I talk a lot about what I want to do, what I want to achieve, and what I can offer.
But I’ll quote the great Charlie Munger “Invert, always invert”
So why not share what I want to avoid?
no sales
“use the code ‘ITCHYBALLS’ for 10% off hehe” will never not come across as tacky. It cheapens the product offering.
There is one exception I think I’ll make about sales; I love what Oli Clothing do for Boxing Day. Similarly, they never do sales. But Boxing Day is the one day of the year where you can purchase a mystery box of unreleased items at a discount. It’s such a fun concept that I think I’ll steal too.
no shipping costs
Contentious topic. And this one hits close to home because being from Australia, I cannot tell you the number of times I’ve been at the final stage of checkout only to be whacked with a $50 shipping fee, obliterating every last ounce of enthusiasm I had for getting that product.
I don’t want shipping costs to be a hurdle to people. I’ve done the excel cost model and I’ll happily eat the cost if it means some golf tragic from rural India can buy one of my polos.
no capes!
no affiliate programs
Should be self-explanatory. They’re shady as hell. I want people to recommend my gear because they fucking love it. Not because they’re getting a 10% kickback.
no middle-men
No other stores stocking my gear. Only sold through the website with complete control. No stockists. No selling on other websites. No wholesale sales. Direct to consumer only. Let’s be honest, how much value do middlemen add?
I want full control over the experience for consumers. I can’t let others interfere with that.
don’t play the short game
Golf is all about the short game. It’ll make or break ya. But in business, I’m playing long-term games with long-term people. don’t chase fads. don’t chase what’s hot. move at my pace. do what I want to do. build the foundation and people will trust in me and my vision.
Trust grows at the speed of a coconut tree and falls at the speed of a coconut.
no boring shit
People usually think “oh as long as people don’t hate it, I’m onto something”.
No. Fuck that. I’d rather someone hate what I do than not know about it. How can you expect people to love what you do if others aren’t going to hate it?
Of course, I’m not going to go out of my way to rile people up and create edgy shit for the sake of it. But if I’m not willing to be my true authentic self and take risks like an 18-year-old’s first trip to the casino, then what the fuck am I doing here?
If you never do anything differently, you'll reduce your chances of enjoying lucky accidents.
no large offering
Niche down, focus on a few things, and do them fucking well. This rule can always change later on, but early doors I can’t be trying to offer something for everyone.
no bad ideas
Solving problems using rationality is like playing golf with only one club.
Watched this John Mayer video the other day explaining how you become creative by creating. There’s no thinking yourself into creativity. But you have to be stupidly brave.
You need to get ideas out and keep going. There will be a tonne of bad ones. But once the ‘bad’ ideas are emptied, the good ideas can come out to see the light of day they otherwise wouldn’t of.
The opposite of a good idea can also be a good idea.
don’t do easy things
Do the hard things others won’t.
“When you read biographies of people who've done great work, it's remarkable how much luck is involved. They discover what to work on as a result of a chance meeting, or by reading a book they happen to pick up. So you need to make yourself a big target for luck, and the way to do that is to be curious. Try lots of things, meet lots of people, read lots of books, ask lots of questions.”
- Paul Graham