It has been an extremely long time since I have written anything on my blog "The Inception of the Anteal Boutique". When I last wrote, I had just had a setback in the acquisition of investors for my project and was feeling depressed about my endeavors. So, I set it aside and figured that it was not meant to be at that moment in time.
But, it is very interesting when you set something aside and let it percolate for a few months. Such is what happened to me and Anteal. I left it alone and started looking for work in the retail fashion arena and that is a story in itself, especially in the tough economic times that we are experiencing. After four to fives months of actively searching for work, creating online profiles and submitting numerous resumes daily, pounding the streets of the various shopping districts of Los Angeles and making introductory phone calls to various establishments... nothing was available or forthcoming. That in itself can lead to a whole other level of frustration and depression if I were to allow it.
I have been in the fashion retail industry for over 30 years and have accumulated a wealth of knowledge and experience in owning and running a high end fashion boutique, with all the many different hats that one must wear. Since I have not had to look for work in over twenty-two years, I have found the process a bit overwhelming, especially when you are competing against people half your age or younger and they have, maybe, fifty percent of your knowledge. No matter how "young at heart" you may be, you are initially judged on how old you look and not on how much you could bring to the table. I guess it is a sign of our times and more troubling, a reflection of much that is wrong with our country. Don't worry!... I'm not going to slide into a discussion on politics.
To come back to the subject matter at hand, I received an email from one of my former clients who, since I had closed my previous store B.NY, was lamenting over the lack of interesting fashion stores with unique product in Santa Monica and the Westside. She had been making the rounds and yes, there were some stores that had similar merchandise to what I carried but the selection was poor or they also had an attitude or coldness that turned her off. It was, I must admit, a nice feeling to receive that compliment from her because I had always tried to install that sense of warmth and good will along with the exceptional service and unique product selection that B.NY. was known for. Well, one thing led to another and before we both knew it, we were talking about collaborating on a new space and out of that came... a new concept.
The Anteal concept is to be a "Cultural Community" space that is primarily driven by Fashion with an additional emphasis on art, design elements and live music events. Ideally it would be a small warehouse facility that will have a permanent fashion boutique incorporated within the space, accented by art and sculpture. There will be monthly events showcasing emerging artists, designers and live music/reading performances on a revolving basis, constantly changing and evolving the shape of the space. With this concept, Anteal will be able to drive traffic to its location from the fashion clientele, the art community, the interior design world and music lovers from all over Southern California and beyond.
OK, we now have a concept... but now how to make it a reality! I took my original business plan and trimmed it down, scaling it to half of what it was originally. My client, who is a sculptor, said she was willing to fund one half of the project, which in itself was amazing to have that kind of trust and commitment from her. Now, I had to obtain the other half and do it in a very short time. We are shooting to open the space in July 2012 and in order to do that I have to complete the funding by the end of December so that I can prepare the legal documents of the organization and start securing a space for the project before I leave January 16th for Paris for the men's buy. For those of you who are not familiar with the buying schedule for a fashion store, it works in this way; to receive your goods for the fall season, one must purchase them in January/February for men's and February/March for women's. This gives the designers a window of three to five months to produce them and ship them to you so that you receive them in July through Sept. This schedule is primarily for a store that is carrying international and most domestic designers. There are some exceptions to the rule but generally this is how it works.
Fund-raising in this economy is extremely challenging and requires constant, unwavering persistence. I culled my client list and started calling clients that I thought would be receptive to this concept. Universally, they were all excited and enthused about it. Some declined, saying it wasn't for them, others said they weren't in the position to invest and some had to think about it and would get back to me. For me, it was all about "six degrees of separation"... even if you couldn't invest... maybe you might know someone who would... it all comes down to networking. In this day and age, since we are a so much of a global community now, it is imperative to reach out to as many people as you can. After all... it just means finding the right person or persons who have the capital and are in sync with your vision and believe in you as an entrepreneur.
With this in mind, I am really focusing more on the " friends and family and clients" investor rather than the traditional "angel investors". I am looking for people who want to participate and invest in a local business rather than a corporate entity. Someone who believes in a community type project that will offer an artistic space for emerging new talent in the local fashion, art and design worlds. This is a retail project though, so it does require a longer window of time... anywhere from seven to ten years for the company to realize its potential and a substantial return for the the investors and myself.
There are many, many clothing stores in Southern California and a few that specialize in the eclectic fashion forward designers from Belgium, Japan, Italy and the U.S. that I will be carrying. There are some of these that are considered "lifestyle" stores, offering home products as well as fashion. But... I believe that Anteal is quite original in its concept of a cultural, community space, catering to many different artistic avenues and being recognized as a showcase for emerging talent. After all, the definition of Anteal is derived from an ancient language and means "Being before, or in front".
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
"The crowd-funding of it all"
It has been some time since I have taken "pen to paper" so to speak and I feel a little remiss about my blogging. There are times when the urge to write is very prevalent and then there are the times of procrastination and I must say that depression doesn't help in that respect at all. I find the human psyche very fragile when it comes to being creative, especially when things don't go as planned.
For quite a number of months I have been pursuing the funding aspect of Anteal, which I have written about in my previous posts and over that time there have been long stretches of productivity and then periods of time when things came to a standstill and I found it very difficult to do anything constructive at all. Obviously, this is a pattern that I have set and I'm sure that I am not alone in this, but Really, you know... I am sick and tired of it!
The reason that I am telling you this is to let you know why I have not posted anything in the last month. Since mid February I have had a nice surge of activity, what with the blogging of my endeavors and then creating the Anteal Boutique Facebook page and its content and then writing the Anteal Newsletter which allowed me to connect with my former clients and introduce them to Anteal and to my blogging. I was feeling very productive and pleased with what I had accomplished in a relatively short period of time.
My next step was to inform my clients, by way of the newsletter, of this new addition to the social networking platform called crowd-funding, which (according to Wikipedia) “describes the collective cooperation, attention and trust by people who network and pool their money and other resources together, usually via the Internet, to support efforts initiated by other people or organizations. Crowd funding occurs for any variety of purposes, from disaster relief to citizen journalism to artists seeking support from fans, to political campaigns, to funding a start-up company or small business or creating free software".
There are a many crowd-funding sites such as ProFounder.com, Kickstarter.com, IndieGoGo, RocketHub.com, Seedmatch.com (Germany) and Seedups.com (Ireland) to name just a few. Most of them target small projects in the $5,000 to $100,000 range and have been based on a donation format. This allows an individual, who likes the project and wants to be involved, to donate small amounts in 20, 50, 100, 250 dollar increments. At each level they are given rewards for their donation,(i.e. mention on the website, a t-shirt, an invite to the opening party, credit on a film, associate producer, etc). These donations are not repaid but the donors generally feel like they have participated in the success of the project and have received some recognition for it.
