SHOWPO’s Top 9 Business Mistakes.

And, ICYMI, the Story behind That Dress.

A colleague and I recently caught up with the Chief Executive Pony at Showpo on Friyay. I’ve been crushing hard on #GirlBosses and Jane Lu is at the top of the list.

Following the release of her colour changing dress, we were happy to catch up with Jane to talk about The Dress, Seamless 2017 and her ideas for Like Minded Bitches Drinking Wine (which is exactly what we did).

You may know the successes behind Jane and how she built her multi-million dollar empire, but what you may not know are some of the mistakes that got her there. Here are Showpo’s Top 9 Mistakes and my after-thoughts:

1.     Not Truly Understanding the Problem you are Solving

KISS. No, not a request. But a prompt to Keep It Simple, Stupid. #1 is pretty straight forward. Make sure you clarify and communicate your understanding of the problem. Question your assumption about what you know about the problem before you start working on it.

2.     Not Diversifying Marketing Channels

Don’t invest all in one channel. Make sure you expand your marketing channels. Otherwise you run all your risk and reliance in one channel. When you diversify your channels, you spread your risk.

3.     Getting the Wrong Supplier.

Your supplier will affect your product. Ergo, your relationship with your supplier will affect your relationship with your customer. So do your homework, get samples of your products, and this in turn will help you make better decisions.

4.     Not Having a Partnership Agreement

I can’t agree enough. This takes me back to my contract law days, but Showpo hits the nail on the head with this one. You can avoid problems early, when clear roles and responsibilities are set out. Expectations are managed and you know who’s offering what to the business.

5.     Not Knowing Your Numbers

In Jane’s word, “Do not kill your profitability. You need to know your margins. Not just at the top line. You need to know your gross margins, your customer lifetime value, and cost for acquisition…” If you want to know more, definitely let Jane know and she can make a separate video on this. Watch this space.

6.    Taking on Too Much.

You need to let your business grow. And to do this, you need to step away sometimes. Instead of working for your business, you can start working on your business.

7.     Planning Too Much.

I love planning, so this one was a hard one to take in. Showpo makes a good point when they say don’t over plan, you’ll be given curve balls and you need to be agile.

8.     Not Following Your Gut When Hiring People

Your people make your culture and your company. Always follow your gut.

9.     Don’t over Rationalise

Learning as you go, and as you do, you’ll realise the details that actually goes into getting things done. There are no clear paths to profit - no matter how rational or obvious it may seem.

Oh and ICYMI*, the colour changing dress was an awesome prank by Jane to encourage Australians to study STEM*. The idea behind the prank was to encourage people to study STEM so that the ability to create a colour-changing-dress-at-the-touch-of-button, could someday be reality.

EA.

* So many acronyms, here’s a breakdown - ICYMI: In Case You Missed It (thanks to my 16 year old #GirlBoss cousin explaining this to me), and STEM: Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths.