CRSW MIA

Having served in a lead capacity in Programme and Product Management with a couple international firms ranging from long established and highly regarded extremely high end white shoe experiential based sales to regulated incumbent monopolistic tech provider, in all cases, this is exactly the discussions we had on a regular basis during strategic and tactical pricing and promotion initiatives whether new product launch or existing product planning.  Concurred, customer retention and expansion are critical to survival.  However, there is a small segment of the market that buys and stores many soaps from many artisans but that is too small of a segment to maintain the cashflows required to keep small to mid size artisans in business.  Ultimately though, every firm dreads the moment of revelation wherein the customer adds up the spend to date getting sticker shock.

I don't think our best customers get sticker shock from us.

It is not necessarily the total spend in a vacuum but rather:
A, the total spend relative to one's financial situation
B, the total spend to acquire what a casual user might consider soaps differing only in scent coming from the same artisan
C, the spend when confronted by a significant other enquiring why so many soaps have been accumulated when they all do the same thing.

These questions take on merit whether the buyers are very well heeled realizing they have spent mid 5 figures annually with Ivy tuitions coming due, missed market investing opportunities due to spending on consumption or simply realizing they are not using the tech services purchased sufficiently to justify the annual billing when doing personal family budgeting in the businesses from whence personally experienced.  One man's ceiling is another's floor when it comes to customer finances

Ok, you got me. I laughed out loud when I read Point C. Nobody likes point C.

...EVERYBODY lives Point C; even though the wife has an entire bathroom filled to the ceiling with outrageously expensive items she rarely uses...but I digress....

There could be any number of reasons why they don’t have stock. I’m most concerned that he hasn’t responded to anyone. Hope all is okay.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That’s too bad. This business is challenging I would think. If an artisan isn’t working like hell to stay front of mind, they’re going to sink below the waves and be forgotten. While there is a degree of loyalty in the wet shaving community, the pull of the next shiny thing is strong.

I agree Mark but I also see a trend on that particular forum where there is a group of people that seem to be pushing supporting mass produced shave soaps like LaToya, Williams, Artko etc and are actually using the word cheap soap and supporting them over artisan brands and especially US artisan brands. I honestly don’t get it but it may and I’m not sure have an effect on US Artisan Soap makers as well as what you brought up. I also think that Covid has an effect on many businesses. I know from my standpoint not only has every ingredient, packaging, labels, aroma ingredients have all gone up and some significantly as well as lead times which can also not only cost delays in production but sometimes we have to buy bigger amounts so we don’t have to worry about it being sold out when we want it and we have to pay upfront so their holding our working capital for much longer periods of time. 

 I think Larry made an excellent shave soap. So unless it was just his choice to exit the business then that’s a shame for whatever the reason that forced him to close if the statement I read is true. 

I’m hoping not.

Yup, I remember a cantankerous old foreman on a job site many years ago, we were unionized so had our morning/afternoon coffee breaks of 15 minutes in addition to our 30 minute lunch break.  Burt (the cranky foreman) would be hammering his fist on the job shack wall at 15 minutes and 1 second shouting at us to get our lazy *%@#%@es back to work you lazy good for nothing pieces of %$@#* thats the trouble with people today everybody wants a job but nobody wants to work -everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die, seriously, the man's profane tirades were truly awe inspiring as was the fact that his head didn't just explode, but I digress, the point is that everyone talks about buying local and supporting local business and industry ...until its time to open your wallet and do it and then its time for the cheap mass produced imported products.  

What the heck?  

I assume that each of us believes that we should at least have the opportunity to earn a decent living for ourselves and our families so why do we begrudge our neighbours the same opportunity?  As far as shaving products go, I've tried where possible to buy USA/Canadian.  Hardware and software - the products are top notch and a few extra dollars in the bigger picture aren't important to me but they are important to the local artisans.  

Heres an example - not shaving related - Over the past year and a half I've upgraded my basement gym.  Its been challenging because at first everyone on earth was doing the same thing so everything was sold out.  Fortunately I had some old stuff lying around that I was able to dust off and use and then gradually products became available.  I decided I would buy Canadian and/or USA made products.  Its significantly more expensive due to higher labour costs.  You can argue that the domestic manufacturers should sharpen their pencils and processes and get competitive on price with (in the case of fitness equipment) Chinese made products.  Hey I'm all for competition but it has to be fair, you know, level playing field and all that.  Its tough for domestic manufacturers to compete with labour costs of virtually and, in some cases actually $0.00.  If we don't support local business then sooner or later there won't be any local business.  Look at domestic artisans and businesses as your friends and neighbours or employers of your friends and neighbours and give them the same respect and consideration that you give yourself.  If that item you want is too expensive to buy domestically then ask yourself if maybe you shouldn't save up for it and buy it later rather than buy the cheap imported stuff because none of us can afford that in the long run.  I specifically look for the made in USA or made in Canada, I do my research.  I know it will cost me more but I budget and plan.  You might think your job is safe from being outsourced overseas but I wouldn't be so sure about that.  If you haven't supported your neighbours then there will be no shoulder to cry on when your job goes.  