For quite a number of months I have been pursuing the funding aspect of Anteal, which I have written about in my previous posts and over that time there have been long stretches of productivity and then periods of time when things came to a standstill and I found it very difficult to do anything constructive at all. Obviously, this is a pattern that I have set and I'm sure that I am not alone in this, but Really, you know... I am sick and tired of it!
The reason that I am telling you this is to let you know why I have not posted anything in the last month. Since mid February I have had a nice surge of activity, what with the blogging of my endeavors and then creating the Anteal Boutique Facebook page and its content and then writing the Anteal Newsletter which allowed me to connect with my former clients and introduce them to Anteal and to my blogging. I was feeling very productive and pleased with what I had accomplished in a relatively short period of time.
My next step was to inform my clients, by way of the newsletter, of this new addition to the social networking platform called crowd-funding, which (according to Wikipedia) “describes the collective cooperation, attention and trust by people who network and pool their money and other resources together, usually via the Internet, to support efforts initiated by other people or organizations. Crowd funding occurs for any variety of purposes, from disaster relief to citizen journalism to artists seeking support from fans, to political campaigns, to funding a start-up company or small business or creating free software".
There are a many crowd-funding sites such as ProFounder.com, Kickstarter.com, IndieGoGo, RocketHub.com, Seedmatch.com (Germany) and Seedups.com (Ireland) to name just a few. Most of them target small projects in the $5,000 to $100,000 range and have been based on a donation format. This allows an individual, who likes the project and wants to be involved, to donate small amounts in 20, 50, 100, 250 dollar increments. At each level they are given rewards for their donation,(i.e. mention on the website, a t-shirt, an invite to the opening party, credit on a film, associate producer, etc). These donations are not repaid but the donors generally feel like they have participated in the success of the project and have received some recognition for it.
I realize that donations are one thing but actual investing is another, consequently, what some of these crowd-funding sites are doing is putting crowd-funding investors together with entrepreneurs in order to fund start-ups as well as re-investments. At this point I told my clients, via the newsletter, that I had found one site in particular that I could use as a tool, merging my community contacts, business as well as clients, with my business plan to reach out and invite potential investors to participate in Anteal in an equity/securities position. This is where I ran into a major complication with the 2nd newsletter that I had sent to my clients and which was pointed out to me by one of my attorney clientele.
What I found out from this attorney, which I was not aware of, is that I cannot solicit over 35 non-accredited investors, whereas I had thought that I just could not have more than 35 non-accredited investors. Also, in regards to the pre-existing relationship, I was informed that this term means that I have some knowledge of the financial status of the non-accredited investors.
The problem is that even though I had done my due diligence in my research about crowd-funding, there is a grey area surrounding the SEC (Securities and Exchange
Commission) regulations about soliciting investors for a
business which is a for-profit company. There are strict guidelines and it is very expensive, to the tune of around $100-200K, to register with the SEC.
Exemptions do exist for filing with the SEC and the major one for crowd-funding and my purposes is Regulation D, rule 504, 505 and 506, which basically states that for an investment of one million or less, I don’t have to file with the SEC as long as I solicit accredited investors, (as stated by the SEC “a natural person who has individual net worth, or joint net worth with the person’s spouse, that exceeds $1 million at the time of the purchase; a natural person with income exceeding $200,000 in each of the two most recent years or joint income with a spouse exceeding $300,000 for those years and a reasonable expectation of the same income level in the current year”), which can be an unlimited number and a maximum amount of 35 non-accredited investors, (as the SEC states “all non-accredited investors, either alone or with a purchaser representative, must be sophisticated—that is, they must have sufficient knowledge and experience in financial and business matters to make them capable of evaluating the merits and risks of the prospective investment”). They also state that I must have a pre-existing relationship with them and that this basically cannot be a “cold call” solicitation.
Commission) regulations about soliciting investors for a
business which is a for-profit company. There are strict guidelines and it is very expensive, to the tune of around $100-200K, to register with the SEC.
Exemptions do exist for filing with the SEC and the major one for crowd-funding and my purposes is Regulation D, rule 504, 505 and 506, which basically states that for an investment of one million or less, I don’t have to file with the SEC as long as I solicit accredited investors, (as stated by the SEC “a natural person who has individual net worth, or joint net worth with the person’s spouse, that exceeds $1 million at the time of the purchase; a natural person with income exceeding $200,000 in each of the two most recent years or joint income with a spouse exceeding $300,000 for those years and a reasonable expectation of the same income level in the current year”), which can be an unlimited number and a maximum amount of 35 non-accredited investors, (as the SEC states “all non-accredited investors, either alone or with a purchaser representative, must be sophisticated—that is, they must have sufficient knowledge and experience in financial and business matters to make them capable of evaluating the merits and risks of the prospective investment”). They also state that I must have a pre-existing relationship with them and that this basically cannot be a “cold call” solicitation.
What I found out from this attorney, which I was not aware of, is that I cannot solicit over 35 non-accredited investors, whereas I had thought that I just could not have more than 35 non-accredited investors. Also, in regards to the pre-existing relationship, I was informed that this term means that I have some knowledge of the financial status of the non-accredited investors.
So, there you have it, even though there is a petition before the SEC to increase the non-accredited investor pool from 35 to 500, there is no telling when that would take place especially given the fact that we're dealing with Washington red tape. This left me no choice but to put a halt to the invite due to the fact that I have more than 35 clients on my mailing list and that I don't know what their financial status is.
Hence, my period of inactivity, due to all of the above, and now maybe you can understand my frustration and disappointment. It sounds like I'm wanting to cry on your shoulder and maybe that is the case here...reaching out for a little sympathy and understanding. I realize that everyone goes through variations of this same theme and that I'm not alone, especially in this economy, but...dammit, it sure would be nice to get a break right now. So... If anyone out there knows of anyone that might want to part of this venture and take this exciting ride with me, just let me know by leaving a comment where I could contact them.
I will continue to search out whatever forms of funding I can find and keep you updated as to my progress...
Hence, my period of inactivity, due to all of the above, and now maybe you can understand my frustration and disappointment. It sounds like I'm wanting to cry on your shoulder and maybe that is the case here...reaching out for a little sympathy and understanding. I realize that everyone goes through variations of this same theme and that I'm not alone, especially in this economy, but...dammit, it sure would be nice to get a break right now. So... If anyone out there knows of anyone that might want to part of this venture and take this exciting ride with me, just let me know by leaving a comment where I could contact them.
I will continue to search out whatever forms of funding I can find and keep you updated as to my progress...
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
"I have a bridge I'd like to sell you...."
It is very interesting how social we all are, some more than others. There seems to be a definite need to be in contact, to engage, reach out and communicate with friends and business acquaintances in order to feel like you are part of a community, part of a larger picture than just your family and a couple of close friends. Am I making any sense here...? I hope so... I'm not sure and usually I'm not this contemplative, but I've had a notable last 24 hrs reaching out to my former clients and friends at BNY through my new Anteal Newsletter.
