A Big Change at Wholesale In a Box ❤️
We’re making a big change in how we do things at Wholesale In a Box -- and we’re thrilled (and a little nervous!) to be announcing this shift. It’s a big one -- and we believe that it’s truly the best thing we can do for the makers we serve.
A Quick Summary
We explain the full context of this shift below. But a quick summary of what’s happening:
Our mission is helping creative small business owners grow. Everything we do is in service of that, including this change.
Wholesale In a Box is changing. Rather than offering the current subscription service, we’re taking everything we know about the best and most effective ways of growing wholesale and putting everything into a new comprehensive wholesale course, complete with wholesale coaching. That is the new Wholesale In a Box.
One Mill School is growing. Our other big focus for supporting creative small business owners is what we’re building over at One Mill School, a comprehensive training and community program.
We’ll be supporting our current Wholesale In a Box customers to move forward in the ways that work best for each of them and we’re with them every step of the way during that transition.
Get a peek at the NEW Wholesale In a Box (or to preorder) here.
The Context
6 years ago, my husband and I started Wholesale In a Box. Our backgrounds are in business advising, corporate consulting, starting and running business, and supporting creative people in growing and making their work sustainable. We wanted to find a way to help people live their dreams by growing their businesses. We started by having dozens of studio visits and phone calls from our kitchen table with makers and creative small business owners. Each conversation was unique but explored the same thing: what do you want to make, do, or create in your business? And what challenges do you have in doing that?
The answer was resoundingly consistent:
“To grow my business, I need to get my line into more stores. And I struggle to do that because I need help finding stores that are a perfect fit, guidance being effective with line sheets and other wholesale materials, and support to stay organized and consistent with outreach to shops.”
We realized that we had the background and perspective to help folks do exactly that. And so we started with a small group of makers, serving them a bit scrappily -- but passionately and effectively. That was the very beginnings of Wholesale In a Box.
Since then, we’ve helped over 1,000 makers grow their wholesale business. We’ve become a professional, efficient, passionate company that has a true method for growing wholesale. Our offering has evolved and improved over the years, but the structure has stayed consistent: we have focused on helping makers grow their wholesale by giving them 20 handpicked store leads per month, coaching and training to be effective with outreach to stores, and an app to stay efficient and organized with that outreach.
It’s been extremely rewarding to do this work over the years. Our ethos is all about giving makers the tools to grow their business, their way, through relationship-building. For any key decision (what to offer, how to price our service, whether to grant a requested refund, how to evolve the product, etc), we’ve always asked, “What would I do if this person were my sister?” Since the beginning of WIAB, I have believed that signing up for Wholesale In a Box was the best conceivable way of investing in wholesale growth for most makers. Trade shows didn't have a comparable ROI; reps often didn't work or only worked with super-established people; and makers trying to do it all themselves just wasn't effective.
In the last couple of years, things started to shift. The first big change was the introduction of wholesale marketplaces like Faire, which introduced new tools, new opportunities, and new potential pitfalls for makers. The second big change was the impact of Covid on retail and small business, which turned things upside down and helped some makers while really hurting others. These things created a new wholesale landscape for creative small business owners.
As we looked at that new landscape and the experiences of the makers we work with, we started asking again:
What is the best way to help makers grow their businesses, NOW?
We looked at market data, our internal data, had hundreds of conversations with makers and experts, as well as did lots of deep-dive reflection.
Last year, we started One Mill School as our biggest answer to this question. One Mill School is a comprehensive community and training program for creative small business owners. We’re just beginning of this journey and have big, wild plans here (more on all of that soon.) But even over the last few months, creative business owners are seeing big results through the support, training, coaching, and guidance at One Mill School. You can read folks’ reviews here.
In parallel to that, we’ve kept the boat steady over at Wholesale In a Box. Covid was a wild ride for us (as it has been for so many) but as of 2021, we have had a big influx of makers and things are thriving again for us as a business. In February and March, we grew at a faster rate than we ever had before. But as we observed this new landscape, we started to envision a new and better way of supporting makers with growing wholesale.
I've come to believe that the best things we can do to help makers grow wholesale in this new landscape are:
Advise them to get started with a few of the wholesale marketplaces and teach them how to use them effectively
Show them how to put together strong wholesale materials (as we do in our Starter Series), plan their approach to wholesale, create smart pricing, create a strong series of emails for shops, understand how to handle different store situations, etc.
Guide them to be deeply consistent in cultivating stockist relationships and develop a strong email marketing and stockist relationship plan to develop those relationships over time.
Teach them how to use innovative tools to make that outreach/communication efficient.
Help them develop a system to find, vet, and organize outreach to their own store leads, if needed, in combination with the marketplaces.
The New Wholesale In a Box
As we realized that the best ways to help our community had changed, we started re-imagining this new version of the work. After exploring a large range of options, we decided that the best possible ways we can support makers are:
Share everything we know about growing wholesale -- honestly, openly, and holding nothing back.
Give makers personal guidance, coaching, and support as they apply this training and approach to their unique situation.
Make it as affordable, accessible, inclusive, and adaptable as possible.
So moving forward, we are offering a simple, powerful new version of Wholesale In a Box: a comprehensive wholesale course, complete with 1-on-1 coaching. We’ll cover everything you need to grow wholesale as a maker -- including creating effective line sheets, writing fantastic emails to stores, succeeding in the marketplaces, establishing strong wholesale terms, building thriving relationships with stockists, and much more.
WHOLESALE IN A BOX
This self-paced training includes everything you need to grow wholesale efficiently, effectively, and in your control.
WHOLESALE IN A BOX - WITH COACHING
Our comprehensive course on growing wholesale, for makers — plus 90 days of 1-on-1 expert coaching via email on your wholesale materials and approach.
Wholesale In a Box is available NOW for preorder - you’ll jump in with the course on July 12th. Our first 50 preorder customers get an exclusive Wholesale Bonus pack including a live group coaching call, wholesale planning tool, and our beloved ebook “Standing Out to Stores.”
What This Means For You
The old version of Wholesale In a Box won’t be available to sign up for, moving forward. We’re working with our current customers to transition their wholesale approach to new formats and move forward strongly. And on our end, we’ll be throwing ourselves behind the new Wholesale In a Box course and coaching, as well as One Mill School.
If you are a Wholesale In a Box customer, we emailed you with specifics on what to expect (and your options) for your individual subscription with us. That email has everything you need to know about how we’ll make this shift as smooth as possible for you.
I know this is a big change. It is for us, too. But I really believe this is the right way forward for the people we serve and for our long-term mission. Thank you, as always, for being with us and for your ongoing support over the years. Here’s to many more years of working and growing together -- just in new and different ways.
We’re here for any questions, concerns, or thoughts: [email protected].