Once upon a time, I even recall it from my youth, we could trust a retailer, especially the small store, because the trade lanes and relationships were well established, and everyone knew everyone else in any given business. The only shifty businesses were the hyper-regulated ones, such as auto sales.
There were trade channels well established and relationships based on trust and mutual benefit. Then came national highways, irresponsible banking, collectivization that rewarded the mass merchandisers at the expense of the small fisherman, farmer, manufacturer and so on.
Competition and start-up is still possible in such a regime, if one competes on design.
What do we see happening world wide as the-powers-that-be have ruined economies and destroyed organic trade patterns? We see a reaction, and expansion of something now called traceability. We’ve always had it in firearms, medicines and so on, in diamonds (for other reasons) but now in garments, fisheries, serveware and coffee among many others. It seems the market is demanding that retailers replace what the consumer once had, the consumer confidence in the safety of retailer deep knowledge of the supply chain. (And fair-trade and organic certified movements may be better understood as versions of traceability.)
We compete on design. This necessarily means we start farther back than the commodity traders in our purchasing patterns. Working with us has built in traceability. But the market wants that to be explicit right now. Your products should have that.
So traceability is a startup requirement. Traceability is an advantage to a startup. Traceability has always been built-in to the small business start up. It is an advantage that ought now be highlighted by startups.
Traceability is linked to transparency. Your website ought to explain the sources and supply chain of your particular product. But aren't you giving away trade secrets? Don't be delusional! Your customers cannot be stolen from you if you are doing your job, and listening to them.
Traceability is an answer to a felt need in the market. Reconstructing trade channels that were destroyed in the boom times (the damage is done during the boom, the bust is just the realization of the damage done during the boom). A natural by-product of traceability is its contribution to our economic recovery.
Feel free to forward this by email to three of your friends.
1 comments:
It would be interesting to know how much coffee is "mislabeled" under fair-trade and organic. Considering how elaborate the horse meat scandal here in Europe was I'd imagine its not that difficult to get away with it.
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