Why Should the Average Man Join Us?

You see here is the thing.

Can you name three hobbies, just three, where the hobbyists buy consumable products to the degree that they know that: a.) animal fat in them might go bad if not consumed by a certain time; and b.) they have so much stuff they know they can't use it in their lifetimes or a reasonable amount of time?

And yet, they go out and buy MORE and MORE. As soon as "seasonal" soaps come out they rush and buy MORE. If you have 50 tubs of soaps/cream, how often do you use them? 6 times/year. Then read a review and go buy MORE?

I just don't know any hobby where people go to the same extremes. And because of that, if I were someone making and selling these consumables, I would be very, very grateful and cater to those hobbyists. This is the heart and soul of this business, not some average guy getting by everyday trying to make ends meet and who just wants to do his thing, be clean shaven, save some money, and then move on.

In any case, I think it's kind of a silly question.

"Do you want more men to experience the pleasure, satisfaction, and closeness in shaving that you do?" Yes/No

"Do you want your favorite artisans and shaving companies to succeed and grow, or suffer and go out of business?" Yes/No

"Do you want even better quality shaving products, with innovative technology in the future you never dreamed possible?" Yes/No

You have to ask yourself those questions as well if you want the hobby to stay niche, or if you don't care.

I disagree that the questions can be framed that way. For instance, I want my favorite artisans to get enough business to financially thrive, but not so much that they have to expand, automate, delegate, outsource, and lower quality.

I think we can all agree that traditional shaving will never again be for the most common way for the "average man" to shave. Let's face it, on average, men are not all that bright. They are by definition of average intelligence. As you know, the average man is not interested in much outside of perhaps the scores of whatever sports they are, on average, interested in. They go to their average jobs every day to earn their average pay and come home to their average wife and average kids in their average house. They plop down in their average chairs and have their average dinners, maybe watch a little average TV before going to sleep in their average beds and getting up at the average time to repeat their average routine the next day. The last thing the average guy wants to do is have an above average shave because well... that just wouldn't be the average thing to do.

Luckily not everybody is average. The distribution of just about everything forms a bell curve with the zenith of that curve pointing straight at Mr. Average or his evil twin Mr. Median. Off to his left are those poor souls called the "below average." Off to the right are those people who are called, "above average". While it's true that Mr. Average may never adopt traditional wet shaving there are still a lot of people that fall outside that part of the bell curve who will. Marketing types call those people a "target market." Currently that market is worth billions of dollars per year and it is growing not shrinking. The number of businesses that are springing up to serve that market is growing pretty rapidly. New ideas are springing up, some will succeed and some will fail, but that is the nature of a free(ish) market. Unless the government steps in to put it's thumb on the scale, it's a decent environment for investing in a business enterprise that serves that market. Just remember, that Mr. Average may not be one of your customers.

On that same topic of average and Internet statistics, I read a horrible story the other day about an unfortunate fellow that managed to drown in a lake with an average depth of only six inches.

As long as I enjoy it, I don't care who else wants to join, lol.....

Until your favorite soap or brush maker goes out of business, you don't...  

I personally care because I would like to see these great products continue and expand. I for one would like to see more brushes, soaps, razors and the like with even better quality and innovation. Maybe others don't want to see these things, but I do.

Hmmm, I think I got enough of my favorites for a couple of lifetimes. But, you have the right to care, I just don't. Nothing wrong with that.

You see here is the thing.

Can you name three hobbies, just three, where the hobbyists buy consumable products to the degree that they know that: a.) animal fat in them might go bad if not consumed by a certain time; and b.) they have so much stuff they know they can't use it in their lifetimes or a reasonable amount of time?

And yet, they go out and buy MORE and MORE. As soon as "seasonal" soaps come out they rush and buy MORE. If you have 50 tubs of soaps/cream, how often do you use them? 6 times/year. Then read a review and go buy MORE?

I just don't know any hobby where people go to the same extremes. And because of that, if I were someone making and selling these consumables, I would be very, very grateful and cater to those hobbyists. This is the heart and soul of this business, not some average guy getting by everyday trying to make ends meet and who just wants to do his thing, be clean shaven, save some money, and then move on.

