Hobby & Craft Forums

This idea was something that came up in a brainstorming session some time ago, and as yet I haven't successfully resolved.. My basic idea was to look at the pet products market as part of my global "sparkydog" range of doggy essential desert island products.. I realised that selling an up market (OK, expensive!) dog shampoo was a small time business, and thus the costs might be very high.. so my alternative thought was to wholesale Jane's "Wash and Wag" (just Soaps) as a Sparkydog recommended product - the sparkydog brand will be a fundraising project for manchester Dogs home, not a life changing business! Anyways.. thats a whole other story..

My "big" idea was how to shift a bulk of product quickly without being hammered too much on price.. and I thought "QVC"...

they sell hundreds of units per minute of the stuff they stock, so even if you had to go to London to represent your brand and extol its virtues, that has to equate well to schlepping round fairs and markets selling smaller quantities??

I know these places sell a lot of upmarket and designer brands, but you soapies have a very unique proposition in that your products are artisan still - hand made in small quantities, eco friendly in many cases, and while it's a niche market, it could be a huge niche?? would it be worth your while doing a batch of 2000 or more wholesale if somewhere like QVC shifted the whole lot for you in an afternoon?? has anyone ever dared approach them??

It is something I have considered.
One of the Farmers Markets producers (Frank the Pie) sells his pies on the shopping channels and does quite well.

Wash & Wags would go well - I think - people are dog crazy - just today one lady bought 6 - 1 each for her neighbours dogs for Christmas:)

My senior canine tester - is not very well at the moment - do you think Sparky - would be up for the job?

He would have to have 1 or 2 baths, have his fur professionally dried, and then email all his pals with his thoughts on the shampoo.

He would be paid handsomely with organic dog biscuits, and agree to a photo shoot.

Just Soaps wrote:It is something I have considered.
One of the Farmers Markets producers (Frank the Pie) sells his pies on the shopping channels and does quite well.

Wash & Wags would go well - I think - people are dog crazy - just today one lady bought 6 - 1 each for her neighbours dogs for Christmas:)

My senior canine tester - is not very well at the moment - do you think Sparky - would be up for the job?

He would have to have 1 or 2 baths, have his fur professionally dried, and then email all his pals with his thoughts on the shampoo.

He would be paid handsomely with organic dog biscuits, and agree to a photo shoot.

Sparky (she not he by the way) will put up with baths, as long as the water is warm! And carrots is just as good as a doggy treat (her favorite above all else apart from choc drops) - she is a dogs home kind of girl after all....

Photo shoot too.. depending what you need!

On the downside, she doesn't have email yet, or indeed any friends.. but I am sure she would like to show off a new hair do to any of your customers

Just Soaps wrote:It is something I have considered.
One of the Farmers Markets producers (Frank the Pie) sells his pies on the shopping channels and does quite well.

Lime Tree pantry by any chance???

Just Soaps wrote:Wash & Wags would go well - I think - people are dog crazy - just today one lady bought 6 - 1 each for her neighbours dogs for Christmas:)

I wasn't thinking doggy stuff necessarily, though I am sure it would do well.. but your whole range of products..

There is a link on the QVC website for submitting products for consideration, though I think it is hard to find.. but if you can meet their needs in terms of pricing and quantity, I would have thought it might be an excellent route to try.. thenm you will have to lease an industrial unit and you could have your 3 bedrooms back!

I have a friend who is very sales-savvy (and a bit aggressive when it comes to suggesting things to 'get my products out there') but it's hard if you're a relatively small business with no financial backing...I've tried to grow slowly, so that I don't end up in the position of over-stretching myself...

I though about your QVC suggestion (thought about before too) and it always comes back to 2 or 3 problems...

1) I'd have to spend a couple of weeks getting 2 or 3 thousand kits packed up and ready to sell...thus taking me away from spending 2 or 3 weeks making up kits for my website and Ebay orders...

2) If it went well and I got lots of repeat business...I probably wouldn't be able to cope and would start failing to fulfill orders...never a good business practice...

3) What if you spent 2 or 3 weeks making up the thousands of kits and only sold a few dozen???

I think it's always going to be the problem for the handcrafter - not that my kits are handcrafted but they are made up to order so the principle's the same)...I come up against the same kind of problems when I get wholesale enquiries proposing to place enormous orders...my retail business always suffers as a result...

Unless someone presents me with 50 grand or so, I'm stuck with slowly growing and expanding until I get to the point of having an effective production and distribution centre...

We can dream though can't we????

QVC is a fab idea although it does have it's drawbacks as Judith points out! That said, did you ever see the episode of the apprentice when they had to choose products to sell on there? One of the groups chose this really awful fleece with a wolf on it- when I say terrible, I wouldn't have used it as a doormat, let alone wear it lol! They sold in their hundreds and it just goes to show that if sold in the right way, people will buy anything! I'm not saying your product is 'anything' or really awful but just trying to demonstrate that this type of exposure really does work no matter what it is you're selling.

Another thing is profit margin and how much it'd cost to advertise on a shopping channel and have someone present your goods. I''ve never looked into selling via a shopping channel myself so I have no ideas as to cost but I can only imagine the expense so it'd have to be carefully costed to ensure a good margin after costs.

