If you haven’t checked out the new Netflix Originals show, Girlboss, do so immediately. I knew nothing about Sophia Amoruso before the show, and now I’m hooked on her story of starting her online retail business.
She started buying underpriced vintage clothing items locally and selling them on eBay, then launched a standalone ecommerce site to support her burgeoning business.
Here are some lessons we can learn from the show.
1. Spend Time Coming Up With the Right Name
One of the early episodes revolved around Sophia struggling to come up with a business name that expressed who she was and didn’t suck. You feel her pain as she spends hours throwing ideas against the wall and seeing none of them stick.
Then she gives up, explores the city (with a hottie, naturally), and then when singing Betty Davis’ “Nasty Gal” with a drag queen, she is struck by a lightning bolt.
Don’t rush the process when naming your business. You will, after all, be stuck with it for the foreseeable future.
Let it give an inkling of what your online store sells. I once met a man whose company was ABC Business Services. Business services?? Are you kidding me? What kind? Do you sell office supplies? Are you an accountant?
While you don’t have to name your ecommerce business Sally Mae’s Store of Miniature Ceramic Doggies, you don’t want to make people have to guess what you sell entirely.
2. Don’t Skimp On the Important Stuff
When Sophia decides to move from her eBay store to a website, she buys a “Web Design for Dummies” book and tries to code it herself. Code, people. Coding is not for the faint of heart.
So she wasted countless hours and got super stressed because she was trying to save money. She hires a web designer off of Craiglist, and bam. Instant professionalism. The site is killer and she’s got someone who knows what to do if it crashes.
For your business, it might be web design, marketing, or accounting that you’re reluctant to spend money on, but take it from me: you’ll be better off investing in these imperative aspects of your business.
Otherwise, like Sophia, you’ll take time away from what you should be doing in your business: running it.
3. Always Plan for Future Sales
After a sad few hours with no traffic to her new website, Sophia is floored when she sells out of inventory overnight. The show made this seem like a smashing success, but from a business standpoint, I wondered what happened next.
How quickly could she scour the city for more unique vintage finds before her audience gives up on her?
Always have a plan for what you’ll sell tomorrow, in addition to today. The last thing you want to do is have to refund an order because you ran out of inventory.
Every day is an opportunity to make money, so make sure you plan ahead.
The first season of Girlboss was entirely too short, in my mind. I look forward to seeing what the creators will do with another season, as well as the ecommerce lessons we can glean then.