Businesses all over the world are reinventing their strategic models and considering new ways to deliver success. Some of the most innovative are doing it from the start. Take www.threadless.com A company started in 2000 by two young entrepreneurs. Setting up a t-shirt business could have been one of the most ‘me too’ projects ever undertaken but Jake Nicholl and Jacob DeHart have delivered a return on investment most of us would break a leg for.
The business is simple. The site sells t-shirts. People submit t-shirt designs, others vote on which one is best and the winner gets free t-shirts for the winning design. The successful t-shirts are sold for between £10 and $25. In 2006 Threadless turned over $17 million. They don’t have or need a marketing budget as their business works via word of mouth. And, all growth is driven by an online strategy.
Right from the start in 2000, they recognised that one t-shirt is very much like another t-shirt. So instead of focusing their creativity and imagination on the product, they focused their action on the relationship with the customer, fan or, what is rapidly becoming known as the ‘crowd.’ They literally built a system that could deliver that.
Not one of their products has been a flop. By using followers/customers to vote on the best designs and rate new designs, Threadless have effectively exploited technology to build an unrivalled relationship with people and turn market research on it’s head. The cost in cash terms, very little and they get a higher validity rating on their research.
Threadless has allowed its customers to create the product, to contribute to the designs, to be involved in the product selection process and to have a voice. In some ways, many of us are busting a gut trying to grow our businesses using old school models when the answer to doing something differently is right there under our nose.