Another avenue you could try with marketing dog shampoo is dog grooming salons who are likely to use quite alot of the stuff unlike the public who are only likely to use small amounts. It's also easier to sell to businesses than it is to sell to the general public and retail. I know a few dog groomers myself who'd almost certainly be interested in buying in bulk and especially if they knew the profits or at leas tpart of them was going towards a dog charity!

We do supply dog groomers with our wash & wags - they use it to wash the dogs and then sell it to their customers - so a win win win

judivenn wrote:I have a friend who is very sales-savvy (and a bit aggressive when it comes to suggesting things to 'get my products out there') but it's hard if you're a relatively small business with no financial backing...I've tried to grow slowly, so that I don't end up in the position of over-stretching myself...

I though about your QVC suggestion (thought about before too) and it always comes back to 2 or 3 problems...

1) I'd have to spend a couple of weeks getting 2 or 3 thousand kits packed up and ready to sell...thus taking me away from spending 2 or 3 weeks making up kits for my website and Ebay orders...

2) If it went well and I got lots of repeat business...I probably wouldn't be able to cope and would start failing to fulfill orders...never a good business practice...

3) What if you spent 2 or 3 weeks making up the thousands of kits and only sold a few dozen???

I think it's always going to be the problem for the handcrafter - not that my kits are handcrafted but they are made up to order so the principle's the same)...I come up against the same kind of problems when I get wholesale enquiries proposing to place enormous orders...my retail business always suffers as a result...

Unless someone presents me with 50 grand or so, I'm stuck with slowly growing and expanding until I get to the point of having an effective production and distribution centre...

We can dream though can't we????

Actually, point 3 is "I think" not an issue.. I believe that QVC (I used it purely as an example that I have seen - the joys of extra rubbish when you get cable!) specify an order quantity, agree a price, and so you have a conformed order for however many units.

I do think the issue of not abandoining your core business is a good one, but thats down to you to manage the supply chain.. if they want your product and want 2000 for arguments sake, you say "I can provide them by xxxx" - after all, the unique selling principle here is hand made in small batches.. they could hardly press you on that!

There is nothing wrong with slowly growing, although the process inevitably speeds up.. but the issue about the £50k is a catch 22.. you cant expand without it, but if you expanded you'd have it? LOL

I'm not saying anyone "has" to do it by the way, just wondering if anyone had contemplated it, and wondered what the views were.. my rantings are just the thoughts flitting round my head!!

My logic was that if you could get one "huge" order, the resulting profit would sustain more controlled growth.. which also would be necessary because of the greater exposure.. Though I guess logically, you need to have your plan ready to roll, cos once you take the first step, you have to be ready to apply every step in the sequence to take advantage - and thats a bit of a challenge too!

Mind you, Judi and Jane are the two folk I'd most likely wager £10 on succeeding!!

Nickie wrote:QVC is a fab idea although it does have it's drawbacks as Judith points out! That said, did you ever see the episode of the apprentice when they had to choose products to sell on there? One of the groups chose this really awful fleece with a wolf on it- when I say terrible, I wouldn't have used it as a doormat, let alone wear it lol! They sold in their hundreds and it just goes to show that if sold in the right way, people will buy anything! I'm not saying your product is 'anything' or really awful but just trying to demonstrate that this type of exposure really does work no matter what it is you're selling.

You mean "if they buy that old tosh, jesus your "good" stuff must sell by the bucketload"??

Nickie wrote:Another thing is profit margin and how much it'd cost to advertise on a shopping channel and have someone present your goods. I''ve never looked into selling via a shopping channel myself so I have no ideas as to cost but I can only imagine the expense so it'd have to be carefully costed to ensure a good margin after costs.

I am no great viewer of said channels - apart from the odd craft hour, but from whjat I have seen, they usually have someone from the company to co present (I gather you have to do screen tests and stuff though) so although you would have to go to Peterborough (Ideal World) or Battersea (QVC) Im guessing a train fare is not so different from the cost of a good pitch at a fair or event.. and you dont have the hassle of carting stock, setting up, and "selling" all day.

Nickie wrote:Another avenue you could try with marketing dog shampoo is dog grooming salons who are likely to use quite alot of the stuff unlike the public who are only likely to use small amounts. It's also easier to sell to businesses than it is to sell to the general public and retail. I know a few dog groomers myself who'd almost certainly be interested in buying in bulk and especially if they knew the profits or at leas tpart of them was going towards a dog charity!

Oh, I had looked at that as an option for "sparkybubbles" going about it A£$e about face, I have the product, the packaging, the advertising all sorted.. I just kind of struggle working out how to source the product!!

The down side about dog groomers is the incredibly low volumes they need, and the fact that you would have to do a huge amount of legwork to sell to each one, hence the original thought of ordering a big batch so I could at least get a realistic unit cost, getting QVC to take it as a stand alone product (they dont seem to do too many pet care hours, and none I have seen or heard of are exclusively one brand), at least then I have wholesaled say 2000 bottles, and an awful lot of people have had their first exposure to my "good Cause".

But as I said, this is academic until I discover how you find a company to make you a formula, get it tested, and then find a manufacturer!.. just a slight glitch then..

I told you Im an amateur not a crafter!

sparkysdad wrote:
Mind you, Judi and Jane are the two folk I'd most likely wager £10 on succeeding!!

hey Judi

We have a backer!
Shall we go for it?