Alas, my dreams are now dead

The time has come for me to face reality and acknowledge the fact that two of my current business ventures have run their course. It saddens me greatly to sunset these passion projects but the truth is that I’m in a situation where these projects have become unsustainable and it is time to move on.

It has been extremely challenging attempting to build and run these businesses from South Africa, especially when dealing with continuous rolling blackouts, an ever-weakening currency that continuously increases monthly running costs, and lack of motivation due to depression and frustration resulting from limited resources, limited support, limited reach, and the current state of South Africa’s infrastructure and economy.

Then there’s also my social anxiety; difficulties in dealing with interpersonal relationships and interactions - that’s not making things any easier in an already limiting and hostile environment. Being publicly transparent about being Autistic, Atheist, and Homosexual, and frequently rejected, misunderstood, or unintentionally offending others, also resulted in many potential clients and customers simply turning a blind eye to whatever I put out into the world. It’s mentally and emotionally exhausting trying to be seen; heard; acknowledged; relevant, and to try and build businesses and brands in a society that simply doesn’t accept who I am as a person. I could hide behind a mask and pretend to be a neurotypical, god-fearing, neutral, professional heterosexual, but I just can’t bring myself to be fake for the sake of financial gain. I’ll leave that to the priests, pastors, mainstream celebrities, and politicians.

I invite you to read about exactly why these businesses have failed so that you can learn from my mistakes…

CloudPress.Studio
Why it Failed

It is extremely challenging for me to deal directly with other people, be it in person or over the telephone. Despite my social shortcomings, I’m very good at what I do, so my dream was to create a Web Design Studio and Website Management Service where all communication happens through email only.

I set up a website containing detailed information on the services provided, addressing any possible questions that any potential client might have. I also provided detailed steps of the entire process from start to finish including the information I require from the client, my workflow, my design process, and timeframe, how the client can request future changes, etc.

Unfortunately. we live in a society where, especially in the web design industry, the majority of potential clients want to speak directly to their potential service provider. In most cases, they also want to meet in person. Limiting communication to email cut off most of the target market.

Realistically; This was never going to be a success, no matter how much I wanted it to be. It could have worked if I employed someone else to deal with potential clients through phone calls or meetings on my behalf, but unfortunately, I wasn’t in a financial position to do so. It may have worked if I spent enormous amounts of money in an attempt to target clients who would also prefer to communicate through email only, but I simply do not have the capital to run such targeted ad campaigns.

Communication limitations aside; only having access to electricity for a couple of hours a day also means that my working hours are extremely limited. Even if potential clients did flood my inbox, I would not have been able to get much work done, and turnaround time would’ve been unacceptably long.

With limited funding; most going into running costs, I have zero funds for marketing. I mostly relied on search engine optimization and social media to market the service, but even social networks limit reach unless one pays to boost each post. There is no such thing as free advertising anymore, at least not ethical free advertising. Many small businesses still rely on black hat techniques that seem to work for them, but I will not go that route. I refuse to become a spammer!

While I live and work from home in South Africa, my web servers are abroad. I made use of Digital Ocean VPS servers and Cloudflare Enterprise CDN to run all websites and paid running costs in USD. The weakening ZAR currency resulted in my server fees increasing every month to a point where, working on a strict budget, down to the last cent, it was simply no longer sustainable. I reached a point where I neglected all personal needs to keep funding the business in the hopes that maybe at some point, someone would reach out in need of my services, willing to work with me through email communication alone. That hasn’t happened since the launch of CloudPress Studio. I’d very much like to stop throwing money into what now seems like a delusional pipe dream.

DENTER CLOTHING
Why it Failed

The Denter Clothing online store relied on CloudPress Studio’s server infrastructure to function. If CloudPress Studio fails, so does the Denter Clothing online store.

In addition to not having enough resources to maintain and expand the server infrastructure necessary to effectively run and maintain an online store, Denter Clothing also suffered due to insufficient funds for marketing.

