SOCKS FOR A YEAR, OR how to adapt Western projects to Russian conditions

American idea of ​​selling machines shaving subscription for Russian conditions, many rejected. As the weakest link in this online business model - our mail.

It does not deliver or deliver on time is not, and does not practice the delivery of small goods directly to your inbox client.

But! A Russian businessman - Evgeny Novikov - was able to overcome this problem.

He took a foreign analogue delivery socks by subscription  blacksocks.com  and made ​​his similar project noskinagod.ru - "Socks for a year" - and sold 30 boxes of socks and 90 pairs!

Socks for the year

With such a volume of the order can do courier services (and for remote regions use EMS).

And, as it turned out, the company took the idea to buy socks in bulk for the year with gusto. Especially that Eugene very competently convinces users of your site (it directly from the main page), for them it is not just convenient but also solves several problems:

Why socks needed to fly once a year

Quite convincingly.

And despite the fact that the service is intended for men (men's socks are sold exclusively), 70 percent of the users of the site - female (they buy their socks for men not only for domestic use, but also as a gift).

It all started in 2008 when Eugene, a student MIPT, with his friend decided to implement the Western idea for the student community. Made the site. Site hit the searchers went first orders. But surprisingly, that the greatest demand for socks was not the students, and ordinary citizens in Moscow.

And they decided to concentrate on ordinary citizens (who could not sell socks 3-6 pairs, and from 30 - almost a year).

With the development of proved that you need to invest in business development. Guys together with incoming orders no longer cope.

Eugene had to invest an additional 500 thousand rubles for business expansion: opening of an office, warehouse, work with suppliers to establish socks, hiring employees for processing and sending orders for advertising. To do this, he did not seek investors, and just went on hired labor and year earned money.

But today it is not just he sells socks, and an assortment of many different socks (from economy to Merc), with delivery not only in Moscow and St. Petersburg but also in several other major cities in Russia:

Wide range of socks for the year

Eugene originally advertised his business in social networks VKontakte and Facebook.Today, he is advertising in social networks using only dot when there is a demand for certain - before the holidays. As people's awareness of such services is growing traffic through search engines. He also uses Yandex.

Offline advertising did not bring much result.Eugene says: no matter how advertise offline, customers still need to visit the site for ordering - so that it is easier to look for them online.

Over 2011 business brought Eugene income 600-800 thousand rubles  per month, of which net profit of 20-30% (120-240 thousand rubles). Annual growth - 30-40%.

And already have competitors (from former partners).

Detailed account of the business, "Socks for the year" and its formation you can listen to an interview Evgeny Novikov program Finam FM:

So even Western internet business can be opened on Russian soil, if adapt it to local conditions.

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