You can have a gorgeous product line, a line sheet you toiled over, a website that’s easy to navigate… but if you make a crucial mistake in your wholesale terms, you will kill the sale before it can happen. This article explores 5 mistakes you might be making in your wholesale terms… and easy fixes for each.

In coaching with makers, I’ve reviewed hundreds of Shopify sites in terms of their aesthetics and function. But until this year, I had never actually built one! 

Recently, I started working on a new project that required creating a Shopify site. And as you probably know, it’s technically straightforward but can be daunting once you realize how many steps and decisions are actually involved. I knew I didn’t want to commit the funds to paying someone to create the website for me… but I also did not want to spend more of my time on it than I needed to. 

Like so many people, I got really into The Great British Baking Show a few years back.

After a stressful day, there is something bizarrely relaxing about watching people frantically bake Cardamom-Vanilla Cupcakes With Raspberry Coulis Filling.

As you probably know, we’re in constant dialogue with our Wholesale In a Box makers about their questions, concerns, and new opportunities on the horizon. We combine these insights with our own observations of how the wholesale community is shifting and changing. And we synthesize all of that into a docket of course updates and changes that we do in batches.

In this article, we’re talking about the power and opportunity of email newsletters: using email to engage with your community and build relationships.

Editor’s note: Originally, Candid started at well under $100/month with unlimited users. But as of March, 2024, Candid’s price increased to a minimum of $179/month. For many small makers and brands this may be well out of range as a fee that makes sense. This article was originally written when the tool was more affordable, but at that higher price, think carefully about whether it makes sense for you before proceeding.

So much of running a creative business boils down to words on a page. What you write in your outreach to stores, social media captions, wholesale marketplace listings, “about” page, and other materials are where the rubber meets the road. These are the places where your vision and dream and work touch the people who can support that work.

Whatever you are facing right now, you likely feel a large amount of stress and a lack of clarity. You feel pressure to reinvent what you are doing in your business but don’t have the support to make that happen. I believe that for most business owners, COVID-19 has created an unfamiliar and disorienting economy and landscape. It’s not a time when you can simply do what you’ve always done. But I also believe -- based on what I am seeing from the business owners we serve -- that this landscape is one you can succeed in with the right tools.

People are people. So whether you’re selling to a mom in Idaho, a 20-year-old in New York City, or a store owner in San Diego, they will buy from you because both of these conditions are met:

1. Their head is sold. It is crystal-clear (with no effort on their part) what you are selling, for how much money, and under what terms; and those facts work for them.

2. Their heart is sold. Your story, journey, or line makes them feel inspired, moved, or excited.

It’s kind of a hard time to be a human being right now… and it’s definitely a hard time to run a business. As we wrote about last week, many of our makers have seen 60-90% of their income disappear, almost overnight. Some well-respected stores have closed and others are struggling on a day-to-day basis. Even if you’re seeing sales, you’re likely struggling to plan, or source materials, or run your business in a time of uncertainty.

First, I hope that you are staying healthy — mentally, physically, emotionally, and financially. Many of you are facing closed markets, drops in wholesale orders, revenue hits, and overall uncertainty in your businesses. Others have increased or maintained sales, but are facing supply, shipping, or production issues. Still others are just starting your business journey and feeling unsure how to proceed. Whatever the specifics of what you are facing, it is true that there is both a crisis and an opportunity in all of this — but the stress and sadness are very real.