Limited funding meant that no matter what awesome products I created, I was unable to effectively market those products. I had no clear route to reach my target audience. I could also not afford to send influencers free merchandise nor could I afford to pay for sponsored posts of influencers wearing said merchandise. I could not afford to hire models to pose for high-quality product imagery. I mainly relied on factory-provided CGI mockups to present the clothing in the online store.

Wearing the clothing myself on my social channels in an attempt to generate interest and sales wasn’t a viable option either. The clothing is made in and shipped from Australia, Asia, Europe, and the United States. I am in South Africa. It’s designed here, by me, but it’s not made here, by me. It’s made by the same factories that produce Adidas and Nike for the American, European, and Australian markets. Importing my finished products would also result in a 40% additional import duties fee above the production cost. Dumping all my money into general running costs meant that everything was going into simply keeping the online store operational. I could not also afford to buy all my creations, nor import them to wear and display on my social media channels. This resulted in many potential customers simply not trusting the brand because, outside of CGI mockups on the online store, they could not get a proper look at all the clothing.

The brand name was also an issue. Some mistook it as being a company that makes clothing for dentists, given that the web address of the online store is dentcloth.com. I was once even asked why I do not sell scrubs. In reality, the brand and the products have absolutely nothing to do with the dental industry whatsoever. It is a brand focused on individuality, quality, and organic cotton activewear, casualwear, and streetwear.

Since its launch in 2019, Denter Clothing barely generated any sales - never enough to break even. From 2019 through 2023, I was throwing money into a black hole, making use of limited sponsor-provided funding and support from friends and family to keep the online store operational, to keep the dream alive, despite barely making any sales - all in the hope that one day, the right people would notice the brand and the clothing, and start buying en masse. Not very smart on my part, I must admit. But I had a dream and I was determined to keep it alive no matter the cost. As it turns out, that cost came at the expense of my personal needs and my mental health. It simply isn’t worth it anymore.

I’m not giving up on
DENTER CLOTHING!

Even though the DENTER CLOTHING online store is now closed, I’m not giving up on my dream to run a high-quality, eco-friendly clothing brand. Contrary to the title of this newsletter; I’m keeping this dream alive. I will keep selling some products directly or perhaps through third-party marketplace platforms like Etsy or eBay and will bring back the official online store as soon as I can secure enough funding to do so. If and when I have enough funding to keep the advanced server infrastructure running again without neglecting my personal financial needs, and to advertise effectively; including professional product photography, targeted ad campaigns, and influencer sponsorships, then DENTER CLOTHING will return. If that never happens, so be it, but I refuse to let this dream die entirely. I have worked hard on bringing this brand to life so I refuse to kill it completely. It may or may not be back in full swing someday. I’d like to think of this more as an indefinite pause than a failure. Maybe it will live on only in my dreams, or maybe it’ll be fully operational again someday.

NEXT STEPS

Moving forward, I’m going to focus on my personal needs and my mental health and redirect finances to where I feel it’s most needed. I’m going to continue advancing my education, and I’m going to continue working on new music. If all works out as planned, I’ll hope to release a new single this year. If you’d like to support me on my journey, you can Buy me a Coffee!

THINGS I TELL MYSELF
TO REMAIN POSITIVE

• Failure is not the end.

• Failure is a situation, not a person.

• Many successful entrepreneurs have failed many times before they eventually succeeded.

• Failure is part of the learning process.

• Every failure brings me closer to my next project being a possible success.

• It’s never too late to keep learning.

• It’s never too late to try again.

• I am a spec of dust in the vastness of the universe - my failures are insignificant in the bigger scheme of things.

• Relax; enjoy life. Even in the darkest times, there’s always something to be grateful for; some reason to smile.

• Others’ opinion of me does not define my worth.

I know this was a very long newsletter, it could’ve been an e-book! If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading my boring content! You are amazing! Keep an eye on your inbox for future newsletters because for long as I live, there will always be more to come. Have a lovely day! ✌️💛