The time I asked for expert business advice (and didn't take it)
Don’t make the same mistake I did as a female corporate escapee with a dream to launch a business.
Many (many) moons ago, after I’d left my big corporate job for a tech startup in San Francisco…
And after that company was (thankfully) sold…
And after I took a self-imposed (and self-funded) sabbatical that involved some much-needed travel and exploration, and then a year-long Masters Degree in London…
I had the brilliant idea of opening a store, in Manhattan, a city in which I had never lived, doing work that I had never done.
_____
I had these things going for me:
decent taste
an eye for all things beautiful
an ability to learn new business structures pretty quickly
So I developed my concept. I would bring to New York a selection of amazing, lesser-known womenswear and accessory brands that I had discovered while living in London.
Now, before you roll your eyes (don’t worry, you’ll have the opportunity to do that in just a bit), this was pre-Internet-shopping ubiquity, when the idea of “discovery” still meant something, when you could shop in another country and find things that you could not get “back home.”
“Why did you want to do this?” you may wonder. Well, I wanted to:
execute an idea I had for my own business
do something I was passionate about
be surrounded by beauty and beautifully made things
help other people discover these beautifully made things that were not more widely available
do anything other than what I had been successful doing, for my entire career
_____
So I leapt.
I moved to New York, into a sweet main level, floor-through apartment in a Murray Hill brownstone (think a ballroom for a bedroom). I started my research. I set up my LLC and got my sales tax certificate. I started combing every neighborhood in the city, looking for space and assessing my competition. I determined which fashion markets I should (and could) attend. And I booked my ticket to Europe.
At this point, I should mention that I did one other important thing … I sought out free advice from an expert who could help me. I did this via SCORE, which is the nation's largest network of volunteer, expert business mentors.
I showed up for my meeting at the appointed time with my notes and files and ideas. We discussed my background and my plans for the store.
And then he gave me his advice, which was something I did not want to hear — he told me to get a job working in a women’s multi-brand store before I moved forward. Period.
What did I do? Did I listen to the expert’s advice. Oh no. I dismissed it entirely, pretended that I didn’t hear it and went on my merry way with my plan.
Cue the “eye rolling” now.
_____
As you’ve no doubt figured out at this point in the story, that was not a good move.
Here is what took place:
I went to the UK and Italy and found several brands that were willing to take my orders for the Fall/Winter season without me having secured a retail space
I put down deposits (usually 30-50%) of the order
While in Europe, I was placing calls trying to get additional funding
When I returned, I found a location under renovation in The Meatpacking District that I loved
I tried harder to raise more money
Eventually, I lost the space I wanted and my dream was slipping away
Then I set about trying to cancel all of the orders I’d placed - some vendors outright refused, others said I would lose my deposit, and some begged me to take the product as they were small brands
_____
So that “ballroom come bedroom” became a storage room in which I placed the shipments that arrived almost daily for a month.
Then, I spent the next year participating in sample sales, selling to friends and family, anything I could think of to get rid of the merchandise that was a daily reminder of my good idea gone bad.
During that time, I was fortunate enough to be offered a position at a technology startup in Manhattan, semi-walking distance from my apartment/warehouse, via a former colleague at the big company I’d worked at.
This was 15 years ago and, as I type this, it’s still painful for me to recount what happened.
_____
I don’t share my story to insight fear and terror within you.
I do share it with you, so you think in advance about the following:
⚡ Realize there are things that “you don’t know what you don’t know”
⚡ If you are new to the area in which you want to launch your business, talk to as many people as you can who are in that business
⚡ If it makes sense, apprentice yourself
⚡ Get a handle on what you need to have in place to launch your business
⚡ Know how much money it is going to take to launch (aka “launch costs”)
⚡ Be conservative in your revenue projections - develop best and worst-case scenarios
⚡ Calculate your monthly operating expenses for the first six months - and assume that you’ll need to cover the bulk of them (see bullet above)
⚡ Have a personal budget so you know your monthly living expenses and can cover those for six months as well
⚡ If you’re leaving a corporate job in the U.S., don’t forget about health insurance
⚡ Know your strengths and weaknesses
⚡ Go to the pros for those areas that are not your strong suit
Do I wish I had listened to the expert whose advice I was smart enough to seek out — you betcha.
_____
Learn from me. Use my (big) mistake as a lesson in how to keep you from making yours.✨
If you’re ready to finally launch your business and you know you need help to make it happen, get on the Waitlist for my Launch Your Business Course - next cohort begins in late October.