Jewellery World Magazine - August 2021

WHEN DO YOU STOP
SPENDING MONEY ON
A LOST CAUSE?
Without doubt, one of the hardest things to do is admit failure.
In business, we are constantly looking for the next great product,
idea, software, employee, equipment, and anything else that will
help grow our business.
Sometimes you’re lucky. A good example
was those retailers who introduced
Pandora into their stores in early 2000.
They rode its wave of success and some still
do so today. Some might consider themselves
as lucky and some had previous experience
to identify a winning formulae. The majority
just watched what the early adopters did and
followed.
I discussed the concept of taking risks and first
mover advantage with a colleague, however
I could see that they couldn’t really relate. At
first I struggled to understand why.
Then it dawned on me. They don’t look to
change anything around them. They don’t like
change and they don’t really look to improve,
other than some small things that are forced
upon them (like a QR code). Business to them
comes and goes. Why get a new piece of
software? It just means you need to learn how
to use it. If they do bring on a new product, it’s
probably because it has been in the market for
a year or two and safe enough to try it now.
This isn’t such a bad approach. It’s safe
and suits people who are risk averse. A
smart businessperson needs to know their
limitations. Perhaps they’re just sick and tired
of spending money on lost causes, so they just
go with the tried and tested.
I don’t criticise this approach. I respect that
not everyone enjoys taking risks.
I do (surprise, surprise).
I personally feel that if I’m not constantly
looking at ways to improve my business and
looking to see what other industries are
doing that I can use in my business, I’m falling
behind.
So is there a formulae to know when to stop
spending money on a lost cause and more
importantly, identifying a lost cause before we
pour money down the drain?
Here are some simple useful tools you might
want to think about.
Let’s use an example of buying some new
software.
I know this sounds obvious, but I strongly
recommend that you write down a list of what
it is that you want this software to do for you.
What gains do you hope to achieve? How
long do you think it will take you to learn it,
or pull out the key benefits? By this I mean,
set a clear date as to when realistically you
are confident that you will get a good handle
on the software and be able to measure its
success.
Just like any new product you bring to your
business, setting a goal and a timeline to
achieve it is so important, and share it with
others to keep you honest.
In our business, we are forever examining
new types of software that we can integrate
into what we do. It is also not uncommon in
today’s world that before you make any major
investment, that you ask the vendor for a
proof of concept. This would mean that they
would help you take a sample of data, analyse
it for you and give you some insights into your
business.
Who will learn to use it in the business? It
must be more than one person. If it’s you, the
owner, you need a strong backup person.
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jewellery world - August 2021