Inflection points for failure or success
Every company built organically from the ground up – meaning without the existence of private wealth or infusions of massive capital or investment – faces multiple inflection points where sales growth is not always a good thing. I’ve learned there are so many spaces in between stages of growth, properly forecasted or not, where a company can quickly collapse on itself by not being able to afford the space, staff, services and new inventory to sustain itself with merely gradual (or sometimes flat) increasing revenue. This is and was always the case BEFORE the *c-word* but that period only exasperated the situation with wildly fluctuating revenue, lower margins on increasingly expensive product production – and most of all, a complete lack of reasonable business financing options except for short-term merchant advances (the payday loans of the business world) to the tune of 40-45% interest.
Choices, choices…when in-house fulfillment is no longer an option
A plan that existed for awhile was to transition to Amazon FBA (Fulfilled By Amazon) services. But it has evaporated after watching the “race to the good-enough bottom” marketplace fill with unrecognizable Chinese brands, spelled merely with a string of consonants and vowels, flood the market with enticing images and rock bottom prices with polyester “worth what was spent” men’s clothing. Worse, there are always two or three sellers using my own product photography and the photos taken by my customers to sell what arrive as thin non-woven and non-stretch polyester shorts with a giant silk-screened paw. Between Amazon, eBay, AliExpress, Temu, Wish and others it’s a Whack-A-Mole game made ineffective by the oceanic limit of U.S. DMCA laws. Many quality and luxury brands are pulling out of these channels and refusing to continue this game, along with unreasonable Amazon and others’ “bounty” fees for listing their products in the marketplaces. In the end, the current market almost dictates that true quality brands exclusively sell directly to customers on their own websites and stores.
What this means for our customers
WOOF has begun systems integration with a trusted 3PL for order fulfillment and sending its products to their warehouse for white label shipping. Each day for about the next 1-2 weeks we’ll send 6-8 styles, and after 5 days for the warehouse to receive these shipments they will count and stock for fulfillment. During the next 3 weeks some styles will be shipped by us, and some by our partner warehouse – in some cases for the same order. Look for the “Ships Fast” label on products that are ready to be immediately fulfilled. When styles are boxed up and in the air, they’ll be removed from the website for purchase and then re-appear after processing. When this process is complete, our customers can expect 1-2 day fulfillment along with standard and rush shipping options at checkout.
A Path Forward
Next up: our collapsed customer support capability. We can no longer get a proper grip on tickets with in-house resources when the queue is backlogged with product information, tracking, exchange and inquiries and other questions – often submitted 6-8 times per person via ticket, social and email channels – that are best answered realtime by a live web or telephone operator. So we have identified and chosen a third party service to outsource and provide top-quality service that is scheduled to be deployed by June 1.
360-Degree Quality
While I know we make the most comfortable and highest quality shorts in the world, my goal is for that perfection to exist at every interaction with WOOF – and we’re not there yet. We’re sort of a “struggling *medium* business” and still working on achieving a product profit. But I am incredibly grateful to our loyal customers who have stuck with me since as early as 2017 when I started this brand and company with about $1000 in my bank account and a vision to make ‘the perfect shorts’. Hang tight, the best is yet to come!
[Not written by AI]