They requested that I fill out an investment profile for them along with my business plan. I looked it over and nothing was out of the ordinary, so off it went along with my Non-Disclosure Agreement for them to sign and return. After a week or so I had not received the signed NDA from them, requested it twice more and then got another request for personal banking info, etc. I wrote back that we could not go any further without the signed NDA and three days later it came, along with a 15 page Term Sheet for the investment, for the full amount, listing the investor's name with his financial management company in Australia, Belmont Wealth Management , their requirements and what I would owe Asian Pacific Commercial Funding (5% of the investment, deducted before finalizing wire transfer to me) and all of the other stipulations.
Right!!... now my suspicions are beginning to percolate and I go and Google the investor, who happens to be an Indonesian billionaire, Peter Sondakh with a second home in Beverly Hills, and his management company in Australia. The company seems to check out and be legit but the hairs on the back of my neck are standing up at this point. I let it sit for a few days and they write me from Hong Kong awaiting my signed copy of the Term Sheet and wanting an address where the Australian company can send the final "hard copy agreement". At this point I call an attorney who specializes in setting up start-up businesses and when I explain it to her she tells me what I had already been thinking...." If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is...". She also pointed out that an international investor, if they invest in over $100,000 in an American company, becomes eligible for a " Investors Visa", which I was not aware of and that, also, I could not set up an LLC, that it had to be a C Corp for international investors.This would be fine with, lets say, European investors but in the Far East where certain countries are known for their inhumane treatment of their citizens, do I really want to be " in bed " with them, financially? Her bottom line... walk away!! She is a bit blunt but that's a good thing, in this case... so that's what I ended up doing.
Just a little caveat...I decided to check further, because something did not add up in regards to Peter Sondakh, who had a Beverly Hills home. He wouldn't need a visa, now would he?... he already had one, was my assumption. I looked him up again and finally was able to find a contact number at his cement company, put a call into his secretary, explained the situation and then was told to email my question to his private secretary, which I did in detail. The following day I received an email from his attorney, stating that his client had never heard of Belmont Wealth Management nor Asian Pacific Commercial Funding, thanked me for my due diligence in bringing this to their attention and that they would not be interested in investing. All of this happened back in Sept 2010 and I just now Googled Belmont Wealth Management, as I am writing this blog and found this www.scam.com ,under their listing, dated Feb 2011. I had a couple of other "scam" attempts but they were both rather blatant and superficial, nothing like the complexity of the example I gave. Needles to say, It was a definite learning curve for me.
So... there you have it... an example of the extremes that people will be willing to do to scam someone...Amazing!!
I researched online and found MailChimp.com, which is a newsletter company where you can customize templates, upload a mailing list, write the letter and send an e-blast to your customers and friends. I must to tell you that it was a gratifying and wonderful feeling hearing back from a number of them and watching the analytic numbers of how many had opened their mail and when and who hadn't yet, did anyone complain (No!), who had unsubscribed from the mailing list (just 6, so far...not bad!) and where were people opening them. The large majority was the U.S., of course, but also the UK, the Netherlands, Australia, Japan, India, Spain, Brazil and Canada to name a few.
I have been a bit sequestered here, in Calabasas, working on the concept and the business plan and not really socially connecting with a lot of people (that's not to say I was a great socializer before, but having a store, it goes hand in hand). Therefore, receiving feedback and encouragement from the store community felt immensely satisfying and reinforced my objective...as I stated in my Mission Statement...“As a fashion-forward company, Anteal is to be the premier source of high fashion clothing and accessories for men and women in
Santa Monica and the West Side, and internationally through Anteal online. True to the meaning of its name, Anteal will place its clientele at the forefront of fashion design, fostering expression of individual identity through unique and exceptionally fine clothing."
Since I have digressed for the last three paragraphs, I should get back to the story at hand which is where I left off in the last blog post and that is the Funding...
I had done my research and and started looking at angel networks in Southern California (it's a better chance if they're in your region). I found most of them are targeting the tech/software industry for the big bucks and fast returns. There was one network recommended to me by a client who thought they worked with retail start-ups as well and that is The Pasadena Angels . There are submission requirements and screenings and If you screen successfully then the edited group of entrepreneurs are then screened again before the interested investors that saw the original screening. Then they set a meeting with you and the interested parties and you pitch them again, followed by a question and answer session and THEN you find out if anyone wants to invest. If they do, then a period of time is set aside to do the due diligence that is required before the funding process is completed. Whew...!! Sounds pretty complicated, doesn't it? And that was a very simplified version of what actually takes place. The ratio is usually 300 submissions, edited to 50, then reduced to 25 and then maybe 2-3 final portfolios for consideration.
I also checked online and there are a number of sites that sign up both investors and entrepreneurs, such as The California Investment Network and you submit a profile of your project and then see if any investors are interested and contact you. This particular one you sign up for free and submit your profile and if someone responds then you have to pay a fee to see the investors profile and contact info. After that payment, it doesn't matter how many investors contact you, there is no other charge. There are many other sites, but I'll just use this one as an example.
I had to tell myself...this is the Internet and its like the Wild West, one has to be very careful and cautious when putting yourself out there. We all know that...right?
Well. let me tell you a little story, as an example....I had got a few hits, paid my fee and got some more hits, of which, most were from overseas in The Indian Investment Network and other European Networks. They contacted me, I answered, requesting information about them and most of them did not respond. Then I got a request from a Hong Kong investment management group, Asian Pacific Commercial Funding, who was not part of the "Network" but had somehow got my listing. They said they had read my profile and had a "high-profile" investor who was interested in backing my project. Okay.... interesting...so I responded that I needed more info on them and they sent me their website URL, I looked it up and it seemed legit after seeing the lay-out of the site, reading about their history, company profile and philosophy. No reviews on them in Google or scams, so...good sign, so far, I thought. They requested that I fill out an investment profile for them along with my business plan. I looked it over and nothing was out of the ordinary, so off it went along with my Non-Disclosure Agreement for them to sign and return. After a week or so I had not received the signed NDA from them, requested it twice more and then got another request for personal banking info, etc. I wrote back that we could not go any further without the signed NDA and three days later it came, along with a 15 page Term Sheet for the investment, for the full amount, listing the investor's name with his financial management company in Australia, Belmont Wealth Management , their requirements and what I would owe Asian Pacific Commercial Funding (5% of the investment, deducted before finalizing wire transfer to me) and all of the other stipulations.
