Reading...

While at the gym the other day I read about a woman who started up a candle company. The brief article happened to say that soon after starting the woman was so overwhelmed with orders she couldn't keep up and had to hire staff.

So that got me wondering as to what "soon" actually meant. Did this woman have to hire on staff within two weeks of starting? two months? two years?

The reason I'm wondering about this is that I'd love to hire someone this year to help out. But I'm relatively conservative and don't want to do it until 1. I know that I can pay that person's salary consistently while also covering other expenses and 2. That I'll actually be able to keep that person busy.

The first quarter has been pretty busy and I'm not sure but I think next week when I do my first quarter review I'll find that in the first quarter we did close to - or more - then the total amount of sales all last year. Which is a great start for what is typically considered the slowest quarter in my industry.

But at the same time, not having gone through a first or second quarter before, I just don't know if next quarter will be busy enough to bring someone on (and also pay all the associated taxes of bringing said person on).

What I'd love, and what I'm actively going after right now, is a larger wholesale account that would provide consistent montly orders. The orders themselves wouldn't even have to be that large, but just to know that for the most part month in and month out there would be a relatively stable amount of cash injected into the business as opposed to hoping that some of the boutiques I work with happen to place an order. Here's hoping some of this work falls into place!