CW selling website

Discuss Christopher Ward watches
joerattz
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Re: CW selling website

Post by joerattz »

I think part of what some of you may be missing is CW's goal. While it may be most watchmaker's goal to build the brand to become the next Rolex, that is not what Chris's stated goal is. Chris said he wanted to create a new kind of watch company. One that was open, one that provided high quality at affordable prices. I think too many here think that for Chris to deem himself successful he must become huge and sell his watches for thousands of dollars. On the contrary, Chris has already been successful. He has already sold high quality watches at affordable prices. He doesn't HAVE to change his business model to become successful for his goal.

Now, you never know when his goal may change. People change. Companies change. I hope CW doesn't.
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Re: CW selling website

Post by peterh »

How wonderfully unrealistic... gotta love it. :D

If merely selling good watches at a fair price would make you eligible for a government or UN fund, or earn you a Nobel Prize For Watch Design, that might work. But Chris is driving a business, and first and foremost, he needs to take business decisions. In a dynamic world, business decisions are not just driven by people changing and their personal goals changing... there are a lot of external factors to take into account, and these alone may force anyone to reconsider their distribution model.

If you're self-employed, you have a couple goals.
Goal 1: do something that generates an income that will sustain you and your family, at a level that you find suitable.
Goal 1.1: on top of 1, harvest some additional loot that allows you to set something aside for when the **** done hit the fan, or to sustain you and yours for when you want to retire -- in 10 years from now when you're lucky.
Goal 1.2: keep your investors happy, because they are a major factor when it comes to realising goals 1 and 1.1.

Goal 2: accomplish this doing something that you like.

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and then, somewhere down the list: please the teeming millions while doing the above.

Of course, many of us would cry foul if, five years from now, Chris is seriously on the radar, and the Swatch group decides that acquiring CWL would suit their business model and buy him out for a solid seven-figure amount.

But, from a business point of view, it would be silly to reject such an offer. Let's face it: if you tick the Swatch group off in any way, all they have to do is to stop supplying you with movements, and that would do noticeable damage to the revenue stream, wouldn't it?

peter
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Re: CW selling website

Post by joerattz »

You are assuming Chris isn't already in a financial position to afford him the opprotunity to do this. Something I read, I can't remember what it was now, gave me the impression that Chris is not a struggling newbie businessman. I think (admittedly I could be wrong) that Chris already has the something set aside. I think (again I could be wrong) that the CW line of watches is about passion, not money. You are correct though that it probably has to be a viable business venture and turn a profit. But that doesn't mean he has to change his business model, start huge marketing campaigns, pay for celebrity endorsements, or the like.

Perhaps I am just being naive or optimistically hopeful...despite that not being my nature.
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Re: CW selling website

Post by Terminator 2 »

joerattz wrote:Perhaps I am just being naive or optimistically hopeful...despite that not being my nature.
Yeah you are :shock: :lol: :lol: ;-)

I agree 100% with Peter. At the end of the day CWL is a business and not a charity and anyone who thinks otherwise is in lala land. Chris is not in this for you and me. He is in this to put food on the table. Also nobody is saying that CWL has not yet achieved success but the point is that I would be shocked if Chris just wanted to sit on his butt and remain as he is. In fact I would doubt that very much. The mere fact that he is introducing more and more models is testament to that. There is ambition in there somewhere. However there is nothing to say that he needs to give up on his aim to sell quality at a price while expanding the company. If Chris was a billionaire already he could have just went out and bought an already established brand. Seeing as he is not though I reckon he is building a brand from scratch. It may take a long time but I suspect he is in this for the long haul.

The internet is a good tool to get yourself established on the cheap with its low overheads but it is not the whole story when it comes to marketing. It is just one marketing tool amongst many and if you wish to really succeed then other avenues have to be eventually explored. In fact believe it or not to some customers simply selling only via the internet actually cheapens the name and the product. You and I may know differently but to the uneducated as it stands CWL may just appear to these people simply as another " shopping channel " type brand selling tat. So how does CWL address that image to the uneducated doubters ??? Well one of the answers is in this thread already.

;-)
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Re: CW selling website

Post by peterh »

Terminator 2 wrote:In fact believe it or not to some customers simply selling only via the internet actually cheapens the name and the product. You and I may know differently but to the uneducated as it stands CWL may just appear to these people simply as another " shopping channel " type brand selling tat.
Good point.

A Report From The Teeming Millions.

When I first came across CWL, it was because I hit upon a Dutch watch forum which were discussing the C5.
This led me onto the CWL website, where Chris was selling "the cheapest most expensive watch in the world". That kind of put me off.

