Another business mistake story reported by Marcia Pledger of The Cleveland Plain Dealer. This story is from MJ Lehman, founder of Nicky Nicole, a boutique for girls.
I worked for many years in merchandising before I decided to use my passion for developing new concepts in a business of my own. But when I finally took the leap, I got so caught up with finding new trendy items for young girls and tweens, that I failed to pay attention to contract details for a big purchase. Verbal agreements don't hold up.
I started Nicky Nicole because I knew I could offer an alternative to the chain store experience for girls 4 to 14. Soon after we opened our first location, a sales representative approached me about a brand new interactive toy. I told her I would take a chance on the stuffed animals that come with secret online codes, if I were the only store selling it in [my town].
We invested about $10,000 in inventory and spent a lot of time training employees how to sell the item. Sales exploded. It was insanely popular with people coming from all over Northeast Ohio.
Several months later, the toy started appearing in nearly every youthful business in town. When the salesperson denied our verbal agreement, I took it to corporate. I was told they would have never agreed to a deal like that.
One thing was certain: Trust should not have been part of my business arrangement. I lost my edge. We lost out on volume and had to lower our prices by $1.
From that point on I got details that mattered to me in writing.
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