Overstock.com 2009 Annual Report Download - page 28

Table of Contents
Officer. Our performance also depends on our ability to retain and motivate other officers and key employees. The loss of the services of any of our executive
officers or other key employees for any reason, including without limitation, illness or call to military service, or loss to competitors as a result of
compensation differentials or other reasons, could harm our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations. We do not have employment
agreements with any of our key personnel and we do not maintain "key person" life insurance policies. Our future success also depends on our ability to
identify, attract, hire, train, retain and motivate other highly-skilled technical, managerial, editorial, merchandising, marketing and customer service personnel.
Competition for such personnel is intense, and we cannot assure you that we will be able to successfully attract, assimilate or retain sufficiently qualified
personnel. Our failure to retain and attract the necessary technical, managerial, editorial, merchandising, marketing and customer service personnel could
harm our revenues, business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.
We have an evolving business model.
Our business model has evolved and continues to do so. In the past we have added additional types of services and product offerings and in some cases,
we have modified or discontinued those offerings. We may continue to try to offer additional types of products or services and we cannot offer any assurance
that any of them will be successful. From time to time we have also modified aspects of our business model relating to our product mix and the mix of direct/
fulfillment partner sourcing of the products we offer. We may continue to modify this aspect of our business as well as other significant aspects of our
business. We cannot offer any assurance that these or any other modifications will be successful or will not result in harm to the business. The additions and
modifications to our business have increased the complexity of our business and placed significant strain on our management, personnel, operations, systems,
technical performance, financial resources, and internal financial control and reporting functions. Future additions to or modifications of our business are
likely to have similar effects. We may not be able to manage growth effectively, which could damage our reputation, limit our growth and negatively affect
our operating results.
We may be unable to manage expansion into new business areas which could harm our business operations and reputation.
Our long-term strategic plan involves expansion of our operations to offer additional types of products and services. We cannot assure you that our
efforts to expand our business in this manner will succeed. Our failure to succeed in these markets or businesses or in other product or service offerings may
harm our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operation. We cannot assure you that we will be able to expand our operations in a cost-
effective or timely manner or that our efforts to expand will be successful. Furthermore, any new business or website we launch that is not favorably received
by consumers could damage our reputation or the Overstock.com brand. We may expand the number of categories of products we carry on our Website and
these and any other expansions of our operations would also require significant additional expenses and development and would strain our management,
financial and operational resources. The lack of market acceptance of such efforts or our inability to generate satisfactory revenues from such expanded
services or products to offset their cost could harm our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.
We are expanding our international business, causing our business to become increasingly susceptible to numerous international business risks and
challenges that could affect our profitability.
We have begun selling products in international markets, and in the future we may expand into these markets more aggressively. International sales and
transactions are subject to inherent risks and challenges that could adversely affect our profitability, including:
the need to develop new supplier and manufacturer relationships;
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