My Very Fist Business - Selling Rare CD Editions
It didn't earn me a spot on Forbes's 30 under 30 entrepreneurs list, but I learnt a lot from my first business back in 2005. My friend was a huge fan of Mariah Carey, he used to buy all of her CDs but also all the special editions she had released for Europe, Japan... At that time Amazon was not that big and buying from abroad was pretty complicated. I also discovered the fan universe which is a real industry. It gave me the idea of starting a niche business. Forums, MySpace were getting big and I had the feeling that people would like to enjoy a more dedicated shopping experience based on their community. The idea was to have an online store for one artist; CDs + mp3, linked to a forum. It started pretty well. A new album had just been released and there were many new limited editions from all around the world I could sell.
I ran into 2 obstacles. First one was the lack of new products in between 2 albums. I looked for other singers to duplicate the idea and create a more year-round business.
The second obstacle was fatal. I contacted with Universal Music to buy regular editions on wholesale and to work out how to offer legal MP3 downloads. They told us they loved the idea and would work on it with us. We heard the same thing over and over again for a few months but nothing happened. Eventually, we insisted to get a real layed out plan and their answer was to stop selling to us and revoke our ability to use the images of the album covers.... At the time, the Majors were all over the media, like Pascal Negre, CEO of Universal Music France, complaining about illegal downloads but what we learned right there is that these companies actually had nothing in the works for legal downloading. They had no technical knowledge or abilities and no plan on getting any. In 2005, anyone could promote an Amazon product on its blog, myspace or forum and get commissions on the sales. This was absolutely non existent with legal MP3 downloads. Our idea was clearly disruptive and ahead of the game. Unfortunately, it was also too early in the game for me to realize what I could really do on my own and I went on to another business. I had just received my bachelor degree and was attending a Master degree in Economics & Management.
It taught me a lot though, especially about niche business and in what would eventually be called fast fashion. People are willing to pay for what's different and what's new. If you don't renew your offer frequently, it is hard to grow your business.
I ran into 2 obstacles. First one was the lack of new products in between 2 albums. I looked for other singers to duplicate the idea and create a more year-round business.
The second obstacle was fatal. I contacted with Universal Music to buy regular editions on wholesale and to work out how to offer legal MP3 downloads. They told us they loved the idea and would work on it with us. We heard the same thing over and over again for a few months but nothing happened. Eventually, we insisted to get a real layed out plan and their answer was to stop selling to us and revoke our ability to use the images of the album covers.... At the time, the Majors were all over the media, like Pascal Negre, CEO of Universal Music France, complaining about illegal downloads but what we learned right there is that these companies actually had nothing in the works for legal downloading. They had no technical knowledge or abilities and no plan on getting any. In 2005, anyone could promote an Amazon product on its blog, myspace or forum and get commissions on the sales. This was absolutely non existent with legal MP3 downloads. Our idea was clearly disruptive and ahead of the game. Unfortunately, it was also too early in the game for me to realize what I could really do on my own and I went on to another business. I had just received my bachelor degree and was attending a Master degree in Economics & Management.
It taught me a lot though, especially about niche business and in what would eventually be called fast fashion. People are willing to pay for what's different and what's new. If you don't renew your offer frequently, it is hard to grow your business.
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