The Last Station
I was doing some spring cleaning this morning and found this - better late than never...
“The Last Station”
July 10, 2010 - Victoria, BC
This will be the last time I write to you as the founder of wommp ltd. I made a promise 11 months ago to continue to look for the capital we needed to bring wommp to market, and as many of you know, I was unsuccessful. It is with great regret that I inform you that, as a result, we have decided to terminate wommp ltd, as we cannot continue under present circumstances.
Three years ago it was only a pipe dream. People called me crazy, and perhaps time has proven them right. But three years ago the only crazy thing to do would have been to ignore the pursuit of my dreams. And what a journey it has been. So few have the opportunity to follow their heart, and I am honoured to be one of them.
Now I find myself, like many others before me, at a loss of words - how to describe the final moments - the stark realization that after the years of hard work, time and energy, we have come to the end. I finally understand the endless hours of passion and dedication were not wasted in vein; every effort made and sacrifice taken was worth it, even if we were still left wanting. Everything that I did for the company was out of love, and in the pursuit of love nothing is wasted. Perhaps I’m a romantic, finding beauty in the breakdown, but if we deny ourselves that satisfaction, then what do we have left? If life is about the journey, then we must reveal in the days that have been, and not weep for those that did not pass.
I cannot say goodbye without saying a huge thanks to everyone who has supported wommp, starting with my family: my dad, Simon, who was an inspiration from start to finish; my mum, Penelope, for accepting my choice to purse a different path; my sister, Emily, for always reminding me there was no limit to my potential, and my brother, Henry, for his discussions and encouragement. Then there are my Uncle’s and Aunts, who gratefully lent their support, both financially and emotionally, and finally my cousin Jessica Lucas, for being the example of following your dreams. I also want to thank my friends, who know who you are, who although were placed second when the business came full swing, still supported me heart and soul – I learned a lot over the last three years, but nothing compared to the value of friendship. They say you can choose your friends but not your family, and I am blessed to be lucky in both regards.
I was fortunate enough to have some very talented mentors, including Professor David McConomy from Queen’s University, who was the first to take me seriously. He saw me through all three of my ventures, starting at the age of 20; regardless of the time of day, he was always there with an open mind, and would enter into endless hours of discussions and action items that no doubt followed - cross country flights were no exception. I am indebted to his knowledge and kindness. Although there are many others whom I relied on heavily, there is one person who helped me see the business clearly in the end – Canadian Marketing Hall of Fame’s Ken Wong. I was lucky to be taught the art from a master, and I have no doubt my future endeavours will benefit from his teachings.
I was also blessed with the chance to work with some of the finest people. Everyone who joined the team was instrumental – you took the concept from an idea and put it into motion, and for that I’m grateful. And finally, it would not have been possible without my investors, who believed in me and gave me the chance to pursue my dreams. There is no way to properly show my gratitude, as you all know I have tried, and many of you have returned my thanks saying that you will invest in me again. What an honour it has been working with you – thank you.
It is my last wish that everyone have the opportunity, at least once, to do something they desire, not matter how absurd it may seem. The courage it takes is immeasurable, and the journey is always worth while.
And now, nothing waits but the road ahead. Take care, best of luck, and may we all, at least once, take the chance to follow our dreams.
Signing off,
Alexandra Skey
alexandra.skey@gmail.com
The Next Steps
I hope everyone is enjoying the summer and taking time to celebrate it with friends and family. wommp has had an interesting year and I’d like to share it with you.
We spent May and June analyzing the business to determine our next steps. To recall, we were successful in raising a friends and family round in the fall of 2008, which allowed us to pursue a beta launch. We designed the platform and I moved to the location chosen for the launch, Kingston, Ontario, to pursue community relations and gather support and feedback from students at Queen’s University and the neighbouring restaurants and nightclubs.
Since fall 2008 the team has evolved. We opened our doors to several students, who started working on the marketing, public relations and logistics of the launch. We were also extremely lucky to welcome to our Board of Advisors another great mentor, Queen’s Professor and Marketing guru Ken Wong, who in addition to our current team of advisors, proved to be a highly valuable resource. And sadly we said goodbye to our Software Engineer, Tyler, and used the winter as an opportunity to fill his position; due to the limited resources and competitive marketplace, it took several months to find someone we who could work with us to continue building the platform we had been developing.
