You are reading 3Bits & Change, Joseph's email about building a direct to consumer business on the internet and an occasional Web3 issue. Today’s email was written while listening to Harry Potter being read in the other room + Radiohead.
Good Day,
It’s been a few weeks. A number of you have reached out asking if you’ve missed an issue. No. It’s not you or your inbox filter. It’s me. I took a break.
Here’s the gist. I went to DC for the school lunch conference (more on that in another issue). We lost a retail spot we were eyeing for a few months. Then spring break happened. Skiing! And then, because I played so hard, I got tip top sick last week. In all the cases I was distracted and choose not to write. That changes today. The knife stuff learning has continued momentum.
Bit #1 Growing on the .com
I’ve come to believe early growth on the web will need to come through 1) influencer partnerships and sponsorships and 2) solid adwords configurations.
The current models (local retail) for knife sharpening are broken. If they were working we’d be able to say that only 80% of the knives in America were dull. As it stands, 95%+ of American households have dull knives. Those that sharpen are largely chefs and those interested in BBQ.
So, how does the sector grow? Our current bets are to target a new audience (Moms and Grandmas) in new channels (online web stuff).
We’re going to be laying down a updated paid search account strategy, starting on the 12th, with a consultant we’ve found helpful to work with. We’ll get in the shopping feed (we keep getting rejected) and see what happens with the ad account table stakes done “right.” Arguably, this should have been done months ago. We finally found a person who is right to help.
Regarding influencers and sponsorships. Here’s a test. Name a famous female chef? It’s pretty hard to do unless you’re an insider. And then, those persons named are not famous, per se. OK. Name a famous male home cooking blogger that got their start on blogs. And there we have it (I know a few now but it’s because I’m becoming an insider). We’re going to test influencer marketing and partnership efforts with home cooking bloggers and folks on the socials.
ASKS:
Please reply with your favorite home cooking blogger folks. We’ll reach out to them.
Share any ways you know of to look folks up like this. Upfluence wants $1000 a month in their min account. We’re not there yet.
Bit #2 Lost a killer retail spot. Get a truck?
Last month we more and doubled the number of visits to the webpage and the conversion rate got slashed. Maybe shipping knives for service is too new to build a business off of it right now? Maybe the market will grow into that and a retail store is what needs to happen next?
I had become convinced that even with the +$54k a year in Rent, CAM and Tax (plus buildout and inventory) there was a spot in the 50th and France area on MN that was both available and was going to really work.
There are a number of reasons. Here are some. It had great street presence and thousands of cars passed it every day or two. Hello sandwich board. Moms and Grandmas flow to the area for salon services and shopping. The volume is really amazing. So, getting your hair done while your knives are sharpened makes sense. Two large kitchen stores used to be on the same block, etc. etc.
I was assured on a Thursday afternoon that it was available. By the following Monday it was not. Boy, things go fast. There was some grief. And then I moved on.
In the time since I’ve both doubled down on what kind of factors make sense in a retail spot and kept looking. It’s amazing to me that so many places can spend 4-5k on rent/month and stay in business. It has me wondering if it’s just about boldness in a right location and retail stores work, somehow. I mean, there are so many salons, nail places, homewares stores, cleaners and more. It’s amazing! And further, there are a ton of homeware stores I don’t see people in very often that stay in business!
For a brief bit after losing the store I thought about scrapping the retail idea and sticking the sharpener in a trailer or truck again. After some reflection it occurs to me that I just don’t want to run that truck bound business. I don’t want to run a pure white label delivery style business serving hardware stores and restaurants through their service door. An internet business? Yes. It can scale and that is attractive. A retail business with knife fitting and kitchen wares and a cool vibe for knife classes and champagne. Yes! That’d be fun and there’d be people involved. A delivery truck style service business. No thanks. That’s a real helpful clarification.
ASK: Know someone running a pure retail store? I’d love to talk to them about their rent structures to retail experiences and sales and would welcome an introduction.
Bit #3 Where’s the lunch debt?
One of the key learning points of the trip to DC came after the trip on a zoom call with a Director of Nutrition. She had made a comment that the debt her program was carrying was over $80K. There are 50k people in her city and ~8k students. I could not find the debt in the public financials. Do you know where it is? It’s on the individual student accounts!
A few things I know now. Those accounts don’t get reported in the public record during audits. They are hidden. The account balances build over the time and follow students from year to year and to graduation. The debt that remains can be written off in a general fund type cleanup - provided it was a “good” enough year to do so. The highest this Director has seen a single student account get was in the mid two thousand dollars.
More to come on what I’ve learned about school lunch programs in a future issue. But for now, know the debt is on the individual student accounts.
Sum
I’m glad to be back at writing again. It is both something you all are requesting (THANKS) and the more importantly something I find worthwhile and fun. I’m going to steer the business away from a sharpening system in a truck right now. The aim is for scale and people and a truck does neither. And the debt on school lunch systems is found on the individual student accounts. Woah.
Change
This newsletter is in “Nebraska” right now. But, I am writing for myself. Ideas are being worked out better in text form than in my mind alone. Thanks for your interest again. Link.
If you’re interested in learning skiing, go to a resort and get a full day lesson or two. We had Steve on our trip to Park City. We’re all different and better skiers now! Don’t hesitate to get lessons.
On Your Way
May the snow stop this April and the baseball start when we all have enough luck to see the sun for more than a few hours at a time. Maybe this weekend. Maybe.
Follow @josephrueter on Instagram or Linkedin. Follow Vivront.com on Instagram and Facebook.
Order your knives sharpened, or a subscription so a package just shows up on a schedule, at Vivront.com.