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Technology & Innovation —

In Business, Fail Fast and Often

Founder of the D.I.Y. jewelry company Stella and Dot, Jessica Herrin saw the need for action when her business began to fail. A quick reaction to bad times is what counts, she says. 

What’s the Latest Development?

Jessica Herrin saved her D.I.Y. jewelry company by accepting that her business model was failing. She wanted to improve on the idea of home sales, where friends meet to shop from a salesperson’s catalog in the host’s home. Unfortunately, lot of companies produced, marketed, and sold packages just like her’s. At the time, the businesses was making revenue, but the home sales were bringing in just $450. She quickly changed things up by marketing ready-made jewelry. 

What’s the Big Idea?

Herrin counsels that failure is not why a business does not succeed, at least not in the long run. Failure to respond quickly to failure is why businesses fold. “So much is lost by companies that just can’t move fast enough,” Herrin said. In order for her company to change its game, it had to fail fast. “Instead of staying with it, it was about changing with it. I tell my board…I want to be a great company for generations to come and that takes a lot of failure.” She has since doubled the amount her company earns from home sales. 

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