Right!!... now my suspicions are beginning to percolate and I go and Google the investor, who happens to be an Indonesian billionaire, Peter Sondakh with a second home in Beverly Hills, and his management company in Australia. The company seems to check out and be legit but the hairs on the back of my neck are standing up at this point. I let it sit for a few days and they write me from Hong Kong awaiting my signed copy of the Term Sheet and wanting an address where the Australian company can send the final "hard copy agreement". At this point I call an attorney who specializes in setting up start-up businesses and when I explain it to her she tells me what I had already been thinking...." If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is...". She also pointed out that an international investor, if they invest in over $100,000 in an American company, becomes eligible for a " Investors Visa", which I was not aware of and that, also, I could not set up an LLC, that it had to be a C Corp for international investors.This would be fine with, lets say, European investors but in the Far East where certain countries are known for their inhumane treatment of their citizens, do I really want to be " in bed " with them, financially? Her bottom line... walk away!! She is a bit blunt but that's a good thing, in this case... so that's what I ended up doing.
Just a little caveat...I decided to check further, because something did not add up in regards to Peter Sondakh, who had a Beverly Hills home. He wouldn't need a visa, now would he?... he already had one, was my assumption. I looked him up again and finally was able to find a contact number at his cement company, put a call into his secretary, explained the situation and then was told to email my question to his private secretary, which I did in detail. The following day I received an email from his attorney, stating that his client had never heard of Belmont Wealth Management nor Asian Pacific Commercial Funding, thanked me for my due diligence in bringing this to their attention and that they would not be interested in investing. All of this happened back in Sept 2010 and I just now Googled Belmont Wealth Management, as I am writing this blog and found this www.scam.com ,under their listing, dated Feb 2011. I had a couple of other "scam" attempts but they were both rather blatant and superficial, nothing like the complexity of the example I gave. Needles to say, It was a definite learning curve for me.
So... there you have it... an example of the extremes that people will be willing to do to scam someone...Amazing!!
Sunday, March 27, 2011
"And the beat goes on..."
You know when you start something and it's like you're looking down a long tunnel that keeps going down and around and you never see the end? That's what the business plan seemed to be doing, going on and on and on... Wait... what if we added this ... No, what if we added that..."You know for just a few more dollars we could use that special paper I was telling you about". Like I said before, we were building a HOUSE and all these fantastic add-ons kept snowballing and I must say that I was the main culprit. I was working with these two meticulous, inventive, articulate graphic designers who kept coming up with idea after idea and I would hem and haw about how much it was going to cost but at the same time I was saying..."Yeah, that's great!... We can do that ... I love that!!" I became a drug addict, looking for a fix and coming back for more and more. It was down right... pitiful.
But, you know what?... We did it, yup, we did. I now had a beautifully conceived, meticulously produced, detailed, eye catching Anteal Business Plan (Yes, we can't forget the Name, can we?). It is in the details and the subtle artistic nuances that I believe people and potential investors will appreciate and realize that this same attention to detail and all the other finer points will be carried throughout the conception, design, construction, layout and implementation of Anteal.
So, here is a photo of the front cover and the pictures, of course, don't do it justice but you get the idea. The steel pylons with the copper cables will be the main garment hanging system throughout the store, as it was in B.NY.
This is the center page that opens up to a cloud list of my celebrity clients who were very supportive of B.NY. and I am sure they will be of Anteal, as well.
Here is an example of the layout of all the pages, each with a different graphic image, as a header, across the top of the page.
So, there you have it, The Business Plan!
It took five to six months ,maybe two months longer than I had planned, but still that had set me back in the whole scheme of things. Now it was time to look for investors, friends or family and angel investors that would be interested in partnering with me in this venture. This was a whole new education for me, where do you look for investors, how do you get an introduction to them or the angel networks, do I even think about Venture Capitalists? These were just the beginning questions that I had, so back to Google and start researching the whys and wherefores of fundraising... fun, huh?
Well, there are articles and numerous articles, opinions and How-to's, all about the best way to approach investors and the kinds of investors available. Basically, there are three types of investor pools; Friends and Family, Angels and Venture Capital.
For small start-up seed money, it is usually the Friends and Family that you start with because they know you and trust you and usually will not demand a large return but you have to be careful because it has to be treated as a business, not a friendship. They have to know the downfalls, that all best intentions aside you might fail and everyone will lose. It is a gamble, however you look at it, and they should not invest unless they realize there's a chance that they might lose their investment.
Then there are the Angels (according to Wiki) "who are affluent individuals who provide capital for a business start up, usually in exchange for convertible debt or ownership equity. A small but increasing number of angel investors organize themselves into angel groups or angel networks to share research and pool their investment capital."
Last, but not least is Venture Capital which (also from Wiki) "is an individual or specialist organization that invests in new companies at a later time than angel investors - when the company has existed for a while, has gained some clients or gathered a trustworthy group of executives. It can also be a type of private equity capital typically provided for early-stage, high-potential, growth companies in the interest of generating a return through an eventual realization event such as an IPO or trade sale of the company."
There you have it, a rather simple definition, I hope, of the three types of investors that I could approach. Obviously, Venture Capital is not what I need at this time primarily because Anteal is not that big of a start-up and most VC's are interested in an investment minimum of more than one million and usually more, plus they want majority control, a very large return and an exit in two -four years. Currently the primary fields of industry that VC's invest in are, of course, the tech and software industry which are generally high-potential and high growth and can yield a large return. I think I'm being realistic in ruling them out at this stage of the game.
My focus will be on the first two, Friends and Family and Angels, and now I had to figure out a strategy to accomplish this means to an end.
That I will leave to the next time...
But, you know what?... We did it, yup, we did. I now had a beautifully conceived, meticulously produced, detailed, eye catching Anteal Business Plan (Yes, we can't forget the Name, can we?). It is in the details and the subtle artistic nuances that I believe people and potential investors will appreciate and realize that this same attention to detail and all the other finer points will be carried throughout the conception, design, construction, layout and implementation of Anteal.
So, here is a photo of the front cover and the pictures, of course, don't do it justice but you get the idea. The steel pylons with the copper cables will be the main garment hanging system throughout the store, as it was in B.NY.
This is the back cover which is an image of an art piece that
Anthony Schmidt (an artist and an incredible window dresser), our Art Director had made. I thought it was very appropriate.
This is the center page that opens up to a cloud list of my celebrity clients who were very supportive of B.NY. and I am sure they will be of Anteal, as well.
Here is an example of the layout of all the pages, each with a different graphic image, as a header, across the top of the page.
So, there you have it, The Business Plan!
It took five to six months ,maybe two months longer than I had planned, but still that had set me back in the whole scheme of things. Now it was time to look for investors, friends or family and angel investors that would be interested in partnering with me in this venture. This was a whole new education for me, where do you look for investors, how do you get an introduction to them or the angel networks, do I even think about Venture Capitalists? These were just the beginning questions that I had, so back to Google and start researching the whys and wherefores of fundraising... fun, huh?
Well, there are articles and numerous articles, opinions and How-to's, all about the best way to approach investors and the kinds of investors available. Basically, there are three types of investor pools; Friends and Family, Angels and Venture Capital.
