I wonder, would you share all your "exclusive" contacts with the investor? If you did they would be quite able to just go around you and set up their own brand from the contacts you've provided - and then undersell you as they wouldn't be paying your premium prices?
The concept is flawed, the collaboration idea isn't awful as you will get the advantage of a brand covering a large proportion of the world (and quickly) but for me it's the lower grade idea - presuming you're getting your bats out of India then we both know that the difference in price between a Grade 3 and Grade 1 bat is only about £30 from the majority of the big India manufacturers, thus cutting out a large amount of potential profit. By the time you've added your premiums to these prices any 'investors' will be coming up against other 'budget/lower priced' brands selling G1 bats for the same price as your G3/G4's.
Hi Neon, thanks for your constructive feedback, I just love you positive outlook on all things cricket on CBF.
In relation to the first point, yes your correct, an area partner could potentially go behind our back and do his own thing however that would be defeating the purpose of the joining the group and all the forseeable benefits associated with it. By going it alone, their volume will be very small compared to the group and hence their service and support will suffer as a consequence. We all know what service is like in the cricket industry and how this can impact brands with late deliveries, incorrect sampling, bad backup support, etc, etc - volume is key to a healthy relationship with manufacturers. Additionally, we live in a free world and people can choose whatever they want to do, but hopefully our partners a genuine enough to understand the benefits associated with a joining the group - walk into an established brand without having to invest individually into branding, sourcing, sampling, marketing, etc, etc which can run into thousands of dollars/pounds. Lets not forget about greater and more economical opportunities in marketing and sponsorship by sharing it as a group.
In relation to bat pricing, we are not only offering lower grade bats, partners can access higher grade bats if they choose to - there is no limitations on the grade available. Partners can operate Boss in whatever way they think will benefit their area best - we do not want to stifle entrepreneurialism. Personally, i'm choosing to only offer lower grade bats in my area because my main brand will accomodate all the higher grade specifications. I'm using Boss to satisfy the basic club cricketer who wants well branded, cheap no frills cricket equipment and in return they will get a bat beautifully pressed that will out perform many of the off the shelf bats that have been pressed to an inch of their lives (too hard) and lack up front performance.
Each area partner will be sufficiently far enough away from the next partner to do as he chooses.
Finally, i'm not sure where the concept of premium prices has evolved. Prices will reflect the necessary components to grow, evolve and re-invest into the brand for its longevity. This is not a car boot sale, every component of pricing needs to factor a small margin into it for re-investing back into the brand for it's long term direction and sustainability. We are not concerned about the small garage brands because they come and go every day of the week through poor business management.
I hope i had shared a more positive outlook.
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Topic: BOSS Cricket Bats (Read 8375 times)