Travel Clutch Dilemma

Since Hong Kong's U Magazine featured my Travel Clutch Wallet as the Editor's Pick on one of their October issues, I have had a Travel Clutch Dilemma. I was not prepared for them to be so popular and sell so quickly!! It's an awesome problem to have, but, as I said, not one for which I was prepared!

BACKGROUND
When someone purchased a Travel Clutch, they were essentially buying a time slot. Each clutch requires 7-10 days for me to make it. Ok, that's not exactly accurate. If I started in the morning, I could cut, iron, sew, iron again, topstitch, iron again and package one clutch all in one day. Even with munchkin distractions, it's possible. If I do that, I'd make 5 in one week. So, not really ideal. Because I have a background in manufacturing, I have a tendency to set things up in assembly line fashion. If I do this with travel clutches, I can cut the fabric (linen and cotton) as well as the interfacing for 6-12 clutches in one day. If I'm having an awesome day, I can iron on the interfacing too. I finish sewing the clutches over the next two days. By doing it that way, I can theoretically turn out 6-12 clutches in one week (4-5 days).  This generally works out pretty well. Twelve clutches a week is the most I have been comfortable with.

My system was pretty good. I have a dry erase board calendar. So when a person ordered a Travel Clutch, I counted out seven business days and put their order on the board. Inevitably, the week fills up so those I have 6-12 to make that week. I make them all at once. Yes, it may mean that someone's order ships in 9 days and someone else will have a ship date at 5 days. It wasn't a perfect system, but it is how actual manufacturing companies schedule business. It allows the people to be the most efficient. And in this case, I am the people.

As is true with any type of manufacturing, you will get to a point where an excessive quantity takes away from the efficiency. My 'sweet spot' for Travel Clutches is 12. The week my store was featured in U Magazine, I had to make 20 in one week. The week just before Christmas, I had to make 24. The week before that, was 20.  I could keep going back, but basically from the time my Travel Clutches were featured, my life was CRAZY TOWN!! 

THE BREAKDOWN

Each travel clutch has 13 pieces that have to be cut. That's 13 pieces from fabric and 12 pieces of interfacing plus 1 Heatbond strip. The week before Christmas, I had to make 24. Here's how that breaks down:

7 Pieces of cotton * 24 Clutches  = 168 pieces of cotton to cut
5 Pieces of linen * 24 Clutches = 120 pieces of linen to cut
1 Piece of twill * 24 clutches = 24 twill strips to cut
1 piece of heatbond * 24 clutches = 24 heatbond strips
12 Pieces of interfacing * 24 Clutches = 288 pieces of interfacing

Total pieces that have to be cut to make 24 travel clutches = 624

Then, I have to iron on the interfacing and heatbond strips. So that's 312 pieces that have to be ironed individually. Let's not forget the labels, so add 24 labels for a total of 336 pieces that need ironing.

Once the ironing is finished, I sew the labels in place. One sewn strip on each side of the label for 48 short lines.

Then I piece together the Clutch's pockets and compartments. It has 4 main compartments, plus the closure tab and pen pocket for a total of 6 items that have to be pieced together. Grand total for 24 wallets is 144 pieces. 

Then I have to turn 48 pieces inside out (the tabs and pen pockets). After turning those, I iron all 144 pieces again so I can top stitch them. And then I top stitch 144 pieces.

So far, this is all prep work. Once I've top stitched the pieces, I can finally start putting pieces together to make the wallets. Once they are all pieced, I sew fronts and backs together, turn them inside out, iron all 24 and top stitch the outside. It takes me an average of 10 minutes just to turn them inside out. It's a delicate procedure and if you rush it you'll rip a stitch or poke a hole through the corner. So for 24 clutches, that's 240 minutes or 4 hours just to turn them inside out!! Then I install the pearl snaps, iron again, package and ship.

So what that basically means is, I slept a total of 10-12 hours the week before Christmas. My mother-in-law watched my munchkin for me a couple days and my husband was home for the other days or I would not have been able to physically do it. I'd sew, and sew, and sew and go take a nap for 30 min to an hour and come back and sew some more. It was out of control.

LESSONS LEARNED
It was also very unintentional. I was selling them faster than I could take down the listings. Which is eventually what I had to do, take down the listings. I would walk away from the computer for a few hours and come back to see that I had sold 10 of them. I felt panicked because I knew that people were buying them for Christmas presents and I knew it would be bad business to have to contact them to tell them I just didn't have time to make their clutch. As the time got closer to Christmas, I was afraid  people weren't reading the listings to see the time frame and were hoping I was going to ship in time for them to be Christmas presents. So I took down all of the listings. And while I sewed the orders I already committed to, I formulated a new plan.

