When we started auctionmystuff.org it was going to be a service for cash rich, time poor (lazy, like myself) people to sell stuff through eBay. It wasn’t until we actually piloted it, that we found that the idea we planned just didn’t make enough money to even cover its costs.
What we discovered, from meeting a charity to try and get access to their shops, was that some charities were offered really large donations of ‘stuff’, which they’d love to convert into cash. As our first idea wasn’t working, we switched to doing this, which turned out to be much better both financially, and allowed us to offer lots of work experience and training to unemployed young people.
After another year or so, our reputation grew to the point that we were being offered management of high profile celebrity charity auctions. Which included selling David Beckham’s shirt, Daniel Craig’s Omega, and with the winning bid, a lap with Top Gear’s the Stig, for Children in Need. So we changed our focus again, and now just run this sort of auction.
So what did we learn, apart from the fact that our first idea didn’t work. By learning from what we were doing and not holding on too tight to our initial plan, we were able to grow both the financial and social impact of our social enterprise.
For more advice on starting up, check out the Advice pages of the website here.