That being said, for sure domestic businesses have to be smart and competitive.  My hat is off to dominicr  and Sir Henry's - he has a well thought out business plan. The truth of the matter is, you can have the best product in the world but if you have a crappy business model and no plan, you will fail.  Maybe not right away but eventually.  The business model is the most important part of the equation.  Forums and social media can and probably should be part off that business model but they can't be the only part.  Social Media, including forums, are fickle and the forums can be intimidating to newcomers.  I know we don't try to be but we can certainly come off that way.  

My advice is buy local, you don't have to buy from all the domestic businesses and overwhelm yourself.  Pick one or two that you like and support them.  You will feel good as well as look good.

Isn’t the whole “buy American” thing self-defeating? I, like 96% of the potential market for these products, am not American. If everyone took this approach to purchasing then American businesses would only have 4% of the world to sell to. I would think in a specialist, niche industry like wet shaving supplies it is important to try and reach a global market, which we are able to do thanks to online retail and easy international shipping. Don’t complain about cheap Chinese imports, which you can’t and shouldn’t stop - sell really good, expensive stuff to Chinese customers.

But I do absolutely agree that if there is a manufacturer or vendor that we like, we should do everything we can to support them. If we go for the big retailer discounts then we can only blame ourselves when we lose the products we really valued. I try to be loyal as a customer to the businesses that take care of me and make things that I enjoy, no matter where in the world those business are.

Have you actually read Ricardo's: On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation? Have you examined its presumptions? Have you kept abreast of its proven corollaries, critiques and updates?

No. I haven’t.

I said buy local not sell local - I'm not sure where you get your numbers from but theres over 300M people in the US so even if you sell to a small percentage of that its still a big number.  I have nothing against buying from non-US or Canadian businesses but I think that we should buy locally first.  The same goes for everyone else in every other country.  While most of my shaving products are either Canadian or American sourced, I do have several products from the UK, France, Germany, Japan and Italy.  

Oh, and keto , sorry, you can't do that here.

I said buy local not sell local - I'm not sure where you get your numbers from but theres over 300M people in the US so even if you sell to a small percentage of that its still a big number.  I have nothing against buying from non-US or Canadian businesses but I think that we should buy locally first.  The same goes for everyone else in every other country.  While most of my shaving products are either Canadian or American sourced, I do have several products from the UK, France, Germany, Japan and Italy.  

Oh, and keto , sorry, you can't do that here.

There are 7.9 billion people as of 2020, so 330 million Americans are 4% of that. I was just indicating that if everybody bought only from local, domestic businesses then I, being British, should not consider buying anything from you. And if you provide a great service and sell great products I think that would be an injustice to you, and I would be missing out too. I just bought a fantastic razor from a guy in Turkey and I want to continue supporting his business rather than buying a British product that isn’t as good. Murat deserves my business more and he seems to be a good guy, so why should I take the food out of his mouth when I want him to keep making great stuff? Maybe I view things differently because I always lived and worked in different countries.

Anyway, I do understand your point. Probably the reality is that most customers will take advantage of a lower price if they can and, while they may sympathise with the ideas of buying locally or supporting smaller businesses, they will still take the cost saving first. It’s a nice thing to wish for but I’m not sure it helps a business to wish customers acted differently if they, in fact, won’t.

My point about China may not be relevant to your business, but just a general observation that there is a lot of complaining in many countries about too many low cost Chinese imports, but few businesses outside China bother to make a website in Chinese or try to market their products there. There are masses of affluent Chinese customers who want to buy the best international goods. There are always queues outside Geneva jewellers because the Chinese want to buy a Rolex where it is made. Bentley sells more cars in China than it does in America or Europe now. It can go both ways and, frankly, it can’t be much fun for Chinese workers to have their employment being entirely dependent on their wages being low. It is better to have a demand-led economy than a supply-led economy.

It was always, wasn’t it, the American way to find solutions to make money in whatever conditions they face, rather than accepting being victims of circumstance? That’s what I always felt made American business thrive. I know conditions are tough for many businesses and I don’t think it’s going to get easier. I think in business the answers are usually to make better products, give better service, do something to encourage and reward customer loyalty, market the business better and find ways to bring in new customers. Old-fashioned thinking, but I don’t think this ever changes.

I said buy local not sell local - I'm not sure where you get your numbers from but theres over 300M people in the US so even if you sell to a small percentage of that its still a big number.  I have nothing against buying from non-US or Canadian businesses but I think that we should buy locally first.  The same goes for everyone else in every other country.  While most of my shaving products are either Canadian or American sourced, I do have several products from the UK, France, Germany, Japan and Italy.  

Oh, and keto , sorry, you can't do that here.

Ok Sorry