The two questions I am most emailed about are "Do you have any Travel Clutches that are 'Ready to Ship?" and "When will my Travel Clutch order ship?"  It takes a lot of time to filter through and respond to emails, so these questions were taking up a lot of my time. Since I had not anticipated their popularity, I had not really considered that I could sell more than I could physically produce within my published lead times. Now I know that's possible. I also received some feedback that publishing the lead time as 7-10 business days is confusing. People were glossing over the 'Business' part of the phrase and wondering why I hadn't shipped their order within 7 days. It's more accurate to say that the lead time is 10-14 days.

OSD 2011 CHANGES CONCERNING TRAVEL CLUTCHES AND PORTFOLIO CLUTCHES

1. Beginning in January 2011, everything in the shop will be ready to ship. I will make 6-12 clutches a week and list them every week to build up inventory. I will make them from my most popular fabric choices as well as new fabrics.
2. A customer will still be able to 'Build Their Own Clutch' and choose their own fabric. This has been wildly popular and I'd be foolish to take it away. Having everything else in stock will allow me to better manage the 'BYO Clutch' aspect. Lead time will be 10-14 business days. If my inventory is very low, or if my week fills up to 12 clutches, the lead time will be extended to 14-28 days. This change will be CLEARLY listed in my shop announcement as well as the individual listing. For good measure, I will also email the customer to make sure they are aware of the extended lead time and they will have the option to choose from a clutch in stock or cancel their order.

A NOTE OF THANKS

I am beyond humbled by this experience. It's hard for me to put into words how rewarding it is to develop a concept, take the concept to market and have that concept be wildly popular. You have no idea how much this success has blessed my family. I am blown away by how excited my customers are to find my shop and love my products. I have several repeat customers and repeat customers are always the best compliment. I am so thankful to have a website like Etsy that allows me to inexpensively take my products and ideas to market. This has been an amazing and exciting year in my family's life. While I am nowhere near perfect, I am a better person having experienced all the highs and lows of running my own business. God inspired the idea to open Owl Say Designs. He provided the means. He has put me in touch with people who have given me wonderful product and business advice. It is through His Grace, that my business succeeds and excels and I would be remiss if I did not place the Glory where it belonged.

Business Tip #4 - Copyright Infringement, Part 1

Copyright Infringement runs rampant ESPECIALLY in a world where having an online-only business is fast becoming the norm. It's not only difficult to protect yourself from violators, but it's hard to even catch them in the first place! One distinction that needs to be made is the difference between Copyright Infringement and Copycats. Both are morally and ethically abhorrent, but only one is punishable by law.

Per the http://copyright.gov website, the definition of Copyright is:

a form of protection grounded in the U.S. Constitution and granted by law for original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression. Copyright covers both published and unpublished works. 

Kind of vague, isn't it? To a certain extent, that's on purpose because there needs to be room for interpretation on a case by case basis. But I felt as though I really didn't understand it so I actually called a lawyer to ask for clarification. Here's what it boils down to, anything that you authored is protected under copyright law. But the term authored makes you think this applies only to written works. Not the case! Here's the definition of authored:

1.  a person who writes a novel, poem, essay, etc.; the composer of a literary work, as distinguished from a compiler, translator, editor, or copyist.

2.  the literary production or productions of a writer: to find a passage in an author.

3. the maker of anything; creator; originator: the author of a new tax plan.

4. Computers . the writer of a software program, esp. a hypertext or multimedia application.

–verb (used with object)

5. to write; be the author of: He authored a history of the Civil War.

6. to originate; create a design for: She authored a new system for teaching chemistry.

 

So actually, it's not as vague as you might think, is it? Definition numbers 3 and 6 make it pretty clear that original forms of art are protected under copyright law. The part that gets me the most, is 'the originator' i.e. author of a new tax plan.' What is a tax plan if not an idea? So shouldn't copyright protect original ideas?

 

Well, no, unfortunately, copyright laws do not protect ideas. What is meant by 'the author of a new tax plan' is that a person thought up a brilliant idea, wrote it down and most likely, presented it. So the idea was protected by copyright because it was written down in a tangible medium of expression. It can easily be documented that so and so had this idea on this date.  So the idea is protected. The only other way to protect an idea is a Patent. Patents are in place to protect ideas more notably thought of as inventions and usually apply to new inventions or drastic improvements to old ideas. (Like a Dyson Vacuum cleaner versus your run of the mill Hoover.)

