RE: Re UKNM: Nutravida.com - Pureplays vs traditional retailers

[Robin Edwards]

Yep, absolutely spot on, both of you. Almost conjures up an image of a kid

on a skateboard shouting, "up yours granddad - you're out of touch," before

skating head on into a lamp post.


I would love to say that the press and "analysts" have learned form all of

this, as the investors have, yet we still see endless "top 100 e-biz" lists

that rate the financial performance and market reach of sites that haven't

even launched.


I can foresee a TV programme in the not too distant future called "Never

mind the business-model" featuring rounds such as:


* Identity parade - can you pick out the e-entrepreneur who was hyped up to

the hilt in 1999 as the 17 year old who's

"informationthatonly3peoplewilleverread.com" was valued at $500M (hint: he's

the one who looks like he never actually made any money)


* What happened next - we show you a business plan scribbled on a beer mat,

$10M in finance from an investor who should have known better, an

inexperienced "management" team of blokes who may leave their full-time jobs

if this thing takes off (but they'd rather float it quickly and bail out)

and a market that they have no hope of reaching. We stop the video after

they've been live for 2 months and ask, "what happened next?"


* Intros round - two guests act out a trivial scene of marginal interest.

The third guest has to turn it into a dot-com worth more than British

Airways.


* Missing link - we show two videos, one featuring an established business

that actually turns a profit, the second featuring etc etc


Robin


--

Robin Edwards

Clockworx

T: +44 1543 252370           F: +44 1543 420761

E:

robinclockworx [dot] co [dot] uk

   W: http://www.clockworx.com/ W2:

http://www.shopworx.net/


> -----Original Message-----

>

From: Duncan Clubb [duncanoffworld [dot] net (mailto:duncanoffworld [dot] net)]

> Sent: Monday, September 04, 2000 10:01 AM

>

To: uk-netmarketingchinwag [dot] com

> Subject: Re: Re UKNM: Nutravida.com - Pureplays vs traditional retailers

>

>

> KAA01104

>

Sender: ownerchinwag [dot] com

> Precedence: bulk

>

Reply-To: uk-netmarketingchinwag [dot] com

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>

> Neil

> I think that another factor that most people forget when dreaming up

> their business plan (I've been guilty of this myself in the past) is

> that retail is a very unusual industry, and one that requires experience

> that is not gained in any other field.  I remember hearing about a bunch

> of fatcat directors sitting round a board table, realising that between

> them they represented every major industry and market in the UK, except

> one - retail.  To their credit, they all also realised that it was

> probably the one area to which they could not make a useful

> contribution, as none of them had any experience in it whatsoever.  In

> fact, most of them seemed *scared* of it.  Most e-retailers seem to have

> very little real retail expereince in their mgmt teams, but blithely

> assuyme that it is a simple nut to crack.  We can be such arrogant

> fools, sometimes!

> Aye

> Duncan Clubb.

>

> Neil Morgan wrote:

> >

> > All of a sudden those 'dinosaurs'; - the pre-Boo view of many

> traditional

> > retailers - are beginning to look sensible.  The view that the

> web is just

> > one of the channels to market for a retailer is being accepted.

>  Meanwhile

> > those who rely on the web as the only channel are suffering.

> If they had

> > looked at the low margins that many traditional retailers have

> to work off

> > and the massive investment in logistics needed to run a

> profitable outfit

> > they may never have started.  Only the best online operations will get

> > bought by the traditional players.


[Sam says: msg chopped]



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