I feel like the one thing that's not talked about on social media when it comes to running your own business is the amount of failure that happens throughout the entire process. I’m not talking about the small things, like a typo in the Instagram caption or using the wrong TikTok audio. I’m talking about mistakes that waste hundreds of dollars, or ones that lose potential customers.
These mistakes are honestly embarrassing to talk about, but I feel like they’re necessary to highlight because it’s real life.
I started Pool Boy with $333 and basically no knowledge about the swimwear world. I had experience starting a business and was pretty good at social media, but besides that, I was lost. I’d honestly say that was my first mistake, and the events that followed definitely made me want to throw in the towel pretty early.
Failure was always my biggest fear throughout the whole process, along with what people would say about me. Shutting it down early, before people who knew me found out about the business (or my attempt at one), and before I could screw up and embarrass myself, seemed like a good option. Looking back, taking the time to do more research about the costs, as well as what really goes into starting a product-based business, would’ve saved me a lot of anxiety.
After launching the first collection, it took months for me to make enough money to even start thinking about a second one. I decided to start pre-orders for the new set as soon as I got the sample in that I liked. (Foreshadowing: this was a huge mistake.) My manufacturer took MUCH longer than expected to produce the bulk order of these new sets, and everyone who had pre-ordered was left waiting almost 2.5 months for their suit. I was so embarrassed. I wanted to uphold a good reputation, but I’m sure to many customers, it felt like they were getting scammed.
Unsure of what to do, I felt defeated. Part of me wanted to just refund everyone and avoid the situation completely. After my mini pity party, I started putting together a game plan. I had plenty of extra pink suits from my first collection that weren’t selling. I decided to email every single customer separately and offer them an additional pink set with their order if they didn’t mind waiting.
Almost every single person said yes. I only ended up refunding two customers.
This allowed me to get rid of excess inventory that wasn’t moving, while also keeping my new customers happy. After the orders were finally shipped, customers sent me content in both the pink and new suits, which was great for our social media.
So, what seemed like the end of my business was really just a problem that needed to be figured out. I had to make some sacrifices (potential sales on the pink set) to keep my customers happy, but of course, it was worth it.
There are lots of other mistakes that have been made over the past two years, and many more that will probably happen in the future. I’m so lucky to be surrounded by amazing people who support and trust me. I’ll definitely have more "lessons learned" stories in the future—but for now, that’s all.
xoxo,
Riley