Lessons Learned

The lessons learned from the MMDC gift shop experience are relevant to nearly any would-be entrepreneur, but are especially meaningful to those starting with very limited capital. Although the ways to market giant clam products are limited only by your imagination, we feel that people just getting involved in the shellcraft business, especially retail, will be best served by proven concepts. Once you begin making money, a portion of the profits can always be used to experiment with new approaches. In the beginning, however, stick to the basics and keep overhead down.

If you have giant clam shells accumulating on hand from your farming efforts, don't allow them to keep piling up while entertaining the fantasy that a ship from Taiwan will soon arrive to pay top dollar for the whole lot of them. It seldom—if ever—works that way. Instead, put serious thought into developing a program to sell the shells at your own farm or hatchery (direct marketing), or to sell the shells to other local retail establishments.

Adding value to your shell products through local crafting is a key concept. It creates employment for local artisans and increases the acceptable local price for the end products. As noted in the early part of this manual, adding value is much more than simply creating shellcraft products from unappealing raw materials. “Value Added” is a business strategy that should be expressed in all kinds of ways, ranging from the way the product is harvested, stored and crafted to the level of attention to detail in the shop decor to the way the staff and salespeople pay attention to the myriad of details that contribute to customer satisfaction.

How do you know when customers are satisfied? This all-important knowledge arises from customer feedback, both positive and negative. Basking in positive customer feedback is easy, and it will be plentiful if you approach your craftsmanship and salesmanship with energy and enthusiasm. Positive customer feedback can literally make your day; it makes you feel that all is right with the world. What is more difficult to detect, to accept and to correct is customer dissatisfaction.

Customer dissatisfaction may not be verbalized. More often, it will be expressed through apparent boredom, lack of interest or refusal to purchase. Lack of sales means something is wrong. Remember that successful retailing involves more than saying “May I help you?” to everyone who walks in the door. It often requires initiating a conversation with customers and volunteering information about not only the products but also the company philosophy and mission. If people like what you are doing, if they like your demeanor and feel that you are taking the trouble to educate or entertain them, they will make a purchase to show appreciation. The objective should be to make each and every customer have a positive experience in the gift shop. While this may not be achievable for 100 percent of the customers, it is true for the vast majority of them, the shop will.