Sue Blacker runs the Online Only eCommerce business Blacker Yarns, which is the retail side of her yarn spinning mill The Natural Fibre Company. Sue balances production, wholesale and retail to grow her business to over £500,000 Turnover. This is a business which embraces its niche customer base by understanding their needs, holding true to it’s own values, and celebrating the provenance of every product they create.
Click to tweet: Hear how Blacker Yarn’s puts product and customer at the heart of their business @eComMasterPlan podcast
Listen to hear Sue discuss the power of the provenence of the products, the importance of customer surveys, and why getting the photography right is a challenge in itself.
Sue’s tips for keeping what the business stands for at the heart of everything:
Own it as the Managing Director – be a bit of a control freak and make sure the team remember to pay attention to the provenance, values and ethics of the business
Recruit people who get it
Give them the right induction program
Have a very clear design bible, that everyone follows
Within the business system have checks and measures in place to keep everything on track
Most Awesome Thing Right Now
This year is the 10 year anniversary of the business. So created a limited edition yarn “Cornish Tin” which is a blend of 10 different yarns.
It launches on the 18th September, and it’s looking like it will sell out before then.
Listen to hear how Sue and the team have combined the provenance of the product, the photography, the copy, and leveraged the knitting/crochet community to create such a powerful launch.
On the Radar for the Coming Months
For Blacker Yarns:
Blog posts to support the Cornish Tin launch, and a book review of the Herdy Shepherd
Big photoshoot just happened – so need to start using the images
Process the results of the recent customer survey (over 600 responses!)
For The Natural Fibre Company
Time to reorganise the website
Product costing modelling needs a refresh to improve margins and product schedules
Ravelry (knitting world specific social media platform)
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