Bushwalk Australia

Off to the UK in a few weeks, had a vague thought about some Ookworks gear while there, from the website front page, appears he's had a bit of a meltdown and it's all over.

Can't be the easiest of business's to be in I guess....

Sean has been on the edge and trying to run a business for years now.

I ordered his nest for the Trailstar and was a bit late, but he did it and was delivered in time when I was walking across Scotland. Have used it a lot. It was and is excellent.

I hope Sean finds a better life, and hopefully someone buys his stock and designs and we find it moving forward.

Yeah not a lot of pity here.

The dude was charging premium, premium prices for the product he was selling, then expecting everyone to act like he was doing them a favor for taking their money. I think it's fair to say most people looking at UL cottage industry stuff are well aware its usually one bloke and a sewing machine, and they're willing to let things flex accordingly...but Sean was taking money and making promises he literally couldn't cash, in some cases for YEARS. Not saying he deserved the abuse or threats he's alleging, but even for little operation like that, he did not manage things professionally.

Depression and stress are real issues, but if they're a factor in your life, then you need to take them into account in whatever business plans you may have. If you can't manage them around your professional obligations, then don't take peoples money promising something you can't provide, then accuse them of being jerks when they feel ripped off.

I'm not surprised it ended this way, but it really seems like he's trying to shift the blame onto everyone else, and that's disappointing.

let's say that I don't miss his vitriolic comments at Outdoor Magic.
He used to post as Ms Nesbit.

Sounds like he had a good product [ most reviews were excellent ], which piggybacked off other good quality products, and people will pay for that.

Maybe he just needed to sit down with a reasonable small business planner, and get some real advice on how to run a business. Hopefully someone will pick up where he left off.

I had a glitch with an order in the very early days. Asking around for other's experiences was fair, but seemed to rile him. I remember thinking at the time he's going to struggle (in a startup 'outdoor' business) being so sensitive/responsive to criticism.

I'm surprised his lasted this long to be honest.

I have seen this happening several times in the last 15 years or so.
People greatly underestimate the cost in time , money and energy dealing with repairs and or simply dissatisfied customers.
If I had the talent to make "cottage industry" stuff , I would not...

I would be very interested to hear Undercling Mike's perspective on this....

Franco wrote:People greatly underestimate the cost in time , money and energy dealing with repairs and or simply dissatisfied customers.

jdeks wrote:I would be very interested to hear Undercling Mike's perspective on this....

I'd already decided that Michael would be the exception. I guess anything can happen, but it's hard to imagine him having any dissatisfied customers! I've found his design, workmanship, customer service and the quality of his quilts are brilliant. This is not a paid advertisement.

Absolutely agree. Mikes service and gear is great...so it's clearly possible to run an independent cottage gear business well.

I guess the question is whether he's dealing with problems Sean did, of whether those were unique to Seans operation?