TOP 5 Issues Before Launch

A launch of a business is never as easy as it sounds. There are countless things that need to be managed, worked on, and put together for it to all work seamlessly.  Even a relaunch (such as this) has its hardships. Let's take a look at the top 5 issues we've had before launch.

5. Networking - Now as many of you don't know, we moved our HQ to Los Angeles from Oahu to reach a bigger market and expand our resources. The trouble with that, in this particular case, is the lack of connections we have out here a.k.a. none. So it's been a minor struggle to reach out to people to help facilitate our business.

4. Transportation - Another pitfall of moving locations and restarting a business is transportation. Products take up space and you can't just get them all done in a singular location. T-shirts need to be moved from the manufacturer to the screen printer to the fulfillment center and they ain't light. It has been an issue moving things around for us especially without a vehicle to depend on. Thankfully, there are many other modes of transportation out here so it's just a minor struggle.

3. Funding - For many startups one of the biggest concerns is how much money will it take to actually get started. It's no different for us and is probably enhanced because of our move over the Pacific Ocean (notice a trend here). Finding a balance between how much money you can allocate to your business without dying is fundamentally an issue any dedicated, self-starting business owner will face if they don't initially have many funds. Top Ramen anyone?

2. Website - If you're not a techy and have no HTML and coding experience building your own website is comparable to lighting yourself on fire and smiling through the pain "this... is... fine...". No, but seriously, there are a lot of moving parts to a website and if you are a control freak and want things to be specifically one way or another it's gonna be real hard to make that website without compromising some things. I'd like to just point out here that Shopify does a great job of helping you create what you want. It's not perfect, but it's better than being on fire.

1. Product Quality - Normally, this wouldn't be an issue because everyone's a professional and makes the absolute bee's knees of any vision we have for a product. But again, a new city means working out the kinks with new people. Once all the designing was done there was that sigh of relief. Like now it's out of my hands and I can wait for the product to arrive exactly how I envisioned! Neigh good sir. Not gonna go into detail, but it was a bit more frustrating than that and things did change through the course of production. Stress levels were high, hair was lost, but it's a learning process and next time will be much better.