The economic downturn brought an interesting challenge. Youth wanted to live the lifestyle they were accustomed to living, but were receiving less financial aid from their parents and other resources. We reviewed our product offering and responded to the demand by concentrating our focus to help students “socialize on a budget.” The result was a simpler product: maximize the spending power of youth by helping businesses cater to their needs and simultaneously increase their revenues.
As we continued building the beta product, the landscape was rapidly changing. Mobile entered the market. We had acknowledged the potential of mobile when we started designing, but we had disregarded it because few students had access to smart phones and the development costs were high. Yet despite our analysis, mobile became king. When we recognized this trend, it was obvious that unless wommp could be accessible seamlessly via mobile platforms in addition to the web platform, we would be unaccessible to our target market via their preferred method of communication, leaving a huge opportunity for a competitor to enter the market and dominate.
We allocated our resources before this change in the market came to light. Thus, we do not have the means to invest in a mobile platform, or adjust our current software design to the continually changing demands of the market. These unforeseen costs have led to the difficult decision to refrain from the beta launch until we have the resources to do it successfully.
Reflecting over the last two years, we predicted it would take $1.0M CDN to finance wommp for the first three years, until we could reach positive cash flow and generate a profit. However, after a year financing the business, although we came close, we were unable to close a deal. It was at this point that we decided to scale down the product and with advice from several industry experts, raise a friends and family round to finance a beta product to prove our model. This shift was a great success as it allowed us to design wommp and continue to move forward. However, the beta launch is presenting us financial requirements that we will not be able to meet.
I have been working on wommp intensively for two years. Although the product has evolved, as has the team and the landscape, the one constant has been my passion for wommp. wommp improves our community at a global level by working at a local level to connect youth and businesses; we encourage businesses to build products and services for youth that will benefit future generations. Youth benefit from the efficient resource allocation, which is more sustainable as it reduces waste, and makes living more enjoyable and accessible to everyone, as it reduced noise in the market.
I have invested everything I have into wommp, both emotionally and financially, living at home to lower expenses and working at restaurants to support our negative cash flow. I have learned what it takes to bootstrap a company, and although we are close, I have the honest realization that unless we raise the original investment we will have to close our doors. I am looking at new investment possibilities, but acknowledging the last two years and the economic downturn, it is unlikely that we will meet our goal.
I want to let everyone who has been a part of this journey know what lies ahead. It is a result of your support, kindness and mentorship that has helped us reach this stage. Although we are at a different place than we intended, life is about the journey, not the destination. Through wommp we have challenged industry standards and created a brand that strives for a better place. Our efforts have been well spent and have paved the way for many successful companies. I am proud to have been part of such a wonderful and talented group, and I know the energy of our creations will continue.
And finally, with all my heart, I want to thank and acknowledge our investors, who not only believed in me but gave me the chance to pursue my dreams. Not everyone is that lucky.
I will keep you updated with our blog on any progress. In the mean time, I am happy to discuss our current situation or answer any questions at your earliest convenience. I can be reached via email at alexandra.skey@gmail.com or by telephone at 250.896.3564.
Best of luck on your adventures!
Alexandra Skey
Marketing Hall of Fame Legend Joins wommp
Remember that time when Marketing Hall of Fame Legend Ken Wong joined wommp?
That’s right – it’s this time!
I’m pleased to announce Ken Wong as the newest addition to our family. Ken is a marketing guru. He is highly regarded as an industry leader, both nationally and globally, and has been inducted into the Canadian Marketing Hall of Fame. His ability to put himself in the shoes of the consumer and develop strategic marketing solutions has created an impressive track record of corporate and private clientele, which has included everyone from Microsoft, General Electric, and Interac to Campbell’s Soup, General Mills, Starbuck’s, and now wommp ltd.
Ken has served on numerous boards for companies such as Equifax, Southmedic and PBB Global Logistics Inc. Ken has also been a columnist for Strategy magazine, Marketing magazine and the National Post. Did I mention he is also a proven entrepreneur?! In short, Ken is “the guy” you want on your dream team. (Yes!)
He became interested in wommp at the beginning of the year when we met at the Queen’s University School of Business. He saw the potential of wommp during the discussions that followed, and despite his full schedule, wanted to be involved. Ken offered to join the company as an advisor last month. He is going to help wommp focus our product offering, provide strategic advice and mentorship.