The Dutch forum, however, had some high-quality photos of the C5, some of them being contributed by a forum member called Highstreet. I remembered Highstreet from a photography forum, as someone with whom I disagreed wholeheartedly at times, but always respected his opinion even if I would not agree with it... hence I thought that he was genuine.
Highstreet's photos convinced me, and EVEN THOUGH my impression of CWL's web site was similar to a shopping channel, I took the plunge. Never looked back since. ;)

So.
This Dutch forum, and this Highstreet guy, was instrumental in getting me hooked, even though CWL's web site, with the "cheapest most expensive watch" and "only availabhe here" stuff did its best to put me off.

peter

ps: I have reason to assume that "this Highstreet guy" mentioned above is one and the same as the forum owner known as Hans. If this is true (and I am almost sure it is), I owe him a beer, because I owe my avatar to him, and he led me to discovering My Ultimate Watch.
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Re: CW selling website

Post by peterh »

joerattz wrote:You are assuming Chris isn't already in a financial position to afford him the opprotunity to do this.
In that case, he wouldn't need investors -- and we have evidence on his web site to support that he does.

So there.
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Re: CW selling website

Post by Hans »

I asked Chris about this situation, he told me that the CW-company doesn't employ middlemen and CW's strategic positioning is not to waiver from this. So the owner of this website is not a middleman, but a CW-customer who buys CW-watches and sells them with a small margin. Also, Chris is not too pleased with the fact that he is using the "www.christopherward.nl" domain....
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Re: CW selling website

Post by John »

Ok, it's clear for me now.
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Re: CW selling website

Post by peterh »

Amazing how it's suddenly clear to you once Hans tells you exactly what I told. ;)

I guess that Hans is a bit more of an authoritative voice than I am.
And so it should be :mg:

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Re: CW selling website

Post by joerattz »

See, here's the problem...and it may all be YOUR attitude. :lol:
Terminator 2 wrote:... and if you wish to really succeed then other avenues have to be eventually explored...
Terminator 2 wrote:... really succeed ...
By YOUR definition of success, then perhaps. But that doesn't necessarily make it so for Chris's definition. After re-reading the interview at TZ, I now know why I believe he isn't in this ENTIRELY for the money. Because he says so. He could be lying, but I don't think so. His goals could change, that's possible. But because in YOUR mind, he has to meet some milestone doesn't mean he hasn't already acheived what he wanted to achieve. I am not saying he has, but that you don't know his goal. What you are defining as his success is contrary to what his stated goal is. Someone suggested if he were wealthy enough, he could just buy some already existing brand. Where is the satisfaction and fulfillment in that? Read his interview...he was retired before starting this. He sold his business. He reverted to his passion, watches. Sure, he wants to make a profit because not only does that make it possible to continue without draining your resources, it is the ultimate indicator that your product has value...that someone is willing to pay for it.

I believe it is completely feasible he can maintain his current business model and continue his company. His bigger problem is that to grow much more, he has to find someone he can trust to maintain his standards of excellence. Someone he can trust to also review the product going out. When it has your name on it, that's tough.

Peter, what investors are you referring to?
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Re: CW selling website

Post by El Tiempo »

Terminator 2 wrote: Chris is not in this for you and me.
This is probably the most shortsighted thing I've read on this forum. Frankly, I'm shocked that it came from you.
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Re: CW selling website

Post by Terminator 2 »

joerattz wrote:See, here's the problem...and it may all be YOUR attitude. :lol:
Terminator 2 wrote:... and if you wish to really succeed then other avenues have to be eventually explored...
Terminator 2 wrote:... really succeed ...
By YOUR definition of success, then perhaps.
Success purely depends where you put the goal posts Joe. If a man simply manages to feed his family and put a roof over their head then one might deem him a success. Others may deem the Donald Trump's of this world a success. You are digging into my wording too deeply. I am not saying Chris is not a success. After all he is still in business. When I said in previous posts " really succeed " I am talking about when a company becomes a household name and CWL is a very long way from that. However Chris will have a dream. He might not set his sights as high as becoming a household name but there will still be a level he wishes to achieve somewhere inside his head but only he can honestly answer as to where he has placed his own goalposts.
El Tiempo wrote:
Terminator 2 wrote: Chris is not in this for you and me.
This is probably the most shortsighted thing I've read on this forum. Frankly, I'm shocked that it came from you.
I disagree El Tiempo. It is not shortsighted at all, realistic yes but not shortsighted. Only a fool would be in business only for you and me and only a fool would think that a company was in it for purely for them. Yes you can care about your customers and try to maintain your customers with ethical business practice but at the end of the day with any business it is all about the bottom line.

No Profit = No Business

It is as simple an equation as that and if you do not believe me just go and ask your accountant or bank manager his views on the subject. Investors want a profit and they are not in this for charitable purposes.

Sometimes it is hard to put across what you mean in writing via forums though. I use the words and phrases I do purely for impact but even so be under no illusion as to their meaning. Business is business end of story.
joerattz wrote: Peter, what investors are you referring to?
Did you not get the recent e,mail Joe ??? Rather than being addressed by Chris it was addressed from

Mike France
Co- founder


I knew he had investors but that is the first time I have seen a name put to one officially which I did puzzle over if I am honest.
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Re: CW selling website

Post by ionutz »

heloo
I had ordered a C5 malvern from the site now 8 days ago, when should I espect to arive the order?
I wait for an answer.

P.S. very nice watches :)
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Re: CW selling website

Post by cstef »

check your PM ...
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