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My competitors actually seem to be executing very well, possibly better. For example http://www.japancrate.com http://www.japancrate.com have organized things v

by bemmu 11y ago

My competitors actually seem to be executing very well, possibly better. For example http://www.japancrate.com http://www.japancrate.com have organized things very well, managing to import the boxes to US in a shipping container and then forwarding from there to local customers. That is obviously the right way to do it if you want to target mostly US, but I just lacked the expertise to pull it off.

k__ 11y ago
That's probably the fear many people have. Even if you have a good idea and even if you get it shipped, there won't be much help if there are many people out there who could do it better. There are a bunch of rich business people out there with many years experience that can buy people much better than you at any time.
- ams6110 11y ago
  I think (as I alluded to in another reply) that it's wrong to think that the only two outcomes are that you either lock in 100% of your market or you fail. No business has 100% of its market. There are many profitable business that do not do everything as well as their competitors. They may be smaller, less efficient, less sophisticated---but they still attract enough customers to be a going concern. If I'm a customer, once I've made a purchase from you, you're a known quantity. Any competitor will seem like a risk. Evaluating whether it's worth changing takes effort, and unless I'm unhappy I probably won't do it. Look at domain name registrars. There are hundreds. They all do pretty much the same thing. Some of them have really nice management tools, and some have really terrible ones. But even the terrible ones have repeat customers.
- PeterisP 11y ago
  But this kind of is the point - ideas don't matter, execution does. If you suck at execution, you'll not be able to compete despite "your good idea". If you execute well, you'll get results but quite likely throw away the initial idea that seemed good at the time. No matter how unique your concept is, the success or failure will anyway be determined by how well you compete with others doing the same thing, and this will have to be on the basis of execution.
  - k__ 11y ago
    If you execute something everyone wants badly, they often still buy it, if there is no competition.
    - PeterisP 11y ago
      If you execute something that everyone wants, there will be competition very soon - and then the execution will matter (as it should), not the initial idea.
danieltillett 11y ago
This is why I mentioned few, not none :) There are people out there able to turn a good idea into a great idea. Having said this importing containers is hardly cost free and requires good infrustucture in both countries to handle the process. It also ties up a lot of capital, but if you can achieve scale then it will allow you to deliver at a lower cost. Not so good for a hobby project though.
GordyMD 11y ago
I just read Japan Crate's about page [1] and I wonder if their opening paragraph, and apparently their inspiration, was their initial experience with you. 'One day, I had a craving for some Meiji Apollo Chocolates (one of the most popular chocolates in Japan), so I scoured the Internet looking for some. The only service I found was both expensive and slow as they ship from Japan. Nonetheless, I placed an order for about 10 candies to be shipped to me for around $40. 3 weeks later, I opened the package to find melted chocolate and broken hard candies because it was in transit for so long. I thought, there had to be a better way, thus Japan Crate was born.' Their execution is quite impressive IMO and you could definitely take their example as inspiration yourself for iterative improvements: website, better packaging, bulk shipping, etc. Also, you could take a look at [2] and try to optimise for locations in that list - marketing, shipping, language, etc. On another note, it's quite amusing, but fitting, that you both use Japanese style cartoons to explain the process to your audience!\ Good luck! P.S I met Japan Crate's CEO at Collision Conf in May in Las Vegas - he's a cool guy and seriously passionate about getting Japanese candy to the world! [1] http://japancrate.com/about http://japancrate.com/about [2] http://www.japan-talk.com/jt/new/6-biggest-Japanese-communities-outside-Japan http://www.japan-talk.com/jt/new/6-biggest-Japanese-communit...
- bemmu 11y ago
  I don't think it's referring to some ecommerce store (maybe jlist?), as we don't have any order you could make for around $40.
aroch 11y ago
These guys run AsianFoodGrocer.com and an actual brick and mortar store, they already had the supplychain in place
msandford 11y ago
There are actually companies that will let you ship a big box of stuff to them and they'll break it up and ship it out to your customers. I used to work for one and we got a fair amount of business from people who did similar things to candy japan because it's often much cheaper (and faster!) to ship one huge box via air freight from one country to another and pay for a lot of local postage (and handling fees) than it is to ship everything direct internationally. I think this has to do with the "someone has to touch it" premium that individual boxes have. In other words UPS ground in the US is $5 minimum (and that's with a big commercial discount) no matter how close the destination is and how light the box is. But 50lbs isn't $250, it might only be $35 or $70 depending on the distance.

