Indie makers and their businesses

How do you see the indie makers? As friends that happen to make nail polish, or as business women (and men)?

There’s something I have been wanting to get off my chest for a while, and today is that day.

The nail polish world has been growing really fast over the past few years, and I mean really fast. The demand for more interesting and/or alternative finishes, colours and combinations got so high, that some girls decided to take things into their own hands and make their own polish.

The indie market grew (and is still growing) ridiculously fast. And why shouldn’t it? Every girl with an eye for colours and a good imagination and the cash to buy the necessary supplies can mix their own pretty polishes – and why not sell them to other enthusiasts? I’m right there with you so far.

To me though, this whole indie scene is business. Yes, I do know the first names of the makers of some indies, and yes, I do chat with a couple of them occasionally. But - when it comes to throwing money over the counter, then it changes from being online friends to also being a business relationship for me.

I expect professionalism, I expect good customer service and I expect communication from any business I deal with. Those are the buzz words for me.

I won’t mention any names or brands today, but let me give you a few examples of very recent not so good experiences:

1.   Bad communication

So, I ordered six polishes from a shop on Etsy. I got the message: ”Thanks for your purchase! Your item(s) will ship in 2-5 business days.” (It’s an automatic response, no actual persons were involved sending it).

After 6 business days I contacted the shop again (yes, I am like that!). I asked them when they expected to ship my polishes. This message was left completely unanswered, but my polishes were marked as shipped the following day. So, were they actually waiting for me to write again before sending my goods, or what? To me it is highly unprofessional to not bother answering your emails. It only takes a minute to write that the polishes are now shipped and sorry for the delay. That’s just sloppy and arrogant.

2.   Bad Customer Service

There is a brand that makes some polishes I really like. I live in Europe, and that means that postage usually is pretty expensive. It’s nobody’s fault but the postal service’s, but there are ways to get around that. 

I wrote a message to this particular shop owner and asked if I could combine the shipping on two smaller orders. The answer was NO. I asked the shop owner a couple of other questions about restocks, and ordering with another Danish friend to keep postage down, but every question was answered with a resounding NO. 

I think that some of the smaller shops really need to be flexible and work with their customers, instead of seeing them as a pain that asks stupid and annoying questions. All the NOs I got from this shop owner has made me stop buying her polishes at all, and I even consider selling off all the ones I’ve got. Yes, I am like that. There it is again - arrogant, no business sense, and no respect for customers or their money, obviously. Well, no more of my money is going her way, so it’s a resounding NO right back from me.

3.   Unprofessional behaviour

Delays are unprofessional, period. 

Yes, I know that things that we can't control occasionally happen. But when it happens again, and again, and again, then there’s something going on that should not be going on. 

When that order is paid for, the shop owner must do everything in their power to get things out ASAP. Guess what, it’s the law.

I don’t want to hear tedious excuses and long explanations. I’ve passed my money over your counter, and I want value for that money. Now please. Yes, I am like that! You’re a businesswoman/man – get a grip, run your business properly. Or I stop buying your stuff and move on, plenty more out there like you wanting my money and willing to step up for it.

I know this sound a bit harsh, but seriously, we wouldn’t accept the same behaviour from a non-indie maker. We accept it in the polish world because it’s more personal, because we know the girls, and possibly because we feel that a little bit of their current popularity rubs off on us. That is not how it should be. They want us to buy their stuff, don’t forget that. They make polish, and anyone can actually do that if they have a mind to. If you want to make it AND sell it, do it properly, don’t take your customers too much for granted. Fashion moves on extremely quickly don’t forget, and customer loyalty is a very easy thing to fuck up. Tomorrow you’re history if you’re not careful.

How do y’all feel about this? Please let me know in the comments below. Is it okay for these businesses to leave messages unanswered? Do you continue shopping in shops that are sending out your goods way too late and make excuses every time? How about the ones who make no effort to help you in your efforts to spend money with them, doing quite the opposite in fact?

Or - do you support the good indie makers out there who value your business, want you to wear their product and who are willing to go a few extra yards for their customers? Do you offer them your customer loyalty? I know I do, because I am like that!

Thank you for your attention.