 

Bringing it down to a more personal level, is the fact that I had the brilliant idea to insert pretty paper into vinyl passport covers or coat the paper in a laminating machine and sew the pieces together protectable by Copyright Law? Um, no. I sincerely wish it was, but that doesn't make it so. Not unless I could prove that every single passport cover I sell is a mini work of art or altered art. That would be very hard to prove. It was a business idea I had. I have often wondered if I'd written down my idea and mailed it to myself (the poor man's Copyright protection) could I make a case that all others who copied me were in violation of that copyright? That's a good question that I didn't ask my lawyer. Since I didn't do that, I didn't bother to ask. 

 

I'd also like to point out, that if (and when, because it's coming loyal fans) I create my very own artwork and make it available as a passport cover, that WILL be protected under Copyright Law. Not because I had an idea to make the passport cover, but because the cover is made from my original work of art. It's a really fine line, but I hope I'm making the difference obvious (as possible, anyway).  It also probably goes without saying that my logos, pictures, and written descriptions are all protected under Copyright Law (because those are all tangible mediums of expression).

 

Copyright DOES however, protect your ideas if you have it documented as a pattern. So taking 2 already existing items (paper and vinyl) and putting them together was an idea (not protectable). But taking fabric, linen, a concept (idea) of a travel document holder and designing my own new pattern to make said Travel Wallet, is most definitely protected by Copyright Law. The pattern is my own original design and before I listed anything, I did make sure to protect myself by documenting my pattern. So, no one had permission to make my Travel Wallet unless I decide to offer the pattern for sale. And if I offer the pattern for sale, I have the right to dictate the means of use for that pattern. Meaning I can require, by law, that the pattern be used for personal use only and products cannot be sold using my pattern. 

 

Guess who one of the biggest makers of new, cool patterns is that has expressly written on her patterns they are for personal use only and items made from the pattern are not to be resold? Amy Butler.  For those of you who didn't already know that, would you have guessed that interesting tidbit? I wouldn't have. In fact, a few of the first diaper bags I sold in my first shop Tattered Tapestry were from an Amy Butler design. One day while cutting out a pattern while working at my Church's Mother's Day Out (babies were sleeping, don't worry) I just happen to read that fine print. When I got home I noticed it was on all the patterns of hers that I owned. Once I realized that, I stopped making her bags to sell. Which was frustrating considering how much I'd spent on those patterns for that express purpose - to resell!! Most fabric/paper designers have Angel Policies. Angel Polices basically mean, they allow you to use their fabric/paper to make a product and sell it. But you are not allowed to associate your product with their name. So all those Etsy listings you see that say 'Diaper Bag in Amy Butler Fabric' are technically in violation of the Angel Policy. They are using her name without permission to market their products. Like I said, fine line!!

 

Ok, so in regards to the very obvious shops on Etsy who are attempting to copy not only my ideas but also my business model, are they in Copyright Violation? No. It would be hard to make a case of it. And believe me, I have certainly contacted my lawyer about it on more than occasion. Iit's heartbreaking and aggravating to say the least. It's also unethical. 

 

A fellow Etsian told me to think of it in terms of jeans - you know, blue jeans. One of the first manufacturers I think of in regards to jeans is Levis (ok, so the first is Seven, but only because they are my favorite). Levis may have been one of the first on the scene to take tough, durable denim, 5 buttons and make those super sexy button fly jeans. It didn't take long before they were copied. And copied, and copied again. Maybe the pattern was slightly different from each copycat, but the concept, the IDEA, was/is copied repeatedly. There are jeans manufacturers that try their hardest to undercut the prices of a good pair of Levis (the Walmart brand, Rustler for example).  Do they take sales away from Levis? Of course, or the copycat wouldn't be in business.

This is the difference between Copyright Infringement and nasty ol' Copycats. One person can have a brilliant idea and then someone else comes along and thinks, "Wow, I want a little piece of that action" and goes to the trouble of finding out how you do what you do so they can do it too. The only course of action you really have is to be better than them. (Levis are better than Rustlers, in my opinion anyway). But it doesn't make it any less devastating for someone to ride the coattails of your brilliance.  And it makes it so much worse when they make a point to say they have been selling them for years at craft shows, etc. Maybe it's true, but it's not really likely is it? And what is their other course of action? To say, 'Man, OSD has such cool stuff and I'm devoid of any original thought of my own, so I think I'll do what she's doing so I can have a little piece of that pie." Also not likely.

 

It's obvious that I have a small handful of people who admire my business model so much they have decided to copy it (as best they can). The truth is, I've also been accused of being a Copycat. Unjustly so, but accused just the same. So my opinion on Copycats might surprise you. But since this post is already so long, I'll save my personal stories and opinions for part 2!