Implosion

Another reason for my change in business plan is what I see as the imminent demise of an online sales venue that I had high hopes for. Some readers may know the site in question but I won't name it here.

The concept is (was) great; a marketplace catering to a particular niche market which perfectly reflected my own personal style in crafting and general aesthetic. The potential is (was - not sure whether past or present tense is appropriate) huge for a successful venue catering to a small but devoted demographic. Sad to say the reality has not been what I had hoped for.

What follows is my own personal opinion but it's obvious many others share my view and disappointment. The site was 'talked up' for months and previews aluding to the final design were gorgeous but what has gone 'live' is far from gorgeous, or even functional for the most part. The owner has revealed that while passionate about her craft and singular devotion to her vision, she lacks the ability to accept even the most constructive and gentle of criticism and her steadfast refusal to see any point of view but her own will be her downfall, unfortunately.

Even worse is what I perceive as a serious lack in capital to invest in the venture; likely relying on vendor fees to finance the site rather than fronting the money herself. I venture to suggest her ideas far outweigh the means to make it happen and that is why the design is less than wonderful and basic functions seem to fail; such as accurate recording of items sold. The owner admitted as much when she once said that certain improvements wouldn't be made anytime soon because there were more important fixes to be done and she only had enough money left to cover 2 hours of her webdesigner's time. How can you provide a service for paying customers who rely on you when you're operating on a shoestring budget like that? It would also explain why a couple of pages at the site are nothing more than glorified blogs hosted here at blogger.com for free; there isn't enough money to pay for the webmaster to add and maintain the pages as a part of the site.

Sad to say, she is caught in a Catch22 situation of her own making. Vendors are withdrawing from the site for a variety of reasons (I won't detail the drama here but suffice to say her lack of business sense and tendancy to react emotionally caused many problems) but without the vendors there will be no cashflow to make the site viable and functional.

So........having planned on making this venue my choice for an online home, I need to regroup and start over.