In this post, the main steps of my weekend business and how I reached my first customers will be mentioned. It was an excellent experience to practice after learning a lot of things via reading books & blogs and listening podcasts…
PRODUCT
First, let me tell you the product: Patik… It is a hand-knitted house slipper. Yes, after having a bachelor’s and master’s degree in biomedical engineering, and formally working on a very high tech project in a research institute, I decided to sell Patik during the weekends… My professors would have been disappointed but my mother Ayse did not… Since she gave the idea to sell her Patik which she and her mother made before in her childhood…
After 4 days visit my mother and sister in Istanbul, I brought the carefully selected 33 patik to Barcelona with my backpack. In December 2019, on Friday night after work, the first thing, I have done was photography session. Thanks to Ayse’s recommendations, I completed the photo session for Instagram catalogue…
On Saturday morning, while I was thinking on creating the story behind the Patik production, I shared the page link with my close friends to get their likes and comments on their favorite ones.
After searching Etsy and Pinterest to have an idea about the price and product content, my patik slogan was like that:
Last minute Christmas gift idea for all of you last minute gift shoppers! Availability is limited, so get yours now!
FEATURES
Patik are made using 100% natural wool through sheep of Ararat Mountain. The hand-knitted socks make you feel warm, cozy, and natural which calms your nervous system.
- The socks have unique eastern patterns and combining different colors, to show the variety of culture and habits.
- All items are knitted in a non-smoke, pet-free, and hygienic house. Fit to size: EU 37 – 38 – 39 and US 7 – 7.5 – 8.
- CARE INSTRUCTIONS: Hand wash in warm water, dry flat only.
- There are only 33 slippers. Each pair costs 15 EUR.
- You can check the Instagram catalogue via below link:
SALES&MARKETING
I aimed to convince customer it is a good, unique idea for gift if you still search for it, explained how it can be a personal gift and even though it has only one standard flexible size, I mentioned size details and how to keep clean for first time users. At the end, the customer would have a unique gift which costs less than a standard birthday gift…
CHANNELS
Due to the lack of time and logistics opportunities, on Saturday evening after searching local social media groups, I determined few local Facebook groups having expats, housewives, and second hand products sale Whatsapp groups and sent my template with some photos and then went to bed.
At 8 am on Sunday morning, I had bunch of notifications on my phone. Some of them asking size for their favorite ones, some of them were asking my location. Until 11.30 am, I had 6 customers and approximately 10 pre-orders. Until that evening, I successfully completed only one order. The rest was in the another part of the city and could come during the week and some were about going on the Christmas holiday and wanted to book their favorite ones… Of course, my flatmate and colleagues were interested in patik 🙂 Two friends got 5 patik.
4 LESSONS LEARNED
At the end, I learned some lessons from this business.
- Although you have a competitive advantage with your product, the distribution channel is very important. Most people prefer online shopping. My purpose was to understand customer behaviors and decisions and so preferred direct contact instead of platforms like Etsy etc. Also, it could be difficult to reach potential customers on these platforms in short time without promotion.
- Customer reviews and word of mouth are very important. It is very essential to find a way to encourage your customer to recommend your products to the others or make comments below your social media posts if you sell patik.. 🙂
- Timing is critical. Last-minute concept works but would be too late for those who want to buy a product but had another one earlier…
- If possible, request photos from your customers when they wear your products. It will be good reference for your following sales.
