There are many ways to create fulfillment through your business, and if you are not afraid to say no to a path that doesn’t feel natural to you, you are less likely to lose sight of what really matters. Becca Smith, Vice President at Oberon Design, showed us how they were able to grow while staying true to their core values.
Listen to Oberon Designâs Episode
10) Your love and compassion for your customers is everything
When we asked Rishi Sharma from Q-See about his most memorable customer story, it wasnât a story of when they sold a huge volume and cashed in. It was rather the story of how their product offered two parents a chance to capture their sonâs last moments of life.
We learned about a company that continued to provide the same level of care for each customer, despite tremendous growth.
At the core of your business, you should be selling moments of happiness. It isnât about what product or service you offer, itâs about the value it adds to someoneâs life, and the meaningful interactions you make with them. And when you are selling the same product as the next store, excellent customer service becomes your biggest, if not your >only advantage.
We hope that you enjoyed the First Season of the One Stop Shop Ecommerce Podcast. Our next Season is released on January 12, 2017. In this Second Season, we delve a little deeper, and we focus instead on specific actions and tips that you can take now to make more sales and expand your business. We kick off our first episode of the new season with a special guest, Adrian Morrison, who will tell us the exact method he uses to make money with Facebook ads.
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Want to have your business featured on our Podcast? Weâre always on the lookout for stories to share! Contact Aleana if you would like to be considered for a future episode.