How They Did It: Create a Brick-and-Mortar From an Online Business
by Christina Lee on April 7th, 2009
Though the Internet has made entrepreneurship more accessible than ever before, the requirements for long-term success remain the same: a unique product line, produced by driven and creative minds.
But in order to build a brick-and-mortar business based off of online success, such retailers need to maintain their creative vision – and not to mention, enough time to do it all.
Consider the founding days of these three entrepreneurs, all of which started online:
- Then a San Francisco resident, Bua Semapakdi had always wanted to offer unique home items and gifts through her own trendy boutique. She figured though that purchasing a Web site for SatinBox Company would be more reasonable means to sell the “affordable luxuries” she loved of Yoku Moku, Jonathan Adler and Jimmyjane.
- Jake Nickell’s concept behind Threadless formed under a simple contest launched in an online forum: design something worthy of being on a t-shirt. Earning the most votes resulted in a cash prize, in addition to a reward considered more valuable. “It wasn’t so much about the money. It was how cool it was to get your shirts printed,” said artist Glenn Rose to Inc., who won $150 in 2004.
- A nickname became a brand name once John Earle printed t-shirts with designs that revamped pop culture symbols – the Statue of Liberty, the skull and crossbones – with cupcake images. Newbury Comics, the record store where Earle worked, soon became known as the place to purchase Johnny Cupcakes t-shirts.
These online entrepreneurs all saw their ideas profit in just a few years. SatinBox Company revenues reached $100,000 in one year, Threadless had 7,000 users by its fourth year, and Johnny Cupcakes t-shirts were soon spotted on MTV and VH1.
Such successes would soon justify their next business step, to open a brick-and-mortar. But since customers already held high expectations of them, these entrepreneurs had to make sure to translate the unique aspects of their online business to these storefronts:
- Only when Semapakdi and husband Tim Chang moved from San Francisco to Boston did they find the perfect store front, at the right price. Rather than a strip mall, they chose to house SatinBox goods on the 400-square-foot ground floor of a yellow three-story house, as Semapakdi told Retail Traffic in 2007.
- Inside of the Threadless retail store in Chicago, only 20 t-shirts designs are sold at a time, though this inventory changes weekly. The lower level features zinc panels providing close-ups of the t-shirt designs, while the upper level serves as an art gallery for a featured illustrator.
- Many mistake the Johnny Cupcakes retail store in Boston for an actual bakery – and on Earle’s part, that is no mistake. He has fooled plenty with the stainless steel trays and curved glass cases displaying the t-shirts, a 1890s iron-cast oven and a 1930s 1000-lb. dough mixer standing by, and vanilla air fresheners hidden throughout the store.
Once the online and brick-and-mortar businesses begin operating simultaneously, such entrepreneurs need to make sure they have enough resources – including time – for both.
With just the online business, Semapakdi and Chang had help packaging and shipping for a few hours a day, as they worked to market and update the Web site, plus provide customer service through phone and e-mail.
“It’s a great situation for when you need flexibility,” Semapakdi said in an e-mail interview. “We could scale back work and do bare minimum (just customer service via e-mail, packaging/shipping and bare bones marketing) for a while and also ramp up and add more work hours when we have the time.”
And so, revolving SatinBox online operations around regular store hours became a difficult adjustment.
“After just having the online store, which is flexible in terms of work hours – you can work from 1 a.m. to 3 a.m. (which is what we often did) from home – it was difficult to add the store work hours in, too,” Semapakdi said.
Within the first year though, Semapakdi discovered the true value of a brick-and-mortar: face-to-face contact with customers, along with income that added up to 25 percent of SatinBox revenue. But then, before her first-year lease was up for renewal, she found out that she was pregnant. Semapakdi has since closed down her brick-and-mortar, so that she could handle being both a parent and a business owner.
“Having the brick-and-mortar store was definitely great because you can get work done while at the store,” she said, adding, “However … it does not currently fit our personal lifestyles.”
So while Semapakdi scaled down, Nickell and Earle hope to soon offer even more.
Nickell now take requests for pattern designs for a Threadless sister brand, Naked and Angry. Such designs have already been printed on wall coverings, leather wallets and silk neckties. And, after opening two other retail locations, Earle soon wants to offer posters, handbags, sneakers and more.
But even with just one brand, operating two types of businesses undeniably requires a great amount of commitment. As Earle advised to NPR: “Be prepared to toss out any relationships or hobbies, if need be. You have to put 110 percent into building any company. You need to get your own act together before taking on a relationship.”
Regardless, these entrepreneurs prove that creating a brick-and-mortar business out of an online one requires products that customers demand and a mission statement that can manifest in a store front. With all of this handy, keep timing in mind as well, as Semapakdi realized as well.
“We did love having a store and once things are less hectic, we do hope to open another one,” she said.
Great guideline for us who are even venturing into an Online business as well.The key essentials are P= product line customers demand, M= mission statement ( where you want to go ), and T= time you must make accessible to achieve your goals and objectives ( for a viable income stream ).
On a more personal note this “guidline” is a motivational DNA ( D= desire, N= need, and A= award ).
Can I think of this as DNA for Dummies Guideline ?
Leonard Dabydeen
April 16th, 2009
at 10:08 am
Leonard, you may be on to something. I’m glad you enjoyed the article.
Christina Lee
April 16th, 2009
at 3:21 pm