For small start-up seed money, it is usually the Friends and Family that you start with because they know you and trust you and usually will not demand a large return but you have to be careful because it has to be treated as a business, not a friendship. They have to know the downfalls, that all best intentions aside you might fail and everyone will lose. It is a gamble, however you look at it, and they should not invest unless they realize there's a chance that they might lose their investment.
Then there are the Angels (according to Wiki) "who are affluent individuals who provide capital for a business start up, usually in exchange for convertible debt or ownership equity. A small but increasing number of angel investors organize themselves into angel groups or angel networks to share research and pool their investment capital."
Last, but not least is Venture Capital which (also from Wiki) "is an individual or specialist organization that invests in new companies at a later time than angel investors - when the company has existed for a while, has gained some clients or gathered a trustworthy group of executives. It can also be a type of private equity capital typically provided for early-stage, high-potential, growth companies in the interest of generating a return through an eventual realization event such as an IPO or trade sale of the company."
There you have it, a rather simple definition, I hope, of the three types of investors that I could approach. Obviously, Venture Capital is not what I need at this time primarily because Anteal is not that big of a start-up and most VC's are interested in an investment minimum of more than one million and usually more, plus they want majority control, a very large return and an exit in two -four years. Currently the primary fields of industry that VC's invest in are, of course, the tech and software industry which are generally high-potential and high growth and can yield a large return. I think I'm being realistic in ruling them out at this stage of the game.
My focus will be on the first two, Friends and Family and Angels, and now I had to figure out a strategy to accomplish this means to an end.
That I will leave to the next time...
Saturday, March 19, 2011
"Name that name ...."
It's a gorgeous day and Esther, our cat, is sunning herself on the kitchen table next to me as I am starting this blog. I'm starting out slow so I can allow the creative juices to percolate and flow since I've been in a doldrum of sorts the last few days. It does sort of work that way, doesn't it? Some days the mind is sharp and sizzling with ideas and then other days nothing comes up, Blank! Oh Well, I guess that's just how it is, obviously nothing to do with age.... or is it? hmmmmmm.
When I finally got the proposal from Steinhardt Design, I could see how it would be a great appendix to the business plan which is exactly how Alexj and Diane suggested that I use it, as a tool to supplement the plan, an enrichment for the funding process. Aside from just a proposal for designing the website, it also involved the naming, logo and palette, branding and marketing of the site, as well as the store and the whole image of my new venture. It became quite apparent that Steinhardt Design was becoming much more involved and a definite asset and tool that I would be able to capitalize on as I moved forward in this project. Now, obviously, they weren't doing this for free and after seeing the quality of their work in the proposal and with a bit of negotiating we agreed on a rate and price that was fair for everyone.
We had discussed in what form should the business plan be, the standard presentation with a cover or without, would it have a spiral binding or just stapled, 8x11 or landscape and that basic business style was all boring, boring,boring!...not what I was looking for.
Being the graphic artists that they were they started free-flowing ideas such as, who were my potential investors, were they business oriented or artistic in nature, was it going to be presented to the investors in hard copy or by email, how did I feel about images on each page, how should it read, what was my customer base like, How Much Did I Want To Spend?... A lot of brainstorming, which was good for me because it made me think outside the box, but still keeping in mind a budget and trying to stick with it.
What came out of all of this was a artistic magazine style format, matte hard cover with chain stitch binding, graphic, textual image heading on every page, very sophisticated, elegant and rich, a "Magazine" that would look great on a coffee table and definitely stand out above the rest.
Soooo.... Diane went to work over the next month, roughing out a sample, researching font styles, paper quality, layouts, images and headings, page order, printing quotes,etc. What was supposed to take a month turned into two months and then longer with many consultations and reviews and a few setbacks with their own work scheduling. In essence it was like building a house, having to deal with an architect and contractor and the constant delays and hiccups that occur in that process, no different, and of course I WAS
FRUSTRATED!.... Now, take a deep breathe, relax and tell myself that they're artists and that it will all work out.
Now, during this whole process, a major part of the branding is in finding THE NAME. What is the store going to be called? I had read quite a few articles on how to name a business, making lists of names, friends making lists, family making lists, making list of foreign names...French, Japanese, Italian, Celtic, their meanings and definitions. I tried and tried but everything sounded rather mundane and too cute or had been done already. I do digress here, because that process I had been trying to do, I did before hiring Steinhardt Design and part of their proposal was the NAMING of the store!
This was an interesting, very informative process that Alexj and Diane took me through, a two hour plus telephone brainstorming conference, in which they proceeded to ask me all types of questions such as; the competition and what sets this store apart from it, of current and projected industry trends, about my previous store, B.NY. and my personal views and philosophy about selling, buying, favorite colors, cars, and animals, how I felt about customers and how I wanted them to feel about the store and their experience in the store. I told them about my years as an actor and how I transferred my acting over to selling and presenting collections and unique designer items to my customers. Basically, I treat the store as a stage, peopled with collections upon which I would direct and perform (converse, inform and sell) to the delight (hopefully!) of my customers (audience). As I told them, there was and is a great satisfaction that I derive from watching my clients leave the store with items that I know they will cherish for years and knowing that they had a good time purchasing them. They seemed to enjoy this outlook of mine and we continued to talk about many aspects including architecture, lighting and textures, etc. After almost three hours we called it quits and I hung up feeling drained and exhausted but extremely stimulated at the same time.... funny, it reminds me exactly of how I would feel after performing in a play.
It took them a couple of weeks to come up with a list of 15 names and their corresponding meanings and implications. Quite fascinating actually, the associations, the word play, how they sounded, the letter count, lower case or caps, the Google hits each had, all of which was quite illuminating. As Alexj was telling me that before Apple was formed it was just a fruit and now look at all the, innovations, connotations and ramifications of Apple and what it has done and contributed to society and the world. It all comes down to Branding!
Here is the list that they sent me in order of their preference:
anteal From the ancient antea meaning "being before or in front".
macassar Exotic expensive hardwood.
bronzino Mannerist painter.
merida Roman theatre.
taliesin Celtic god of creativity, creative arts, inspiration.
emperador Exotic expensive marble.
banyan Probably the coolest tree ever. So unique.
chrysalis Cocoon.
felidae Family name of wild cats.
leonis Derived by us from Leonid meteor shower.
panthero Modified family name of wild cats.
mei Just sounded good to us.
bedoli Mannerist painter.
morphos Gorgeous butterfly.
ravel French composer.
As you can see there were a variety of names and we had a conversation about the meaning and relevance of each name, how it was derived and the branding capabilities of each. I took a few days to Google them, research, mull them over and made a short list of what I felt were the best three: Anteal, Banyan, Macassar.
Macassar is a gorgeous hardwood and the sound has an exotic, familiar ring to it. The store would look incredible with a counter-top or table made out of this wood. Rich, Luxurious, Inviting....
