Happy Birthday to Me

Apparently this blog has turned 1 year old as of the other week. And my business has reached the 3-year mark today.

Happy Birthday to company, Happy Birthday to company, Happy Birthday to COMPANNNYYYYY, Happy Birthday to company!

Now where is the cake and presents...

Green Festival Seattle

I went to the Green Festival in Seattle today as it's a consumer tradeshow I've thought about possibly exihibiting at if I choose to focus more on a direct-to-consumer business strategy. The show was smaller this year then in years past according to the friend I went with, but as a consumer I still found it a beneficial way to spend a few hours. Some of my favorite booths:
1. earthentree (www.earthentree.com)- a small company that imports wooden toys from India that are all colored with natural colors (ie - yellow comes from tumeric). The toys were very well made, very beautiful, and so much better then any mass produced from some factory.
2. EcoHaus (www.ecohaus.com) - a great retail store for anyone looking to make 'green' changes to their house.
3. SEE Turtles (www.seeturtles.org) - if you're looking for a great volunteer vacation in a warm location check this place out. They run a few trips each year to Trinidad & Tobago, Costa Rica, and Baha CA to help protect the endangered sea turtles. My husband isn't convinved that I wouldn't try to sneak a baby turtle or two home with me.
4. Race In (located on Stoneway in Seattle) - if you want custom-made triathlon/running/biking gear made from eco-friendly cloth this is the place to check out. Best of all, you can just get one of any item made. I'm thinking my company may need to start up a racing team and have race gear made up. :)
5. Mighty O Doughnuts (www.mightyo.com) - because only in Seattle can you get handmade vegan doughnuts. And they're surprisingly good!

There's no ME in Team

First of all, there is a ME in team - there's an M and an E so I've never really understood that saying. But it's becoming more and more evident that I just don't play well with others when it comes to work. Actually, for my actual entrepreneurship work I've built myself a perfect little situation in that I don't have to deal with the corporate BS that drove me absolutely batty at other jobs. This post (or more rightly, vent)is about work I do with a nonprofit and how the corporate BS I find myself mired in from time to time with that just makes me crazed.

Long story short and omitting any details that might give more away then necessary, some things are not getting done and deadlines are not being met by some of the paid staff at the nonprofit. I am now being asked to 'manage' that issue. I am not good at managing people. If I was I would have a fulltime staff but I don't, I have dogs, and they learn very quickly thanks to clicker training and some cheese treats. Unfortunately I don't think I'm going to be able to manage this problem with a clicker and a strip of cheese. So what will likely happen is I'm going to vex over this issue all weekend (it's already leaving a bad taste in my mouth) trying to determine the best way to get this problem on track in a positive way.

Then there's the voice in the back of my head which is telling me that this is a great way to build on my management skills so that one day when my business is large and profitable (I'd settle for just profitable right now) I can successfully manage it. I know the voice is right but that doesn't stop me from hating the fact I have to deal with this.

Work...ehhh

It's that time of year again. No, not Tradeshow time...that's the "other" time of the year. It's the time of year when my reserves have run low and, like a lizard, I need some sun to recharge my batteries. And a quick look at the ten day forcast does not provide any respite unless it magically comes with a ticket to Hawaii or some other sunny climate. I love where I live, but by March I think the entire city is pretty much just 'done' with winter. Even my ever-chipper husband seems to have reached his breaking point.

I'm convinced I have SAD (seasonal affectiveness disorder) - my husband is convinced I'm nuts. But, honestly, this time of year I want nothing more then to crawl into a hole - preferally a warm one - and wait it out with Phil the Groundhog. And if Phil could get some UV lights strung up in his den so I could get sunlight while waiting it out I might even be willing to pay rent. Every day right now is a struggle to get up and get motivated which, not surprisingly, impacts the amount and quality of work I get done on a daily basis. The only thing that's saving me right now is a massive to-do list though I do cherry-pick it daily to figure out which to-do's can get done with the limited amount of brain synapses that seem to be firing. I'm also grateful for email which enables me to communicate and followup with people as promised but doesn't require me to try and string two coherent sentances together over the phone which I'm just not so good at right now.

