No one knows what AI, algorithms or digital advertising will look like five years from now. But one thing hasn\u2019t changed. Business is still built on relationships<\/p>\n
A few years ago, my newly established Etsy store was generating around $30,000 a month. Then, overnight, it was gone. A competitor who didn\u2019t like that I was winning some of the same customers reported my store. It took them a couple of clicks to lodge the complaint, without having to prove I\u2019d done anything wrong. Etsy shut my store down almost immediately.<\/p>\n
Despite believing I\u2019d done nothing wrong, I couldn\u2019t speak to a real person to explain my side or appeal the decision. Everything was handled through automated systems.<\/p>\n
That experience changed the way I think about business forever. It also wasn\u2019t an isolated incident.<\/p>\n
Over the years, I\u2019ve had Facebook advertising accounts disabled without warning. In those cases, I got access to my account back. But many who encounter the same issue lose their account access forever.Through founder groups and business forums, I\u2019ve heard this story time and time again. One day a business is trading as normal. The next, it\u2019s locked out of the very platform generating most of its sales, with no phone number to call, no dedicated account manager and no way to speak to someone who can actually help.<\/p>\n
What surprises me most is that many of these businesses have spent hundreds of thousands, and in some cases millions, of dollars advertising on these platforms over the years. Yet when something goes wrong, that history often counts for very little. They\u2019re treated like another support ticket in a queue, relying on automated systems and front-line customer service teams that frequently have limited authority to resolve the issue.<\/p>\n
As a founder, that\u2019s a level of business risk I was never comfortable accepting.<\/p>\n
The more I saw this happening, the more I realised I\u2019d been looking at these platforms the wrong way. Most founders treat Meta, Google, Amazon and online marketplaces as the foundation of their business.<\/p>\n
I see them as a marketing channel. An important one, but still just one channel. That\u2019s probably because the biggest success I had with Cherry Blooms didn\u2019t come from algorithms. It came from building relationships with retailers, distributors and TV shopping networks who became long-term customers.<\/p>\n
When I started Cherry Blooms, I was selling at weekend markets around Brisbane. Like most founders, I thought success meant finding more customers.<\/p>\n
I eventually realised there was a better question to ask.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d rather have retailers, distributors, export partners and strategic customers generating revenue alongside my online store than rely on one algorithm to determine whether my business grows this month.<\/p>\n
Instead of trying to sell one product at a time forever, I focused on selling to retailers, distributors and TV shopping channels that could place larger purchase orders and keep reordering if the product sold well. Within three years, Cherry Blooms was stocked in David Jones, Nordstrom and distributed across eight countries.<\/p>\n
Instead of shipping one or two products to individual customers, we were sending pallets to warehouses around the world. The biggest difference wasn\u2019t just the size of the orders, it was the stability those relationships created.<\/p>\n
If I had a problem, I could call a buyer. If we wanted to launch a new product, we could organise a meeting. If something wasn\u2019t working, we could have a conversation and find a solution. There was a real person on the other end. Today, that\u2019s exactly what I help product-based businesses do.<\/p>\n