A Cautionary Tale Of Entrepreneurs Who Advocate Social Media Marketing And Direct Marketing

A cautionary tale of entrepreneurs who advocate social media marketing and direct marketing

Hill: the seemingly successful story of Mahabis, a high-end slipper maker, is becoming a cautionary tale for entrepreneurs, especially those advocating social media marketing with direct marketing.

Mahabis, a ubiquitous high-end slipper manufacturer, launched a marketing strategy last year, including the Penguin, to sell comfortable slippers with a random selection of modern classic paperbacks.

So some people may receive expensive "no shoes" and "Samuel" tragedy in Samuel's (Beckett TheEnd) at Christmas.

However, unlike the long fate of the protagonist in Beckett's novels, Mahabis's deadly rival suddenly came.

Last December 20th, the company threw out an internal investigation, revealing that it is difficult for people to relax.

Until December 27th, the company's happy Twitter account also promised a dissatisfied customer that it would reinstall 69 pairs of "classic" slippers in the next two or three weeks.

Later that day, the company entered bankruptcy management procedures.

Mahabis has not yet been completely destroyed.

But if there are no real buyers at the beginning of next week, 15 employees may be reluctant to become the pioneers of the group's campaign to encourage more people to rest.

(Mahabis's trouble has triggered a lot of the mood you can call "slippers": four years after the founding of Mahabis, its founder, AnkurShah, which was put on online advertising as an avalanche as unescapable, is now feeling the uncontrollable happiness of the disaster.

His marketing idea is to "reinvent" indoor shoes and make sure that everyone knows it.

The direct consumer oriented marketing model has attracted the attention of the media (including our newspaper), and the company has sold nearly 1 million pairs of high priced slippers.

Last October, Shah told the TheTimes that he plans to expand his business into suitcases and watches to create "Nike Nike".

What's the problem? Shah has become abnormal now.

This private company has very few financial statements.

But this once successful story is turning into a cautionary tale of entrepreneurs, especially those who advocate social media marketing with direct marketing.

Colin Mason, an entrepreneur professor at Adam Smith BusinessSchool of University of Glasgow (Glasgow University), bought his wife Adams a pair of Mahabis as a Christmas gift.

(luckily, she liked the shoes very much because the customers who applied for refund should be placed behind the long queue of unsecured creditors.

)

He speculated that Mahabis may rely too much on data analysis and out of customers.

The myth of Shah's creation is that he has more or less searched for this business opportunity on Google (Google): he found that people searching for slippers on the Internet far exceeded those searching for flip flops, and the flip flops market was already full of high-end brands.

Another possibility is that Mahabis has become too comfortable.

The founder reinvested the proceeds from a previous project.

However, excessive investment in small businesses may lead to inefficient and weakened incentives for improvement.

The anecdotal evidence seems to indicate that Mahabis's return policy is also quite loose: it helps to maintain customer relations, but if it is too loose, it will be costly.

The rapid expansion of Mahabis brings further risks.

Slippers are not complex products, but producing and selling 1 million pairs of slippers worldwide will put pressure on the supply chain.

Professor Mason pointed out that "the financial situation of fast-growing companies is almost the same as that of bankrupt companies".

Companies that are expanding rapidly are always vulnerable.

Other direct selling companies, such as Unilever DollarShave Club, start from a more sustainable subscriber model.

In hindsight, Shah pledged to diversify. Now it looks like a harbinger.

Bob Saton (Bob Sutton) and Haji Rao (HuggyRao) in their 2014 published "Scaling UpExcellence" book, sometimes you have to "force yourself to stop, not to go forward".

Shah might have listened to his inner advice, relaxed, and spent some time consolidating early success.

The market he sees does exist.

Informal surveys of colleagues show that, despite skepticism, people who are satisfied or even love to wear slippers constitute a strong core customer.

But then again, some products need not be re invented at all.

Mahabis has phased out its original style of innovative detachable sole and replaced it with something that looks more like an old slipper.

The biggest problem, however, seems to be the most obvious.

Mahabis's maintenance of online business has become increasingly heavy.

Strangely, online business may also be one of its greatest survival hopes.

Roberts, Mahabis's bankruptcy administrator, KRECorporate Recovery of GarethRoberts, says people who know the brand are asking him.

He said to me: "I have worked in bankruptcy management for so many years that I have not seen such a strong reaction."

The Mahabis team may have the chance to take off their fashionable slippers and act according to the motto of Samuel Beckett in another story: "tried.

Failed.

No problem.

Do it again.

Fail again.

It's more beautiful. "