Then we come to the word Anteal, or An"te*al\, a. [antea, ante, before. Cf. Ancient.] "Being before, or in front."
This rang true to me, this is what fashion is... in front of, before and "Anteal will place its clientele at the forefront of fashion design, fostering expression of individual identity through unique and exceptionally fine clothing."
Thus the name Anteal...
When I finally got the proposal from Steinhardt Design, I could see how it would be a great appendix to the business plan which is exactly how Alexj and Diane suggested that I use it, as a tool to supplement the plan, an enrichment for the funding process. Aside from just a proposal for designing the website, it also involved the naming, logo and palette, branding and marketing of the site, as well as the store and the whole image of my new venture. It became quite apparent that Steinhardt Design was becoming much more involved and a definite asset and tool that I would be able to capitalize on as I moved forward in this project. Now, obviously, they weren't doing this for free and after seeing the quality of their work in the proposal and with a bit of negotiating we agreed on a rate and price that was fair for everyone.
We had discussed in what form should the business plan be, the standard presentation with a cover or without, would it have a spiral binding or just stapled, 8x11 or landscape and that basic business style was all boring, boring,boring!...not what I was looking for.
Being the graphic artists that they were they started free-flowing ideas such as, who were my potential investors, were they business oriented or artistic in nature, was it going to be presented to the investors in hard copy or by email, how did I feel about images on each page, how should it read, what was my customer base like, How Much Did I Want To Spend?... A lot of brainstorming, which was good for me because it made me think outside the box, but still keeping in mind a budget and trying to stick with it.
What came out of all of this was a artistic magazine style format, matte hard cover with chain stitch binding, graphic, textual image heading on every page, very sophisticated, elegant and rich, a "Magazine" that would look great on a coffee table and definitely stand out above the rest.
Soooo.... Diane went to work over the next month, roughing out a sample, researching font styles, paper quality, layouts, images and headings, page order, printing quotes,etc. What was supposed to take a month turned into two months and then longer with many consultations and reviews and a few setbacks with their own work scheduling. In essence it was like building a house, having to deal with an architect and contractor and the constant delays and hiccups that occur in that process, no different, and of course I WAS
FRUSTRATED!.... Now, take a deep breathe, relax and tell myself that they're artists and that it will all work out.
Now, during this whole process, a major part of the branding is in finding THE NAME. What is the store going to be called? I had read quite a few articles on how to name a business, making lists of names, friends making lists, family making lists, making list of foreign names...French, Japanese, Italian, Celtic, their meanings and definitions. I tried and tried but everything sounded rather mundane and too cute or had been done already. I do digress here, because that process I had been trying to do, I did before hiring Steinhardt Design and part of their proposal was the NAMING of the store!
This was an interesting, very informative process that Alexj and Diane took me through, a two hour plus telephone brainstorming conference, in which they proceeded to ask me all types of questions such as; the competition and what sets this store apart from it, of current and projected industry trends, about my previous store, B.NY. and my personal views and philosophy about selling, buying, favorite colors, cars, and animals, how I felt about customers and how I wanted them to feel about the store and their experience in the store. I told them about my years as an actor and how I transferred my acting over to selling and presenting collections and unique designer items to my customers. Basically, I treat the store as a stage, peopled with collections upon which I would direct and perform (converse, inform and sell) to the delight (hopefully!) of my customers (audience). As I told them, there was and is a great satisfaction that I derive from watching my clients leave the store with items that I know they will cherish for years and knowing that they had a good time purchasing them. They seemed to enjoy this outlook of mine and we continued to talk about many aspects including architecture, lighting and textures, etc. After almost three hours we called it quits and I hung up feeling drained and exhausted but extremely stimulated at the same time.... funny, it reminds me exactly of how I would feel after performing in a play.
It took them a couple of weeks to come up with a list of 15 names and their corresponding meanings and implications. Quite fascinating actually, the associations, the word play, how they sounded, the letter count, lower case or caps, the Google hits each had, all of which was quite illuminating. As Alexj was telling me that before Apple was formed it was just a fruit and now look at all the, innovations, connotations and ramifications of Apple and what it has done and contributed to society and the world. It all comes down to Branding!
Here is the list that they sent me in order of their preference:
anteal From the ancient antea meaning "being before or in front".
macassar Exotic expensive hardwood.
bronzino Mannerist painter.
merida Roman theatre.
taliesin Celtic god of creativity, creative arts, inspiration.
emperador Exotic expensive marble.
banyan Probably the coolest tree ever. So unique.
chrysalis Cocoon.
felidae Family name of wild cats.
leonis Derived by us from Leonid meteor shower.
panthero Modified family name of wild cats.
mei Just sounded good to us.
bedoli Mannerist painter.
morphos Gorgeous butterfly.
ravel French composer.
As you can see there were a variety of names and we had a conversation about the meaning and relevance of each name, how it was derived and the branding capabilities of each. I took a few days to Google them, research, mull them over and made a short list of what I felt were the best three: Anteal, Banyan, Macassar.
Macassar is a gorgeous hardwood and the sound has an exotic, familiar ring to it. The store would look incredible with a counter-top or table made out of this wood. Rich, Luxurious, Inviting....
The Banyan tree is a magnificent, intertwined tree in the East Indies, part of the Mulberry family and very recognizable all over the world. It actually has separate roots that intertwine into one tree. Plus there are the letters B, N and Y in the name and could tie back to my old store B.NY.
Then we come to the word Anteal, or An"te*al\, a. [antea, ante, before. Cf. Ancient.] "Being before, or in front."
This rang true to me, this is what fashion is... in front of, before and "Anteal will place its clientele at the forefront of fashion design, fostering expression of individual identity through unique and exceptionally fine clothing."
Thus the name Anteal...
Thursday, March 10, 2011
"Build it and they will come..."
All right, Now that I have a concept in my mind, I've got to put it on paper which is easier said than done.
See, I live in a world of constant struggle between creativity and logic. I am a creature of habit but dislike regimented structure, I enjoy the freedom of being my own boss but when it comes to the grunt and leg work, I do procrastinate. Coming up with new and captivating ideas is ideal but when I counter them with the pros and cons, sometimes I find myself sitting on the fence, seeing both sides of the picture and unsure of which way to turn, so I struggle and struggle. And so it is this time as well...
THE BUSINESS PLAN can be a daunting endeavor for anyone and I am certainly not the exception. Having never had to do one before, I checked out Google and saw the lists of names and company's that write plans as well as the "How To" web-sites, gathering as much information as I could. Cost wise the "How To" option seemed the best way to go but also it would require a fair amount of time and due diligence, researching and learning the necessary formula for a plan, being knowledgeable in using the Internet (which is a debatable issue), learning how to use an Excel worksheet for all the financial data (excuse me !), incorporating all of this into a format that was comprehensible and captivating at the same time. After a few weeks of trying this route, I realized that I was OVERWHELMED and STUCK and getting DEPRESSED!