I know it will all end and those of you who are right now reading this in a warm sunny climate will be cursing my name as I enjoy temps in the low 80's, sunshine, and no humidity all summer long and you sweat through another season of mindblowing humidity. At least that's what I keep telling myself over and over and over again.

Marketing Musings

Marketing is one of those roles that anyone thinks they can do but few do it well. I'm one of those who think they can do it so there's a good chance I'm in that don't do it well camp. For example, I completely forgot that the trade publication we ran an ad in this month is also going to be handed out at the industry's biggest spring tradeshow. So just dumb luck we're in it.

But at least I don't think I'm doing as poorly as a direct mail piece we received today. As the economy has slowed we've been getting more and more direct mail pieces and the best thing is that many are for restaurants we already like or wanted to try so we're definitely utilizing the savings. However, today I received a direct mail piece from an eatery I've never heard but, at least according to them, they are a city institution. But, get this, with your purchase of an ice cream cone (apparently what they're known for) you get a free massage.

Now I'm not normally one to pass up a great ice cream cone but the thought of ice cream and massage just freaks me out. Am I the only one who doesn't think that's a good marketing combination? While I'm guessing that you probably get a certificate for a free massage for a nearby/sister company, all I keep seeing is the same guy who doles out the icecream also giving massages. Other people's skin and dairy products is almost enough to turn me off of ice cream completely. Almost...

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's a...Guest Bedroom!

Movement of the office out of the guest bedroom into the newly refurbished basement is now complete and the guest bedroom is...gasp!...a guest bedroom. My better half and I finished cleaning it out this weekend and both commented on how much larger the room actually seems now. There's still some stuff in the closet that needs to find it's way onto Craigslist but for the most part the guest bedroom is actually now welcoming and usable. Nothing like an impending visit from the in-laws this weekend to add some extra motivation to the process.

Work has been really quiet lately and I'm trying to enjoy the silence. If I knew that it would pick up again when anticipated I could enjoy it a lot more. So in the meantime I've been throwing myself into a project I'm working on for the nonprofit I'm on the board of. It's keeping me surprisingly busy. Take today for instance, I have about 4 hours worth of meetings for the project and other board stuff. That doesn't leave a whole lot of time for napping or surfing random websites!

Bringing out the Big Guns

Remember how when you were 20/21 and just graduating from college and everyone you know told you to "Network, Network, Network." But, if you were anything like me, you were sure you could do it on your own so you simply smiled, nodded, and then went about in your own blissful state of mind confident that someone would hire you into our dream position (which was never an entry-level position by the way) simply because you were you. How'd that work out for you?

Now, ten or so years later, I've learned that the best way to get anything done in this world is to tap into your network and use them to help you figure it out. Best of all, most people love to help people out so it's innate in most of us to network and help other people network. Nothing brings me more joy then being able to help an unemployed friend get a direct track into the HR department of the company of his dreams rather than just letting him send in his resume to the black hole of electronic resume filing.

In return, I use my network whenever I can which, for me, is usually to try and identify the right person/team within a company to whom I can talk to about possibly adding our product to their line. About a month ago I sent in samples to BIG company who had expressed interest in our products at a tradeshow. I've done two followups and still no news. Not all together surprising but at the same time, as crazy as this may sound, I'm losing that window of opportunity to get into a BIG company for Holiday Season 2009. As such, I've tapped into my network to try and find the right contact within another BIG company (actually BIG Company #1's competitor). Truthfully, my product line probably plays better in BIG Company #2 so I'd love to get the product in front of them and see what they have to say. And while I don't necessarily expect either company to decide they want the product, I figure like the lottery, you can't win if you don't play.