by bemmu 11y ago

k__ 11y ago

That's probably the fear many people have. Even if you have a good idea and even if you get it shipped, there won't be much help if there are many people out there who could do it better. There are a bunch of rich business people out there with many years experience that can buy people much better than you at any time.

ams6110 11y ago
I think (as I alluded to in another reply) that it's wrong to think that the only two outcomes are that you either lock in 100% of your market or you fail. No business has 100% of its market. There are many profitable business that do not do everything as well as their competitors. They may be smaller, less efficient, less sophisticated---but they still attract enough customers to be a going concern. If I'm a customer, once I've made a purchase from you, you're a known quantity. Any competitor will seem like a risk. Evaluating whether it's worth changing takes effort, and unless I'm unhappy I probably won't do it. Look at domain name registrars. There are hundreds. They all do pretty much the same thing. Some of them have really nice management tools, and some have really terrible ones. But even the terrible ones have repeat customers.
PeterisP 11y ago
But this kind of is the point - ideas don't matter, execution does. If you suck at execution, you'll not be able to compete despite "your good idea". If you execute well, you'll get results but quite likely throw away the initial idea that seemed good at the time. No matter how unique your concept is, the success or failure will anyway be determined by how well you compete with others doing the same thing, and this will have to be on the basis of execution.
- k__ 11y ago
  If you execute something everyone wants badly, they often still buy it, if there is no competition.
  - PeterisP 11y ago
    If you execute something that everyone wants, there will be competition very soon - and then the execution will matter (as it should), not the initial idea.

danieltillett 11y ago

This is why I mentioned few, not none :) There are people out there able to turn a good idea into a great idea. Having said this importing containers is hardly cost free and requires good infrustucture in both countries to handle the process. It also ties up a lot of capital, but if you can achieve scale then it will allow you to deliver at a lower cost. Not so good for a hobby project though.

GordyMD 11y ago

I just read Japan Crate's about page [1] and I wonder if their opening paragraph, and apparently their inspiration, was their initial experience with you. 'One day, I had a craving for some Meiji Apollo Chocolates (one of the most popular chocolates in Japan), so I scoured the Internet looking for some. The only service I found was both expensive and slow as they ship from Japan. Nonetheless, I placed an order for about 10 candies to be shipped to me for around $40. 3 weeks later, I opened the package to find melted chocolate and broken hard candies because it was in transit for so long. I thought, there had to be a better way, thus Japan Crate was born.' Their execution is quite impressive IMO and you could definitely take their example as inspiration yourself for iterative improvements: website, better packaging, bulk shipping, etc. Also, you could take a look at [2] and try to optimise for locations in that list - marketing, shipping, language, etc. On another note, it's quite amusing, but fitting, that you both use Japanese style cartoons to explain the process to your audience!\ Good luck! P.S I met Japan Crate's CEO at Collision Conf in May in Las Vegas - he's a cool guy and seriously passionate about getting Japanese candy to the world! [1] http://japancrate.com/about http://japancrate.com/about [2] http://www.japan-talk.com/jt/new/6-biggest-Japanese-communities-outside-Japan http://www.japan-talk.com/jt/new/6-biggest-Japanese-communit...

bemmu 11y ago
I don't think it's referring to some ecommerce store (maybe jlist?), as we don't have any order you could make for around $40.

aroch 11y ago

These guys run AsianFoodGrocer.com and an actual brick and mortar store, they already had the supplychain in place

msandford 11y ago

There are actually companies that will let you ship a big box of stuff to them and they'll break it up and ship it out to your customers. I used to work for one and we got a fair amount of business from people who did similar things to candy japan because it's often much cheaper (and faster!) to ship one huge box via air freight from one country to another and pay for a lot of local postage (and handling fees) than it is to ship everything direct internationally. I think this has to do with the "someone has to touch it" premium that individual boxes have. In other words UPS ground in the US is $5 minimum (and that's with a big commercial discount) no matter how close the destination is and how light the box is. But 50lbs isn't $250, it might only be $35 or $70 depending on the distance.