I have avoided talking solely about Wojo thus far because it consumes my mind and daily life more than anything else ever has. But for the past week straight its quite literally the only thing that i have been thinking about and working on. So its really the only thing I think I could write about right now.
But what does that even mean. Its a fucking clothing brand. I'm like drop shipping right
Despite the comical remarks I am actually not drop shipping. In fact as of November before I partnered with a local 3PL, (Third Party Logistics) I used to clutter my house with boxes of inventory until I couldn't move and ship them all out by hand. The drives to USPS with my car full to the brim of packed orders were some of the largest dopamine hits I have ever experienced. Nothing will ever beat pulling into the employee-only area in the back of the post office to drop off hundreds of orders while listening to My Way by Frank Sinatra. Always called for a cheeky victory cigar.
But those days are over. As I stated earlier I partnered with a 3PL here in Tallahassee that is owned by fellow FSU students. They essentially handle all aspects of fulfillment for me for the price of a few bucks an order. After partnering with them I was dumbfounded by how much more free time I had after every drop. So naturally I started playing Rust xD. But regardless one thing I have come to realize about owning a business is that the work will ALWAYS expand to fill available time. Doors were closed and now new doors were opening. The machine rages on. But what does prepping for a drop even look like?
Obviously, I need something to sell. So normally I make something called a "tech pack", formally known as a Technical Package. This is essentially a 10 page pdf file describing the garment I want my manufacturer to construct, and is fairly time consuming to make. The first page consists of the front and back of the garment, with an overview of all of the custom details. The rest of the pages go in depth on each detail. For instance the color/wash id like to achieve, ALL of the measurements, any custom hardware, fabric details, etc.
Once the tech pack is sent to my manufacturer, they (hopefully) inquire about any missing details and confirm with me to specify any vague information I may have included. Usually for things like colors or washing I like to ask them to send pictures of a similar garment they have constructed for a different client. This is because they often will just assume to use the cheapest option for any missing details. I learned this the hard way on one of my first bulk orders for corduroy pants. I forgot to mention the depth of the front pockets, and when I received them they were all very, very shallow. Luckily this was only on the samples, which I will cover now.
Sampling is essentially what all of this is called. Because ordering hundreds of units without knowing what the final product will look like is a little risky, the factory usually has a separate section reserved for creating these singular pieces before bulk runs are made. Not only that, but samples allow me to market and advertise pieces before they go on sale. That way I can gauge the demand and make an educated guess on how many units to order. Now, lets imagine the first sample I receive is perfect. we can start the bulk production.
Production takes about 30-50 days depending on the complexity of the garment, and delivery can take anywhere from 1-6 weeks depending on if you choose to ship by air or cargo ship. This timeline is fucking brutal because it forces you to plan multiple months ahead for collections.
Now that you have your inventory, its time to update the back-end so everything goes smoothly when they go for sale. My brand uses a drop-based model that relies heavily on setting a release date for my site to be unlocked once everything is ready. As it turns out a majority of my revenue comes from drop day, so its imperative it goes smoothly. Therefore about a week or two before every drop I lock my site, and have an obnoxious SMS signup form for people to give me their phone numbers. I take advantage of this by creating an Early Access system, which essentially gives people benefits for being some of the first to buy. Meaning, 30 minutes before the website is unlocked to the public, I send out an alert to everyone on the SMS list with a website password, that unlocks the site and gives them free shipping, plus dibs on their desired products. This creates a nice FOMO effect that translates into sales fairly well.
One thing that I have a love-hate relationship with is marketing. I love it because the psychology of why people buy the things they do is very interesting to me. I hate it because a lot of people are blindly loyal to shitty brands and are willing to overpay for them. I love it because I can take advantage of exactly that. I hate it because seeing hundreds of tasteless advertisements in my face everyday against my will makes me angry. I love it because that gives me the opportunity to make my own, tasteful ads. But ultimately, I hate it because no matter how hard I try, I know exactly the kind of brainless ads I have to make to succeed. The modern artist has no other option other than being a content creator. The art can speak for itself, but it will almost always be overshadowed by slop that the algorithm prefers. Working with an advertising agency has given me this perspective, because although they take care of me very nicely and give me exact examples of the content I should make for a well performing ad, it's just not what I thought I signed up for when becoming an entrepreneur. But boo hoo its not really that bad. I just have to swallow my ego and do a corny voiceover on a 20 second Instagram reel.
Really there is much, much, much, more that goes into Wojo but that's my brain dump for today hope you enjoyed. Drop day this Saturday! Restocking old stuff even though I don't like it anymore so I can make enough money for new projects this summer and fall. Godspeed.
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