Five ways I've f**ked up so far

Botched launches, abandoned cabins, suspect marketing. It's been an eventful few months!

Ben & I have learnt a huge amount in that time but it has not been with out it's challenges.

In actual fact I've f**ked up hundreds of times since launching but honestly whose got time to type all that up? It was extremely liberating writing this, I'm sure I'll have plenty more f**k ups to share in the future.

#1 Selective Hearing

Site #1 could only be accessed across 200m of arable field- potentially an issue for the 24 ton lorry transporting the cabin.

Multiple lorry companies told us that we’d need to lay road plates all the way across the field.

Sounded like a hassle.

Undeterred, I kept trying companies until one said they could get across. “At this time of year? It’ll be hard as a rock! No problem.”

The week of the the install arrived- pouring rain!

The lorry driver took one look at the field: "No chance I'm getting across there, lads. You'll need to lay road plates."

Classic.

We ended up abandoning the cabin by the side of the road whilst we frantically rebooked the transport and ordered some road plates.

￡1k-￡2k and a few days wasted but a valuable lesson learnt:

Seek the truth rather than what you want to hear!

#2 Under communication

Every issue we’ve had seems to be a communication issue. Two people (I’m usually one of them) weren’t on the same page. I didn’t pick up the phone enough.

This has lead to everything from the wrong electrical wiring in the cabin to a dodgy checkout flow.

For example... We originally planned to put the cabin on a trailer. To sit on a trailer the cabin must be 3.5tns or less- should be plenty!

We were under the illusion this was still an option until we notified the supplier to go for it.

He reacted in shock: "That won't be possible. The cabin weighs 7tns." Double the weight limit! F**k...

I was annoyed at first. Until I realised it was no-ones fault but my own. I had simply under-communicated.

Who needs a trailer anyway?

#3 Under selling

Build it and they will flock… That was my approach.

Of course, it doesn’t work like this in the real world…

I made exactly the same mistake last Christmas with the Hoodies for the Homeless campaign- in which we sold 258 hoodies of a 9000 target!

Despite this experience, I fell into the same trap and we launched to crickets.

Ben has a far better head for sales than I, and his subsequent effort coupled with some much appreciated referrals (thanks Jack Needham and Katherine Heath!) helped get the ball rolling.

For me, it’s back to the sales books. Perhaps one day I’ll get the hang of it. (Probably not…)

#4 Jack of all trades, master of none

A lack of focused marketing. Classic.

When we started Unplugged I was fresh off a year running growth/marketing at Nobly (badly). On paper I should have been prepared.

The key, I knew, was to do 1-2 things well rather than lots of things averagely.

With this in mind we identified email marketing as the key channel and built a solid plan with the help of the brilliant Nelio Leone. We planned to grow our email list to 2,000 by the end of summer through manual outreach on Linkedin and Facebook.

Idiot proof. Or so I thought.

It got off to a decent start- hard, focused work got us to 250 in the first month.

And then I got bored.

The outreach stopped.

I wrote a blog post. We ran some insta ads. We threw together a press release. I’m back posting s**t on Linkedin.

The result?

We never did get to that 2k target (sat at about 400 today, sorry Nelio!). A lot of “work” led to little results.

Consistency is key.

#5 Diluted Messaging

We're not trying to build a cabin company.

There are some wonderful cabins out there. Treehouses, cabins with hot tubs, you name it.

No doubt being a cabin company is a viable business. (See: Getaway, Unyoked and Slow Cabins).

But…

It's not what we're trying to do.

We are trying to help people truly switch off from their devices and change their perspective about feeling they need to be available in their "always-on" lives.

And yet… that's not what our marketing said.

Many of our early guests booked after seeing a beautiful cabin on Insta. When it came to locking away their phones they were horrified! They'd come for a few nights in a cabin- going phone free would not be an option….

We are now, however, getting there! All our September guests have gone through the full digital detox.

Will locking away phones always be the thing? Who knows! Lots of interesting possibilities in the space.

Look forward to figuring it out.