NOP Liu Yan Entrepreneurship 7: Stay away from chicken soup, stay away from the feeling.

3.5 ago, on the eve of entrepreneurship, I wrote a love letter to the former club to make an ambition. Today, on my 31 birthday, write the end of this stage of the start of the recovery, is the 3.5 before the Shen bar. To tell you the truth, today I see again those high-spirited words, watching the feeling is dry a bowl of chicken soup, it is a heroic, but in fact as an entrepreneur really need is more practical in the long. So sincerely hope that today this article will be able to be a practical help for everyone in the long, whether as entrepreneurs or not entrepreneurs, whether the people who have been on the road or longing for the road. I think that's the only meaning.

Phased end NOP Because growth is not up to expectations

First of all, say NOP, I choose the stage to end the cause of entrepreneurship is particularly simple and natural, not to run, but not to achieve expectations, lack of sense of achievement. From the operating point of view, NOP this 3.5 to fully meet the lean entrepreneurial, do not calculate good but also not bad. Take some business data for example: 1. NOP has made tens of millions of sales in three years. By the end of last month, the cumulative value of inventory is only hundreds of thousands of (this level of clothing of the electric dealer, as long as not to do pre-sale, inventory is not less than 10%); 2. On-line men's return plus reject rate of the industry average of 10%-12% (Women in 15%-20 %) while NOP remained below 8%; 3. NOP Market plus channel cost rate, three years has never exceeded 10%, never do low ROI promotion (not do not want to invest, is really no money). The above data to do apparel colleagues understand what level, other data and examples here I do not lift, in short, from the business of lean entrepreneurship and cost control point of view, we think we can do.

So what's the problem? Growth。

The growth of NOP in the first 18 months was still satisfactory, but the 18-month growth did not meet our expectations, with growth of only around 30% per cent in 2012 on 2013, and no significant improvement from the first half of the year. I personally think that a start-up company, first of all, do not consider business indicators only to see growth indicators, because the base is low, in the first three years of composite growth rate of less than 100% is unqualified. Why ask for this growth rate? Because this growth rate is a potential space. In the rapid metabolism of the new economy, the market will only be a start-up for up to 24 months of time, you seize the catch, did not grasp the back is not too much chance. Just like a person in adolescence development, whether because of congenital genes or malnutrition, the development of relatively slow stature is relatively short, basically to adulthood is not likely to suddenly grow into a tall man.

Why didn't NOP grow into a big tall guy? Bottlenecks in three reasons: natural disasters, man-made disasters and physical fitness.

First, the natural disaster is the industry market. Whether it's online retailing or the apparel brand industry, NOP entered the period has been the end of the stage industry dividend, we are in front of the high growth in fact is also more benefit from catching up with the industry dividend tail, and from the year before the beginning of the industry situation suddenly turned, from all things to become a giant beast eating rot, At present, the whole electric business industry presents four phenomena: 1. The market growth has slowed down; 2. The number of participants in the Red Sea is still increasing; 3. The Matthew Effect of the category is becoming more and more obvious; 4. The cost is rapidly rising to unreasonable. These macro-phenomena specific to the microscopic results, that is, a large number of small and medium-sized electric operators into the abyss of misery, the general sales are weak or even backward, exit the door is not a few. We also encountered the same problem, relatively initially, the product better, more sophisticated operations, customer churn rate is not high, but growth is slowing down. From last year to this year, I asked many in tens of millions of small and medium-sized peers even before some of the big tens of millions of "Black horse players", found that the problem is the same, and is deteriorating, asked a lap down to find that we have already belong to the good.

Second, man-made disasters are both capital investment. Because our operating funds have been relying on the first investment, there is no "blood", so in the business strategy and the use of funds is relatively conservative, on the one hand, the cost control is too strong, even in many enterprises should be necessary to invest in "malnutrition", such as team input (our website before the background and invoicing system from beginning to end only two technical colleagues to develop and maintain, I would like to pay great tribute to the results of their work here. Marketing and brand building (unwilling or unable to try the low input-output ratio but the necessary upfront market input) and so on. On the other hand, the sales strategy of "planned economy", as a result of limited financial ability to resist risk, so we have a high customer price and gross margin requirements, in addition to the anniversary, double 11 and seasonal clearance, usually do not want to do to pull sales but damage the customer unit price and gross margin of the promotion, at the same time in the stock is also quite conservative, insist So although the overall cost rate is not high, slow-moving inventory, customer unit price and gross margin is also very healthy, but naturally lead to sales and growth is not so "beautiful."

Finally, the Constitution is both congenital defects. As a start-up company without a supply chain base, in the face of the primitive jungle animals ferocious supply chain environment, but also selected the original design and the pursuit of a certain quality positioning, let us in a long time to devote most of the energy and resources in the supply chain of "remedial" on, and due to the original design and quality requirements, From commodity planning to product development to the sample version to the factory with single to large goods production to quality inspection warehousing, whether from the efficiency or from the cost and "pure market-oriented" ratio is not dominant. Of course, things have pros and cons, the advantage is to ensure the unique style of the product and basic quality assurance, formed a certain degree of differentiation and premium capacity.

In these 3.5, there are many people who do not know each other, peers who are not peers, and users and non-users actively give us suggestions and spit, most of us can only "unmoved." It is not that we are not humble to listen to opinions, but suggest and spit the actual solution is to know not aware/awareness of the problem, it is not responsible for how to achieve/have the ability to achieve the actual landing problem. The so-called operating rhythm is to know when to do, when to pay attention to, NOP in the case of less money than the same period of entrepreneurial peers live long, is because we do not blindly in the wind when the pursuit of "gets." In my opinion, we have achieved at least 70 points in our ability and realistic conditions to NOP. These 3.5 come, we have to do a good place, also have to do bad place, have to say a lot of words can speak out, but good and bad are also traceable but irreversible, they are therefore not fruit, and the standard of the result is no more than two: success and value. From the point of view of the result, NOP does not succeed, but it is not worthless. Whether it is brand reputation and word-of-mouth communication, customer accumulation and loyalty, business and financial indicators, NOP are better than many "flow-type" peers. Due to product direction and operating environment, NOP has been in a quarterly profit without a full year of micro-deficit status, in accordance with the natural growth of sales and fixed costs continue to thin, and a year or two can actually achieve profitability.

When I first half and some good friends to reveal the idea of the phased end of entrepreneurship, we all feel pity, and even have very recognized NOP value of the friend offered to invest and was I declined, because this matter can no longer bring me a sense of joy of achievement. And although we want to end the stage, but do not want to let NOP stopped short, after all, our efforts in these years in the inside, and it is not at its last to do. Then there was a good deal of potential acquirers and we contacted and quoted the price, but because of the additional conditions, asked me and my partner to join each other for a relatively long time, after considering we finally did not agree, because from my point of view I do not want to do the icing on the cake, Instead, I wanted to do something new, and my partner wanted to devote more time and energy to the family and personal charge, which was consistent with my thinking. At the time of last month, we had a core team of colleagues who wanted to keep NOP on a smaller scale with lower operating costs. Then of course we support, after all, to entrust our efforts to the trustworthy person to continue, this is not a good result, so eventually the dust settles, Also hope that NOP users continue to support.