So, on to Plan B, which was to hire someone to help write the Business Plan. After researching my options, which ranged from the low of $400 to the high of $3000, I found someone in Texas who was very reasonable and willing to work with me on the price and also be available over time for corrections and updates and would leave me with an Excel Worksheet Tool for all the financial data that could be adjusted at any time. Basically, I did my homework, gathered what information I could or had from my previous business, and then we had a recorded phone interview for a couple of hours blocking out the necessary info into his formula, discussing store philosophy, background history, competition and marketing strategy, customer buying profiles, staffing, location, demographics, industry analysis and then all the financial data for the staffing forecast, revenue , income statement and balance sheet formulas. Fortunately I had, at my fingertips, all my Quickbook ledgers from B.NY. to give me accurate figures for my expected operating costs, revenue and staffing payroll. Without that, it would have been difficult to guesstimate.
This process with Jeff, from Texas, took a number of weeks, going back and forth, adjusting and fine tuning it, so that it would read easily and impart a sense of ME into what could easily have been a technical and boring plan. Jeff is a numbers guy,very smart, but when it came to the writing aspect of the Plan it was pretty cut and dried. I needed more style and flow to the narrative portion of the Plan, especially the Mission Statement and the Executive Summary, which is very critical because it is the first thing an investor will read and if you don't grab them with that then you can forget about it. I sent it to another "professional writer" and she did her thing but it turned out to be TOO much in the other direction, to flowery and over-detailed, sort of lost in the translation if you know what I mean. Then it went to some good friends, Rick and Janice, who looked at the original and the "flowery" one and then roughed out a version that had a little of both and was more direct. They were a great help to talk to and brainstorm with, gave me a lot of food for thought.
I hope that this not too mundane and boring, but this is how I have worked best in the past, which is coming up with an idea, fleshing it out with 2-4 different people and their points of view and then looking at the whole picture, sitting down and piecing together what sounds right and then getting rid of the chaff. That is basically what I did here and I think I was successful in achieving what I had set out to do. The problem was, it was still in a standard business plan format and rather generic looking and that bothered me.
During my investigation of store web-sites I checked out Atelier New York ,which I had listed in my previous blog, and thought whoever designed this site did it in a very clean, detailed, sophisticated and captivating way. I liked the simplicity and the focus and point of view that the site gave to the store. I looked at the Contact page and saw the website designer's name, Steinhardt Design . His name is Alexj Steinhardt and when I Googled him, I was impressed with other work he had done in websites and in graphic design as well. He seemed to concentrate in the Music field designing a number of sites for renowned symphonic musicians as well as artists and book stores. This probably results from him growing up in a musicians family. His father is Arnold Steinhardt, a symphonic violinist, whose website Alexj designed, of course! This, I felt, was definitely the right direction I should be looking into,someone with an artistic sense-ability, pure of thought and not driven to the typical bells and whistles that seems to be so prevalent on websites these days.
I put a call into Alexj and, complimented him on his work and told him about my project and asked if would he be interested in designing the website for my new venture. We talked about timeline and the direction of the site which had to be integrated with the POS (Point of Sale) system in the store. He said that he would put together a proposal after he talked with one of his lead designers, Diane and would get back to me. It was a great feeling of relief and anticipation that I had after hanging up with him. I felt that he and I clicked and I looked forward to reading his proposal.
Which we will see...
See, I live in a world of constant struggle between creativity and logic. I am a creature of habit but dislike regimented structure, I enjoy the freedom of being my own boss but when it comes to the grunt and leg work, I do procrastinate. Coming up with new and captivating ideas is ideal but when I counter them with the pros and cons, sometimes I find myself sitting on the fence, seeing both sides of the picture and unsure of which way to turn, so I struggle and struggle. And so it is this time as well...
THE BUSINESS PLAN can be a daunting endeavor for anyone and I am certainly not the exception. Having never had to do one before, I checked out Google and saw the lists of names and company's that write plans as well as the "How To" web-sites, gathering as much information as I could. Cost wise the "How To" option seemed the best way to go but also it would require a fair amount of time and due diligence, researching and learning the necessary formula for a plan, being knowledgeable in using the Internet (which is a debatable issue), learning how to use an Excel worksheet for all the financial data (excuse me !), incorporating all of this into a format that was comprehensible and captivating at the same time. After a few weeks of trying this route, I realized that I was OVERWHELMED and STUCK and getting DEPRESSED!
So, on to Plan B, which was to hire someone to help write the Business Plan. After researching my options, which ranged from the low of $400 to the high of $3000, I found someone in Texas who was very reasonable and willing to work with me on the price and also be available over time for corrections and updates and would leave me with an Excel Worksheet Tool for all the financial data that could be adjusted at any time. Basically, I did my homework, gathered what information I could or had from my previous business, and then we had a recorded phone interview for a couple of hours blocking out the necessary info into his formula, discussing store philosophy, background history, competition and marketing strategy, customer buying profiles, staffing, location, demographics, industry analysis and then all the financial data for the staffing forecast, revenue , income statement and balance sheet formulas. Fortunately I had, at my fingertips, all my Quickbook ledgers from B.NY. to give me accurate figures for my expected operating costs, revenue and staffing payroll. Without that, it would have been difficult to guesstimate.
This process with Jeff, from Texas, took a number of weeks, going back and forth, adjusting and fine tuning it, so that it would read easily and impart a sense of ME into what could easily have been a technical and boring plan. Jeff is a numbers guy,very smart, but when it came to the writing aspect of the Plan it was pretty cut and dried. I needed more style and flow to the narrative portion of the Plan, especially the Mission Statement and the Executive Summary, which is very critical because it is the first thing an investor will read and if you don't grab them with that then you can forget about it. I sent it to another "professional writer" and she did her thing but it turned out to be TOO much in the other direction, to flowery and over-detailed, sort of lost in the translation if you know what I mean. Then it went to some good friends, Rick and Janice, who looked at the original and the "flowery" one and then roughed out a version that had a little of both and was more direct. They were a great help to talk to and brainstorm with, gave me a lot of food for thought.
I hope that this not too mundane and boring, but this is how I have worked best in the past, which is coming up with an idea, fleshing it out with 2-4 different people and their points of view and then looking at the whole picture, sitting down and piecing together what sounds right and then getting rid of the chaff. That is basically what I did here and I think I was successful in achieving what I had set out to do. The problem was, it was still in a standard business plan format and rather generic looking and that bothered me.