I'm sure there are many people in this community that make sacrifices here and there to enjoy their hobby/lifestyle. You make it sound like only the affluent cares for it.

@Uzi, let me be clear that my liking of your post was for everything but the unfortunate fellow who died in the last paragraph .

Nice statistical points there.

I disagree that the questions can be framed that way. For instance, I want my favorite artisans to get enough business to financially thrive, but not so much that they have to expand, automate, delegate, outsource, and lower quality.

The thing is, the world doesn't stay stagnant... you either move forward or fall behind. And in any case, I wouldn't want a few members here to decide how much business is 'just enough' to keep my favorite artisans alive.

And when some artisans are stretched too thin, that is what creates the opportunity for new and different artisans to enter the market we've never heard of, creating even more competition for price, quality, technology, etc.

In any case, I think it's kind of a silly question.

"Do you want more men to experience the pleasure, satisfaction, and closeness in shaving that you do?" Yes/No

"Do you want your favorite artisans and shaving companies to succeed and grow, or suffer and go out of business?" Yes/No

"Do you want even better quality shaving products, with innovative technology in the future you never dreamed possible?" Yes/No

You have to ask yourself those questions as well if you want the hobby to stay niche, or if you don't care.

So this is the old rhetorical question of "How long have you been beating your wife?"

You've shaded the questions to get the answers you want. Just the other day I was at one of the resellers web sites offering me free blades or something, i forget, and they did the exact same thing, asking a shaded question implying that if I didn't answer the way they wanted me to, that I was stupid. Guess again.

You can frame the questions for "the average guy" or for the target demographics, as @"Uzi" notes.

Worse yet, you assumptions are off.

1. I can get JUST a close a shave with a cartridge and be JUST as satisfied.
2. Average guy could care less about "better quality shaving products", that might be your assumption but ask the man in the street. Someone earlier in the thread noted that when he talked to his fellow workers, they thought he was nuts.
3. "Artisans" will succeed or fail on their own merit. Trying to shift results to seem like your favorite will go out of business is a fear tactic to shift the results

etc.

I'd let it go. It will succeed or fail on its own and whatever we say will have zero effect on the masses - Average Guy is too busy worrying about where is next meal is coming from and who will win March Madness.

I think we can all agree that traditional shaving will never again be for the most common way for the "average man" to shave.  Let's face it, on average, men are not all that bright.  They are by definition of average intelligence.  As you know, the average man is not interested in much outside of perhaps the scores of whatever sports they are, on average,  interested in.  They go to their average jobs every day to earn their average pay and come home to their average wife and average kids in their average house.  They plop down in their average chairs and have their average dinners, maybe watch a little average TV before going to sleep in their average beds and getting up at the  average time to repeat their average routine the next day.  The last thing the average guy wants to do is have an above average shave because well... that just wouldn't be the average thing to do.

Luckily not everybody is average.  The distribution of just about everything forms a bell curve with the zenith of that curve pointing straight at Mr. Average or his evil twin Mr. Median.   Off to his left are those poor souls called the "below average." Off to the right are those people who are called, "above average".    While it's true that Mr. Average may never adopt traditional wet shaving there are still a lot of people that fall outside that part of the bell curve who will.  Marketing types call those people a "target market." Currently that market is worth billions of dollars per year and it is growing not shrinking. The number of businesses that are springing up to serve that market is growing pretty rapidly. New ideas are springing up, some will succeed and some will fail, but that is the nature of a free(ish) market.  Unless the government steps in to put it's thumb on the scale, it's a decent environment for investing in a business enterprise that serves that market. Just remember, that Mr. Average may not be one of your customers.

On that same topic of average and Internet statistics, I read a horrible story the other day about an unfortunate fellow that managed to drown in a lake with an average depth of only six inches.

I am in no way disputing or arguing with your thoughts but, my, what a depressing post, even if it was meant to be somewhat tongue in cheek.