Making It Big *‪.‬

Cynthia Riggs, CEO and founder of Making It Big (MIB), a manufacturer of clothing for large and "super-size" women, looked over her company's latest financial figures with concern. In 2001, sales had exceeded $2.3 million, an average increase of 12 percent over 10 years (see Figure 1). Going into the spring season, 2002 revenues had been 7 percent above 2001, but returns from the latest mail-order catalogue had been far lower than expected (see Figure 2). Cynthia didn't understand why her previously successful company was suddenly foundering. Looking to grow, MIB had already embarked on new approaches expanding its mail-order roster and beefing up its website--but they weren't panning out. "We took the steps traditionally used in mail order," Cynthia explained. "We printed more catalogues, exchanged and rented mailing lists and have mailed the catalogues. The response has been far below expectations." As for the attempt to increase website traffic, "We worked with a very savvy guy, put together what we all thought would be a mutually beneficial project--and it bombed. It makes no sense. He was able to get more potential customers to our site, but they didn't become buyers."