Name ideas
I watched a couple of videos online giving advice about naming a business. I didn't properly realise how important the name is before watching these but it is actually the first thing the audience will see/hear about the business so it needs to be good. Things to consider included what we are trying to communicate, the key elements of the business, the business aims, and appealing to customer base. They also suggested that depending on the business concept, you need to think whether it would be more appropriate to create a new and exciting name or something more familiar and trustworthy. It also brought up issues of checking for names already in use so there are no legal breaches made or confusion caused.
Platform, Art Platform, Lift Off, Print Platform, Launch pad, Springboard, Print Base, Arty People, Print Lab, Print Partners, Print Pig, Print Pug, Printable, Print-a-bull, Propel-a-Print, Propeller Print, Principle...
Some of these are bad names but I think a few have potential. I will put these forward to the rest of my group.
Structures of Similar Companies - ETSY
Etsy's mission is 'to enable people to make living making things, and to reconnect makers with buyers' which makes it relevant to our own business.
This information is from a corporate strategy presentation from the company in 2012.
Etsy's CEO, Robert Kalin, said that it was more important to them at this time 'to build engagements than build profits' which I can understand as a strategy for a long term, sustainable business. It needs to gain trust and a base of customers who will stay loyal as the company progresses to making more and more money. This is shown in their figures between 2008 and 2010.
Customer experience goals: the most important thing to them was differentiating themselves from other competitors in the industry.
Etsy is similar to our business in the way that it needs to cater for buyers and sellers and both need to stay interested in using the business for it to survive.
Their executive structure consisted of five people on the board of directors, then on the rank below was the C-Suite of three people, and then below that was a management team of ten people.
Work environment: the Etsy office space was described as having an 'ambience', it had the essentials of desks and computers but didn't spend loads of money on furnishings. They have plants inside, recycled curtains and other furnishings and energy saving lights.
Customer Service - human to human interaction has helped them to keep customers happy. Not everything can be solved by a computer. They also have pop up shops and markets where sales are made on a face to face basis which brings in a different group of customers.
Structures of Similar Companies - REDBUBBLE
I have an account with RedBubble so I feel some of this information may be biased based on my experience. The structure is simple, anyone can create an account and upload images onto Redbubble so that they are available to buy in the form of T-shirts, mugs, prints, bags, cushions, etc. This might make it seem like it is a company inclusive of everyone, which it is, but it means there are endless designs to trawl through that give the impression that the company cares very little for the actual artwork.
As a seller on Redbubble, the prices of each item is fixed and you have to add your own margin on top of that. This means you are torn between making a good profit but an offputting price, or a reasonable price with very little profit. For example, I made a sale the other day and these were the figures. Also, due to other terms and conditions, no money will come into my bank before I have earned a total of £13.
I understand that Redouble is a big company and it has a lot of people contributing artwork, I just feel like it is not a good experience for the artist or the buyer, it isn't made particularly personal in any way and the products still seem to be churned out of a factory instead of having time and care taken over them.
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