This is 3Bits & Change, an email about building a service and retail business. This one was written to the silence of my airpods and the dog chewing on a toy.
I’m fond of the mental model and new product approach that crafts products just enough to ship them. It’s ok to be a little embarrassed by the ‘polish’ or lack of polish. The important thing is to get ‘something’ shipped and then pay really close attention to it, learn and iterate.
I was reflecting on the many times I’ve taken this approach on this business including these three: open before it’s done and two instances of selling something before it existed.
//no.1 - Open before the build outs were complete
In September of ‘22 and September of ‘23 I was embarking on a shop build. In both years I’d just signed leases around this time in September and had loads of construction oriented design type things I was planning and working on.
My photo albums from this month in previous years are filled with architectural designs, storefronts that were soon to be ours and anticipation.
It’s nearly October now. For the last two Octobers I returned to my contractor-esk skill set and did anything and everything to build out these stores.
This October is different. We have a store that’s matured in a fantastic shopping district. We have a sharpening room, new abrasives from Massachusetts and Osaka, hundreds of people that have taken one of our classes, loads of media impressions, a successful art fair showing and way more inventory than last year.
Now, if we can just get the construction cones out of the road!
Here is to shipping things before they’re done. Here’s to continual improvement, learning and iteration. Cross your fingers with me that the holiday season is better than we’re planning.
//no.2 - Set the page up
It was Spring of 2022. I had a wild idea that I would sell sharpening services via pre-paid shipping boxes to persons around the country. I was at home with dull knives after years of cooking during the pandemic. The trick… I did not know how to sharpen.
In what has become our norm of shipping things before we have those things, I set up a dot com and the first pages to sell sharpening online and got to working out the problem of getting messages in front of people whom I had good reason to believe would care enough to buy.
I posted many times on Linkedin. Sponsored radio shows and podcasts. Started an Instagram account. Followed a ton of food folks and commented on their posts and messaged them for sharpening. I did the same on TikTok before finding the crew that loved watching silly sharp things on a sharpness tester and talking about obsidian. :)
During this time our package design kept changing every few weeks. The instructions were changed when the feedback provided context and perspective. And then the whole thing found a settled spot after the feedback shifted from process items to delight in the sharpening.
Initially, I had postboxes set up so I could get mail early in a day (10AM), sharpen and return packages the same day the arrived. Initially, I’d take packages of knives to other companies and have them sharpen. Initially, when on vacation, I hired high school kids to do the same. :)
And, eventually, I learned to sharpen. I bought a bunch of entry level tools and started building the mental models, motor skills and muscle memory required to be a good sharpener. Eventually I sought experiences in Japan to grow my knowledge and access to master craftsmen’s work. Eventually I sought out the best in the sharpening world and went to school repeatedly on how to be really really good at this craft.
But, it all started with a webpage, some images of an objectively ugly box and a curiosity about if it could be done and with which essential pieces.
//no.3 - Set the boxes out
It took a bit on this business to figure out a plausible way to grow the thing, and grow it big. I’ve been here before. We offered texting for service to shopping centers before we offered it to hotels and in both cases that was way before we understood the business case and business value we could bring our partners.
These retail packages are in a similar spot. I’ve been drafting those packages for a few years now before having finally figured out, with the help of a lateral thinking development partner and a unique shipper, how to get the shipping labels to meet our requirements for service.
Over the summer, I found my way to a farmers market and put some messaging and some new boxes to work on a table. The first week I gave the boxes away. Then I went back and re-designed them from the learning.
The second week I charged for them - the messaging was that much better. In both cases persons shipped us their knives for service. But the funny thing… after that first week at the market, I was driving away and realized I had not turned on the payment functions on that website.
Ha. I had again sold things before they were done, and in this case that would not, could not, work if customers tried. And only after having sold them did I realize I still needed to finish the product - to learn and iterate over and over.
Sum
From the outside this could be seen as unplanned, or reckless, or name your list of negatives to describe approaching new products and experiences. However, from the inside, the speed at which learning is happening and the proximity that learning is to the customer is a magic in the making.
Here is to learning by doing and shipping stuff before it’s done.
On Your Way
Enjoy the first days of Fall.
The trees are turning color here. I’m not building out a shop but we’re getting ready for cooking season. We’re only 66 days to Thanksgiving - the second biggest sharpening holiday of the year. We’re 93 days from Dec 25th, the biggest sharpening week of the year.
You know… it won’ hurt to get those knives serviced a few weeks early. :) Start here. I’ll be delighted, soon.
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