Week 7 Reopen to Slow Retail

This week was the reopening of salons in the state of Michigan. I had only 5 customer interactions with service providers through supplies. Instead of requesting their current schedules, I asked that they provide me the past schedules for a discount on supplies. The request for supplies seems a little slow, but I believe that services providers still have supplies left over from before the shutdown. The request for supplies will build up and I will be able to benefit in the area of customer discovery from these eventual interactions (with the help of the discount incentive).

After reviewing the teardown information from Airbnb and including some of their model into the Lean Canvas. It seems like Jeff from Tech Town wants to revert to the Styleseat or MindBody business model. I am very apprehensive about their business model because in the previous customer discovery preformed, I found, that not many of the providers I work with use Styleseat any longer, and none of them use Mindbody at all. I have used both in the past and feel as if they are better suited for services like fitness and counseling sessions over lash appointments. 

My retail sales in DIY supplies dropped about $200 this week, but I am not too upset because the lash supplies for service providers supplemented for the loss. I signed up for some extra webinars for Detroit Startup week that will address email marketing and drop shipping. Hopefully, that will offset some of the decrease in sales and help me generate sales on eBay, Esty and Amazon. I don’t have much time to spend on the typical promotion of retail, so I may solicit some help from people on Fiverr who are experts in this area (at least until I am done with Startup Week and as I conclude the Capstone). 

I am still working on deliverables for the Lean Canvas so I scheduled an appointment with Jeff for next week to have more time to do footwork for the Canvas.

Progress during prior week

• Revisited previous customer discovery for lean stack after Dr. Stoltman Check-in

• Prepared for Detroit Startup Week

• Signed up for extra Retail Marketing and Drop Shipping for Startup Week

• Suppled service providers upon Reopening and acquired calendars

Plans for the coming week

• Continue to monitor sales

• Supply service providers and get more calendars 

• Attend Startup Week Webinars

• Brief write ups on Startup Week webinars

• Brief meeting with Jeff of Tech Town to prepare for deliverables due next week

Questions/Issues/Concerns/Observations I am wondering why retail sales are slowing up. Wondering is it because I am concluding course work and not able to promote as much or is it a trend that is occurring because people are returning to their service providers. I anticipate the COVID Crisis numbers in the state reopening and will be closely watching to see if my retail can capitalize if the state is shuts down again. I am also wondering where the Lean Canvas is going and will ask Jeff in the next meeting about the future of the Canvas.