JOLIE: Social media businesses cannot prioritize profit over customer experience
Column: C'est Tout
Many of us have considered giving business to companies that were launched on social media. From the localized online business started by a high school classmate to the larger-scale business started by a social media influencer with a huge following, we have all seen the surge in the accessibility of starting a business.
Social media helps aspiring business owners achieve their goals without the obstacle of red tape. But can we accept this model as an objectively good thing?
Online business owners can find the ability to market their products on social media so enticing that they neglectfully bypass the planning a stable business requires. A lack of regulation in these businesses also leads to harmful or ineffective products being delivered to consumers without much consequence.
The recent TikTok Pink Sauce controversy is a prime example of prematurely launching a business. Chef Pii, a private chef based in Miami, advertised her secret Pink Sauce on TikTok, and it went viral. Concerns about food poisoning arose because bottles of Pink Sauce were shipped in bags instead of boxes, sometimes even arriving damaged. The condiment’s ingredients included milk, but no refrigeration accommodations or nutrition labels were made.
“This is a small business, y’all,” Chef Pii said in a since-deleted TikTok. “This is a small business that is moving really, really fast.”
Despite Pink Sauce trending in the heat of July 2022, Chef Pii chose not to take precautionary measures to ensure that the viral condiments were delivered safely to customers.
In the throes of commercial success, small business owners default to using their size as an excuse for bad service. Though small businesses do not have hundreds of workers or the type of machinery that makes product rollout easy, they can select how many orders they accept. Better decisions about their capacity limitations would improve their businesses.
When there is limited product availability, or perhaps shipping delays, business owners are often not transparent about these issues which ultimately displeases customers.
Mariee Revere, CEO and founder of MoonXCosmetics, received hundreds of complaints from customers due to sluggish shipping from the vegan skincare line. Revere argued that because the products were handmade, customers should have expected a longer delivery time. MoonXCosmetics products took months for customers to receive, and some did not receive their orders at all.
Going viral can be a double-edged sword for social media business owners. The random event of one’s business going viral can boost sales in large amounts, but the business owner will likely be caught off guard by the uptick in orders and face difficulties in the rollout process.
An obsession with business growth and sales can cause online business owners to be unrealistic about what is doable. MoonXCosmetics is known for making $1 million in 8 minutes, yet customer reviews suggest that the online business was ill-suited to sell that many products in such a short period of time.
In the Hulu docuseries "The Dropout," Elizabeth Holmes falls into the same pit albeit an entirely different ballgame. Holmes, the founder of health technology company Theranos, was aware that her blood test devices (dubbed the “Edison”) were malfunctioning and delivering faulty results. A rise in publicity and the demands of deep-pocketed investors to sell Edison devices led to Theranos knowingly selling and distributing flawed products.
Instead of revamping business strategies to ensure that the increased consumer base is receiving quality products in a timely manner, social media business owners should opt to stick with a business model that is sufficient for a smaller consumer base.
“I’m doing it as professional as possible. ‘Cause it ain’t the most professional but … it is what it is ‘cause there’s only so much I can do and open a store and pack online orders," said Atira Lyons, a designer of luxury silk and velvet durags, "My team is still very small, but we are doing a lot … That’s the only way you’re going to get bigger, if you overwork yourself.”
This attitude is neither sustainable nor practical. Business owners often voice their objection to working a 9-to-5 standard job, but they often replicate the work dynamics they wish to avoid, sometimes in even worse ways. Social media business owners who experience mass success are commonly exposed for overworking their employees and improperly paying them. How are these employee experiences any different from the Amazon workers who raise concerns about their work conditions?
Small online business owners should not be opposed to limiting their services to customers if doing so leads to better quality products and safer deliveries. Unbridled ambition is not only problematic to the long-term business goals these owners have but also inconducive to ideal producer-consumer relationships.
When business owners value profit over the employee and consumer experience, the premature expansion of the business is likely to happen. Social media makes entrepreneurship appear deceivingly easy, but this is territory that existing and aspiring small business owners should tread ethically and methodically. C’est tout.
Faith Jolie is a junior in the School of Arts and Sciences majoring in journalism and media studies and women's and gender studies. Her column, "C'est Tout," runs on alternate Mondays.
*Columns, cartoons and letters do not necessarily reflect the views of the Targum Publishing Company or its staff.
YOUR VOICE | The Daily Targum welcomes submissions from all readers. Due to space limitations in our print newspaper, letters to the editor must not exceed 900 words. Guest columns and commentaries must be between 700 and 900 words. All authors must include their name, phone number, class year and college affiliation or department to be considered for publication. Please submit via email to oped@dailytargum.com by 4 p.m. to be considered for the following day’s publication. Columns, cartoons and letters do not necessarily reflect the views of the Targum Publishing Company or its staff.