We are thrilled to have Ken Wong as on board to join our adventures. Congratulations Ken, and welcome to the family!
be nice
I'm amazed at the number of businesses I phone who are too busy trying to run their establishment to talk to a customer. Apparently a customer in the flesh is better than one on the wire. Don't we all use the same currency?
They don't realize that when people inquire about hours or specials, they do it because they want to know when the store is open and what the deals are so they can det'm when to shop. It's amazing how short sighted some people are. A point of sale doesn't just occur when someone walks in the door, but every interaction that business has with a customer - that is what sets the great companies apart, and will ultimately determine which ones survive in the new economy.
Back to the phones...
the times they are a changing
As a business you make a lot of assumptions (you may prefer the term “calculated risks,” but they’re based on a series of estimates, so we’ll call them assumptions). You assume there is a need for your product, that if you show the product to consumers, they will want it, and that the consumers who need it will buy it, and when they do, you’ll earn a profit. Sounds great.
The problem – many businesses assume they have the right to talk to the consumer, about anything, at all hours of the day. Although this may have been true in the past, in our technology advanced era, at least with the younger generations, this won’t be true in the future. Those who make these assumptions will be left behind.
The businesses who will win in the youth market understand that we’re sick of people trying to fight for our market share and buy our attention, and we’re even more sick of them trying to do this with the only desire of increasing their wealth, not solving our problems. The ones who win will understand that we believe we are special, therefore we are special. That we want to be catered to. And that all communication with us should be anticipated, personal and relevant.
The ones who will win will be the early adopters of wommp, because they understand this is the solution wommp provides – a way for businesses to connect with our generation on our terms. The rules are simple – get in, play the game our way, create what we want and increase your profits, or refuse to play our game, you won't know what we want, you'll fail to deliever what we want, hence we turn you off...and you lose.
would you rather...
would you rather...
communicate with a strong following of dedicated customers that want to hear from you daily, have purchased your products and will purchase again, but are smaller in number...
OR
try to talk to a much larger group of potential customers that are difficult to reach and engage, many of whom have never purchased your products, and many of whom will never purchase your products...?
real customer service
I was picking up my food for the week last night in A&P, a large grocery chain. As I was in the checkout aisle, I couldn’t help overhearing a conversation between an employee at the Customer Service desk and a young customer. Apparently the gentleman’s car would not start, and he was going to take the public transit home to get start plugs. He asked if she, the Head of Customer Service, would take down his licence plate number, so he would not be towed while he went home to address the problem. (The parking lot needs to be snow ploughed ever few hours, so if a vehicle is there for a period of time, it is likely to be towed).
She refused. She said she couldn’t take his licence number. It was not her job. The parking lot was not their responsibility as they don’t own it, even though it was built and only used by other A&P customers. She explained that he was out of luck and refused every suggestion he made. She failed to listen to his problem, and failed even more to help him with a solution.
I was appalled. Even if she was right, that is wasn’t her duty was to help him prevent his car from being towed, he is a customer, and customer satisfaction means doing what it takes to make the customers happy, to ensure repeat business. There are numerous grocery stores within a 5 minute drive, and I wonder, after this negative experience, what it woud take to get this gentlemen to come back to A&P.
If that happened in the parking lot at the grocery store where I grew up, it wouldn’t be a question. I probably would have been given a complimentary coffee while I waited for the Customer Service Representative to find starter plugs, or someone who had them, to help me start my car. Or at least help me decide on the next steps to find a solution.
What a difference! I have no desire to go back to a store that treats their customers so poorly. I’m amazed at how many resources a company will allocate to advertising, marketing, product research and development, yet when it comes to people, the heart of many businesses, many cut costs at every corner. Perhaps if the A&P employee was better trained, better educated, felt important, the outcome would be different.
This leads me to wommp. wommp can help businesses identify what their cusotmers want, which will save them money and resources on advertising and unnecessary products and services. But if the business does not take time to focus on what it means to keep a customer happy, including all aspects of customer satisfaction not directly related to the point of purchase, then it’s over. They lose. And their customers will go to another store on wommp who understands them and will provide to their needs. The rules of the game are becoming more complex. And the winners will be the ones who take the time to understand their customers and go above and beyond to deliver a remarkable experience.