Keeping Costs Down

Since I'm averaging about one sale a week right now - which is more sales this time of year then I anticipated - I've been looking at ways to cut costs and save a little more cash in the business. Since the last posting, I've found out that if I don't attend the second trade show as planned I actually won't lose my entire deposit - just 25% of it. The rest will be held and can be applied to a show in 2010. Not sure if I don't go to the show this that I'd be headed there next year but you never know. At the very least it's great to know that all the deposit money wouldn't necessarily be lost.

Another way I'm working on keeping costs down is by comparison shopping the local printing shops to find out who will give me the best break on 200 or so double-sided color copies. Turns out, of all places, my local UPS store will let me do color copies for .25cents per side as long as I come in on a Saturday or Sunday to do it. This means a few more trips for me as I have to head over to FedEx to get it printed out on their fancy color printer (which UPS doesn't have) and then stop at Office Max to pick up the right kind of paper. Then this weekend I'll head over to the UPS Store to print out my 200 newsletters that will go out to my customers at the beginning of April. What I don't yet know is if the UPS Store will give me even more of a discount since I'm using my own paper but I'm certainly going to ask. At the end of the day though, when you add in printing costs, paper costs, and mailing costs, it looks like this newsletter will cost me $1.05 for each copy versus the $1.87 it cost me last time around. That's a nice little $.82 savings I'm more than happy to pocket.

Course I'm trying to convert everyone over to the enewsletter (which costs me just $.15) but haven't quite gotten my archaic industry to jump on board. This time I'm trying to incentive folks by playing up the "Earth Month" angle and saying that I'll donate $.25 to the American Forest Foundation if they'll make the switch.

And my last little way of keeping costs down as of late? My own home-brewing fancy cappucinno/latte machine: http://tinyurl.com/cuf4to



I'm actually not a big coffee drinker and never touch the caffinated stuff because it throws me into a fit of tremors and makes me act like a jackrabbit on crack. But I'm learning to love coffee more and more. Or to be honest, I'm learning to love fancy coffee drinks like cappucinnos and lattes more and more. And those suckers don't come cheap! I got the little Bialetti machine during the holidays and at $99 the price is just right. I figured out that anytime I make a cappucinno or latte now it's costing me $.47 in milk and ground expresso (I didn't count in the energy cost of making it - just figured that was the cost of doing business) versus the $3+ I would pay at my local big-chain coffee shop. Maybe if I were enough of a coffee snob I'd realize it wasn't as absolutely perfect as the big-chain coffee store but I'm just not that concerned. I'm hoping to get really busy again like I was last Fall and be using the Bialetti daily so I can really get my $99 worth!

See & Be Seen?

Despite the fact that I've been trying to shield myself from the everday barrage of financial news, you'd pretty much have to be living in a cave to not know that the economy doesn't seem to be getting any better. People were first predicting a mid 2009 return. Then it got pushed out to the end of 2009. Now people are saying 2010 or maybe even 2011 before the market gets all of the toxicity out of its system.

With every continued day of bad news, I've been taking a look at my budget for this year and figuring out where things can be cut without impacting the brand. One of the big things that keeps jumping out at me is my tradeshow costs and I go back and forth on whether it's worth it to show up to the second of my two tradeshows this year. As a little background, the show used to be "THE" show everyone went to if you were serious about getting buyers for the holiday season. And two years ago, at the height of the market, I would have said that was still the case. However another tradeshow decided to place themselves a few weeks ahead and in the past two years it seems as though more and more people are showing up to the first show. Part of that, I think, is that for many people the first show is in Vegas and it's always possible to get cheap tickets and cheap lodging in Vegas if you're willing to look hard enough. The second show is outside of a major city centered around a convention center so whenever there's a convention in town all the local hotel rooms shoot up in price. Your alternative is to drive an hour to get to the city which isn't really realistic for most buyers or exhibitors. That's not to say the second show isn't busy. There are still a ton of people there, but the show has become a lot more regional now with buyers driving in from the surrounding area and at the end of the day that surrounding area is not my customer base.