During my investigation of store web-sites I checked out Atelier New York ,which I had listed in my previous blog, and thought whoever designed this site did it in a very clean, detailed, sophisticated and captivating way. I liked the simplicity and the focus and point of view that the site gave to the store. I looked at the Contact page and saw the website designer's name, Steinhardt Design . His name is Alexj Steinhardt and when I Googled him, I was impressed with other work he had done in websites and in graphic design as well. He seemed to concentrate in the Music field designing a number of sites for renowned symphonic musicians as well as artists and book stores. This probably results from him growing up in a musicians family. His father is Arnold Steinhardt, a symphonic violinist, whose website Alexj designed, of course! This, I felt, was definitely the right direction I should be looking into,someone with an artistic sense-ability, pure of thought and not driven to the typical bells and whistles that seems to be so prevalent on websites these days.
I put a call into Alexj and, complimented him on his work and told him about my project and asked if would he be interested in designing the website for my new venture. We talked about timeline and the direction of the site which had to be integrated with the POS (Point of Sale) system in the store. He said that he would put together a proposal after he talked with one of his lead designers, Diane and would get back to me. It was a great feeling of relief and anticipation that I had after hanging up with him. I felt that he and I clicked and I looked forward to reading his proposal.
Which we will see...
Monday, March 7, 2011
"If I had a hammer..."
So, how do I go about building a new store? You see, I must go back and explain that my previous store, B.NY. was a store I had been working for, became a partner and then purchased from my former employer/partner's widow over time. Now, I am the one who has to come up with a concept for something new and exciting. Fun, huh?
This is how I see it....in this day and age online is becoming the norm in everything and eCommerce just keeps escalating even during the Great Recession that we've been experiencing and shows no aspect of slowing down, BUT... people will always want to go to a brick-and-mortar store to do their primary shopping. We are very social animals, we like to get out and visit shops, especially our favorite ones, where we can peruse the latest fashions, get feedback from the sales associates, fill a dressing room full of clothes and style away to our hearts content. It's FUN, it's SOCIAL, it fills a need or want, whether to interact with somebody, kill some time (as a retailer THAT is not my favorite thing!) and of course the end result is to find some fascinating, unique, MUST HAVE items to add to our wardrobes.
My new store will be two-fold; a brick and mortar store and an online store or as it is called a "click and mortar". In my mind the physical store will be the anchor, the hub, and out of that will flow the online store which does need time to get up and running but will soon become the driving force of the whole operation. To accomplish this, one needs to do their homework and that is what I set out to do.
In my business, every time I would travel to Paris, Milan, Florence, New York, etc, I would always go out and source other fashion stores,L'Eclaireur in Paris , Corso Como 10 in Milan, Atelier New York to name a few and see what lines and designers they were carrying, always seeking something fresh and new that would fit into the mix of my store. At the same time, checking out the layout of other stores, how they were merchandising their product, how the windows were displayed, was the staff attentive and engaging, the lighting... extremely important!...the traffic flow in the store and could I incorporate any or all of this into my store to improve the shopping experience for my clients. It was always very interesting to see how other store buyers would buy a designer that I was carrying, the depth of the line, the sizing and color direction they would choose and how that collection would be displayed and presented to their customers. This is and was part of the process to keep myself abreast and current in what I was doing. I know how to do this and do it well, now it is time to channel that energy to the Web!
In my business, every time I would travel to Paris, Milan, Florence, New York, etc, I would always go out and source other fashion stores,L'Eclaireur in Paris , Corso Como 10 in Milan, Atelier New York to name a few and see what lines and designers they were carrying, always seeking something fresh and new that would fit into the mix of my store. At the same time, checking out the layout of other stores, how they were merchandising their product, how the windows were displayed, was the staff attentive and engaging, the lighting... extremely important!...the traffic flow in the store and could I incorporate any or all of this into my store to improve the shopping experience for my clients. It was always very interesting to see how other store buyers would buy a designer that I was carrying, the depth of the line, the sizing and color direction they would choose and how that collection would be displayed and presented to their customers. This is and was part of the process to keep myself abreast and current in what I was doing. I know how to do this and do it well, now it is time to channel that energy to the Web!
Well, I jump on the Internet and start Google-ing away, checking out web-sites, searching various boutiques online presence, who had eCommerce and who just had a presence and if they had eCommerce was it 24/7 fully functional or did you have to call the store to purchase. What were they selling, how much, quantities, designers, men or women fashions or both, was the site clean or cluttered?, how easy was it to navigate and check out, did they blog or style on the site, did it use Flash or not. These were just a few of the questions I was searching answers for. Obviously there are a lot of websites selling clothing but it really comes down to the few high end fashion forward sites that I am interested in because they are the ones I will be competing with.
The number one high end women's fashion site is, in my opinion, Net-a-Porter.com , based out of London, founded by a stylist and former journalist, Natalie Massenet, who employs over 500 people and claims to attract over two million viewers a month. Other sites to take note of are Yoox.com from Milan and Farfetch.com, a site that allow stores from all over the world to join showcasing their store products in one site. Now, keep in mind that these are just online stores only with no physical presence but they are doing an incredible business over the Internet. The stores that I will be competing directly with are the brick and mortar stores in Los Angeles, Maxfield, H. Lorenzo, Ron Herman, Fred Segal, etc. All these stores have sites but not all actually sell off their sites but use them as presence to get people interested to call or come in.
Mind boggling isn't it? Well, it is to me and I guess that's what is important. I have to tell you that I am somewhat computer and Internet challenged and this doesn't come second nature to me as it does to my son, Gavin. To him its a second language and pity the fool...Me... who doesn't get it as quickly as he does!...It's a Joke, Gavin, OK?... I have to tell you that he is very patient with his old dad, most of the time.
Anyway, as you can see, I had my work cut out for me and I just wanted to give you an inkling of the process and how my mind works. It is late and I'm going to sign off now.
Next time...
The number one high end women's fashion site is, in my opinion, Net-a-Porter.com , based out of London, founded by a stylist and former journalist, Natalie Massenet, who employs over 500 people and claims to attract over two million viewers a month. Other sites to take note of are Yoox.com from Milan and Farfetch.com, a site that allow stores from all over the world to join showcasing their store products in one site. Now, keep in mind that these are just online stores only with no physical presence but they are doing an incredible business over the Internet. The stores that I will be competing directly with are the brick and mortar stores in Los Angeles, Maxfield, H. Lorenzo, Ron Herman, Fred Segal, etc. All these stores have sites but not all actually sell off their sites but use them as presence to get people interested to call or come in.
Mind boggling isn't it? Well, it is to me and I guess that's what is important. I have to tell you that I am somewhat computer and Internet challenged and this doesn't come second nature to me as it does to my son, Gavin. To him its a second language and pity the fool...Me... who doesn't get it as quickly as he does!...It's a Joke, Gavin, OK?... I have to tell you that he is very patient with his old dad, most of the time.
Anyway, as you can see, I had my work cut out for me and I just wanted to give you an inkling of the process and how my mind works. It is late and I'm going to sign off now.
Next time...
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