Yesterday I gave an interview to a journalist about the recent knitting (dot) com situation - basically two tech guys bought the knitting dot com domain and, like so many entries into the knitting marketplace before them, they had appeared to have much confidence and done very little research. But they had dropped 80K on a domain and that was newsworthy.

You can read the article here. I’m cited briefly as a Scottish designer, writer, and knitter. I find that pretty amusing.

Actually, I wasn't sure if I should respond to the journalist request, but I decided to go ahead. Here’s my brief interview.

The journalist was called Chris and he sent me the following questions.

1) What do you make of the knitting dot com situation? 2) What does it tell us about the knitting (and business bro community)? 3) You mentioned that knitters often overlook the realities of the situation - what do you mean? 4) What should the knitting dot com bros do? 5) What, if anything, do you think needs to change about the knitting community?

Here are my answers:

1) What do you make of the knitting dot com situation?

1. I have worked in the crafts industry for over a decade (many roles; both big companies and micro-businesses), and I've honestly seen a lot of these situations: someone comes in thinking they are going to make a quick buck out of an industry they haven't researched properly. These people usually exit quickly.

What I saw with the knitting dot com situation is that they arrived at an interesting time. The crafts industry (particularly the knitting industry) is under pressure re. scarcity of raw materials, rising costs, and supply problems. Dropping 80K on a domain name just after relatively big and well-established players in the market have had to fold struck me as .. optimistic.

(Actually, adjust that to "wildly optimistic")

2) What does it tell us about the knitting (and business bro community)?

2. Listen, I applaud anyone who's trying to make it work in the craft industry - and particularly the knitting industry (which I'll focus on for the rest of this chat - we'll leave out other crafts). It's a tough marketplace where specialist knowledge is required, margins can be tight, and brand loyalty can be fickle. It's kind of immaterial that it is specifically *knitting* - it might as well have been fly-fishing or guitar-building - but I think the idea that the industry is dominated by women might have played into the amount of research done?

Chris: Do you think it's salvageable as a business proposition?

Well, more research is needed. Also hiring people with actual industry experience to consult. No, that's not my own pitch here!

3) You mentioned that knitters often overlook the realities of the situation - what do you mean?

3. In my experience, most knitters equate the knitting industry with people visible on social media - the micro-businesses: the indie dyers, the designers, and the lifestyle brands. Very few people expect big brands to be run by non-knitters. But it is an industry and many of the top positions are inhabited by yer regular business men (who do rely on specialist knowledge).

Many knitters have also been surprised by supply problems (products unavailable, dye formulae changing due to .. yes .. supply probs which means changes to products etc) and rising consumer prices.

4) What should the knitting dot com bros do?

4. Honestly, start over and make some smart hires. The launch of their product (whether the dot com itself OR their process in overhauling it .. even the actual product is confused) was .. not good. Hire deep, think smart research hard and invest in more than just a domain. They are also looking at a comms issue which I'd encourage them to address.

5) What, if anything, do you think needs to change about the knitting community?

There are definite discussions to be had regarding the intersections between the big commercial ventures and the micro-businesses, and also how we as an industry react to supply problems, structural inequality, and so forth.

I could have given Chris a long essay about all the ways the knitting industry is set to change, but that is the sort of knowledge that us consultants are being paid good money to write.

The issue goes deeper, of course, than “two tech bros enter the marketplace, call their future customers grannies with blogs, and then try to do damage control.” It relates to the viability of businesses within the industry and how prepared businesses (of any size) are in relation to challenges. Being prepared means Knowing Stuff, and with such a specialised product such as yarn (which has dye lots - something that impacts on stock levels, buying, costing, and packaging) you need to have a huge amount of specialised staff ready to rise to those challenges as well as actual space.

I have seen a lot of companies and brands fall at that hurdle. The average life span of a knitting business is roughly three (3) years.

I don’t think it’s a bad time to enter the market, actually. The knitting industry is in decline with many well-established players and partners having to shut shop. But it is one of those industries where you need to have the right people on your team, you need to understand your customers, and you need to have your authentic story ready to tell.

And that’s the very opposite of what we saw last week. Yet again. I wish the guys good luck and I hope they bounce back with a solid business idea they are willing to see through.