SLENTRE.COM

By Satu Gustafson

Getting started

After watching her husband and sons regularly play World of Warcraft and Star Wars, and after reading about Second Life in the papers, curiosity got the better of Mimi Juneau and she thought she might try and have fun in a virtual world herself.

After joining SL in July 2006, Mimi did what most players do upon entering SL– she hunted for freebies and explored the many wonders of Second Life, witnessing things she never knew existed. “Like the cum bucket,” Mimi laughs, shaking her head. A week into her Second Life, Mimi asked her RL husband to join (he did), though both eventually went their own separate ways within SL .
Fun and funds

The only RL money Mimi and her husband invested in SL was for their first 2048m/2 plot of land and house. Following that, Mimi’s husband began to make money as a scripter and builder and while Mimi initially worked as a dancer, she eventually quit out of respect for her SL partner.

Love’s labour’s lost?

After settling in and exploring the many possibilities in SL, Mimi opened her first shop in Sands together with her SL partner, hunting for nice pieces in resell shops, changing or adding things, and taking new vendor pictures. However, as in RL, mixing business and private life can prove complicated. So when her SL relationship ended, Mimi found herself thrown out of her own shop.

“I can tell you, that did hurt,” Mimi says about this unpleasant experience.

Mimi’s recipe for success: doing what you’re good at

However, with the help of good friends, Mimi soon opened more shops at several other locations, some of which she eventually had to close.

“My main store is still at the Sands, next to Redgrave. It’s a fantastic shopping sim, very stylish and classy. I helped my partner with his shop next door–Ronn’s Choice, for men,” Mimi informs us. “I’m not a creator,” describing her business activities, “I only do what I’m good at–selling, giving people advice, helping newbies, etc. What I like doing most is networking, connecting people with the right persons.” Mimi had prior experience in her RL selling clothes, and this experience helped her with her SL business. For her, personal contact and communication are at the root of successful retailing in both lives.

She is currently scouting SL for its finest creators and designers and thus far has contacted Bax Coen boots, Zhao Shoes, Sartoria, Anubis, Lady Thera, and Lolita among others. All have agreed to work with Mimi and put vendors in her shops.

“I want to collect the nicest things you can find in SL and put them in one shop,” Mimi explains. Her first shop with this concept opened at Cybertopia Shopping Centre.

“This is just a start,” Mimi suggests. “I work with live models now in my shops. Customers like to see some outfits in 3D.” She also likes giving people make-overs. “I love to see how happy they are after that,” Mimi says with a smile.

Most importantly, Mimi stresses, shopping has to be fun. This is why, at her stores, you can have a drink, dance, and play trivia quizzes. She describes her main target audience as people who like nice things and who like to be nicely dressed.

Mimi on money, entrepreneurial skills and SL economy

Mimi laughs and nonchalantly shrugs off the question of her average monthly turnover.

“I do this for fun,” she says, “but it’s nice when you can buy what you want, when you want. The money I make stays in SL.”

Asked about the three most important (entrepreneurial) skills required to cut it in SL, Mimi suggests that the most important thing is to know what people want and like in SL, to have well-developed social skills, and “patience, patience, patience”.

To be successful in business, it is important to avoid overextending business too quickly or making inadequate products. Mimi notes these as typical traps that SL businesspeople can too quickly fall into. A firm believer in customer orientation, Mimi believes that the most important thing is to know what your customers like and want, and to invest in customer care, services, and personal contact.

Visions of a SL future

Along with most SL users, Mimi hopes for technologies to improve minimizing everyday complications like lag and crashes. She expects steady SL business growth as long as new people come in. “My idea is that every RL company in the future will not only have a website but also a SLURL.”

To her, RL businesses entering SL pose no threat to the community. “All they can really achieve is a commercial foothold,” Mimi notes. She would, however, rather not see forces like politics and religion gaining importance in SL.

As for her own future, Mimi envisions accomplishing more in the area of total make-overs and widening her range of products. She is currently thinking about starting to sell furniture. “A very dear friend designs fantastic things–kitchens, bathrooms, sofas etc.,” Mimi notes, regarding her future projects.

To a certain extent, Mimi sees SL as a melting pot where different cultures and backgrounds mingle and blend. “Though there is not much culture clash in SL, it is still instrumental in blending the best of our cultures. Just the blending of languages and the need to communicate are prime examples,” she explains. “People on SL seem to be more tolerant, more willing to put up with cultural differences and differences in thinking than they are in RL.” Mimi is quite hopeful that these social tendencies might translate into RL at some point. In the long run, she believes, it may help to make some social changes.

Second Life’s best

For Mimi, Second Life first and foremost is a communication platform–a place where you can meet people and share ideas, dreams, and emotions. She uses her communication skills to weave a network of cooperating creators, bringing together a wide variety of different products on offer in her shops.

A very important part of her business involves giving advice and helping people make the right choices.

“SL is definitely an escape for me. But it’s also a way to express myself. I can be who I want to be. It’s fantastic how you can talk and make friends all over the world. Share emotions. Also that you can do whatever you want here…the sky really is the limit,” Mimi laughs. “30 metres, right?’”

Finally, asked for her favourite location in SL, Mimi answers: “Besides my own home at Olivine Island, I love the best house club in SL, The Sands Club. Here I can find my best friends, the best house music, all on the most gorgeous sim you can find.”

Key Points

• Communication and social skills are vital

• Find out what people want and need in SL

• Cooperate, bring people together. Networking is key

• Be innovative and use a combination of services: “event shopping”

• Customer care is essential; people need help and advice

• Enjoy what you are doing