Assess Your Strategy To Remain In Business

When operating a company, it's of paramount importance to constantly assess your situation to be sure that you're heading in the right direction. If external situations change, you need to be sure to adapt too.

Selling shoes is an extremely competitive area on the internet in the UK, now increasingly dominated by the 'big players' and high-street stores. It's a very difficult place, particularly for a small, independent business, to operate.

This was the situation that faced Totally Commerce Ltd. The company was finding it more and more difficult to remain competitive with the 'big players' and continue to offer the same range and pricing that they did.

Cashflow was also an issue - orders for shoes were typically placed 6 months in advance of delivery and once delivered, invoices would need to be paid within thirty. This gave a very short sellthrough window.

With the situation not improving, it was time to take a harsh look at the company and for some difficult decisions to be made.

The fundamental issue came down to stock - the company could not afford to buy any more products yet couldn't sell what it didn't have. It was decided therefore to include offerings from other footwear retailers, on an affiliate basis, and earn a commission on sales made as a result.

Originally, this was performed as a test with the affiliate products listed alongside the current product range. However, it quickly became apparent that as these were proving so popular, the website should become totally affiliate based as soon as it could.

The process of downsizing then begun in earnest; several stuff unfortunately had to be laid off, and the company was relocated to smaller premises. Current stock was sold at wholesale prices to generate some cashflow into the bank account and the website was changed into an affiliate-only site.

The transformation have multiple benefits - visitors to the website can now view a huge range of footwears - far more than previously, and Totally Commerce Ltd doesn't need to hold stock. Retailers that were previously in competition with TotallyShoes are now eager to work with the business, and it is a strategy that seems to be benefiting everyone.

News from the world of footwear and special offers and new products are also featured on the sites blog, Twitter Feed and Facebook page.

The business now has revenue streams from a variety of sources; affiliate companies that used to cost for operating as a merchant now pay them commission; instead of spending advertising on Google, Google now pay the company. There's also income from the partner programs from several major online retailers.

If you are owner of your own company, it is crucial that you always assess and reassess your direction. If what you are doing isn't working, you must change it to survive, even if this means some very tough decisions have to be taken.

Carl Fraser is Managing Director of Totally Commerce Ltd, owners of http://www.TotallyShoes.co.uk - Retailers of leading brand footwear in the UK.

Totally Commerce Ltd also operate several other websites in different business areas.