So the first part of this series I went over how we initially got started with the business in general and how we started in with the cloth diaper aspect of the business in late 2020/early 2021. Another big failure that ties right in with that time period were how we handled reps and the growth of our brand.

I was clueless when we first started and didn’t exactly know the purpose of a rep let alone what the payment system typically was. My first round of cloth diaper reps I accidentally charged the reps so little that their diaper pricing was less than the actual cost for me to get the diapers themselves over here from China. I made a ton of mistakes when it came to pricing but a big culprit of those pricing mistakes came with the intention of paying the reps.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. I truly meant well with the reps but in all actuality it was a consistent headache and in the end I was used like a god damn tampon and had foolishly even considered some of those individuals friends. A big mistake business owners make is discounting products for the sake of “friends”.

Let me be crystal fucking clear when I say this: a friend isn’t concerned with discounts and would pay full pricing but I was not the brightest bulb in the circuit there. My examples of friendship in the past have been kind of questionable at best, whoops. I can’t share what the “right” thing to do with reps is, because I never figured that one out. I would strongly urge business owners to assess what they are giving out in discounts though and if the person receiving said discount is actually bringing your company sales. Social media marketing is fine and dandy but posts don’t pay the bills or guarantee sales.

Starting out a company I truly wasn’t in a position to be heavily discounting my products for reps, let alone adding in discount codes to track the sales that were accredited to said reps. When I first started I didn’t understand profit margins and the discounts added ended up costing me money out of pocket. If I were to go back in time, I would have skipped the concept of reps completely and I would have invested my time and money in finding individuals who could produce the photos and social media content I needed without the added bullshit of having any expectations. My motto had been any posting and traction is better than none but it wasn’t organic growth- a mistake I paid for as well. I’m hoping sharing all these failures can help anyone in their own process🤞🏻