Had you asked me three months ago, I was adimant about attending both shows. But as the economy continues to worsen and I try to brace myself to have the business financially survive this recession/depression with a product which is, at the end of the day, a luxury item in terms of Need vs. Want, I wonder how smart it is to attend that second show. I've already put down my deposit for it so I would be out $500 if I bailed now, but a quick calculation indicates that at the end of the day, after all booth costs are paid for, furniture shipped, airplane tickets, hotel tickets, etc - there's another $3000 going out the door before anything is coming in. Will the show this year net enough to at least cover those costs? Does it make sense to go and be "seen" so that people know you're still around or will doing print advertising suffice to let people know we're open for business?

I'm going back and forth on this one and just don't know what the right answer is. Thankfully I have a little more time to see how everything plays out before having to pay off the final amount on the tradeshow booth. What would you do?

The Routines That Keep Us Sane

I just discovered one very special aspect of my new basement home office. It is strategically located right next to the washer/dryer which means I can get the laundry going AND do work at the same time. Feels more and more like corporate America every day! Though given a choice I'd rather have the somewhat soothing whitenoise of the washer/dryer then the inquisitive noisy cubemate neighbor. Those I don't miss at all.

Getting the laundry in today made me think about the routines that someone who works from home gets themselves in to. Or perhaps I should more accurately say, someone who is as Type A as myself gets themselves into. I'm sure there are a ton of people who would be perfectly happy to not have a routine. I envy those people but try as I might, I'm just not one of them.

Now that I'm getting back into my workspace twice a week my schedule is becoming a little more defined. Tuesdays and Thursdays are already spoken for. But the rest of the week can be a little open-ended if I don't throw some routine into it. For some reason, Fridays have become "cleaning" day where I'll take some time to get the laundry done (or, more typically, get it 2/3 of the way done and then leave the last load in the dryer to completely wrinkle before remembering it) and try to clean up around the house. Something about ending the week with a relatively clean house just makes me feel better. Plus since I know the weekend will consist of some lounging on the couch I'd like to get it cleared of dog hair before I lay down. (Yes, my dogs are allowed on the couch. In fact, they own the couch. If you came over to visit and they wanted to get on the couch we'd likely make you move. Unless you brought good wine, then you can keep your spot.)

Then Wednesday usually is "errands" day where I do fun things like pick up the dry cleaning and run any other number of random household errands. And Monday? Well half of Monday is usually spent figuring out that a new week has begun and trying to remember what I need to accomplish - both work and household wise - that week. One of my favorite routines, which I hope to resume as soon as the weather gets nice enough - is to take the dogs to the dogpark for lunch on Fridays and let them blow off some crazy puppy steam. But the park is just a little too wet and muddy right now so it wouldn't coincide well with "cleaning" Fridays.

Back To Work_Space

I can't really say I'm heading back to work tomorrow because I'm not really ever not working. But I am heading back to my workspace tomorrow after a two-month hiatus and it sorta feels like I'm heading back to school again after summer vacation. Right now I'm trying to figure out where my backpack is, where the books I need are, where my supplies are, and am even trying to figure out what I'm going to wear. Just like middle school all over again.


And just like middle school I'll be walking back into all the drama that goes along with shared workspaces. But despite the drama, I'm looking forward to getting back in there and getting back to the physical labor part of my business. And that tells me that I've had enough time away from that part of it. By the end of last year, given that I was so much busier then anticipated (thankfully!), and then throwing the broken leg on top of it, I was just absolutely mentally and physically wiped out by the time I left for the holidays. So being excited is good, it means I'm ready to get back to creating.

Great Fortunes Are Made

I had a second - and hopefully last - surgery on my leg yesterday and am a bit zombied out because I refused to take pain medication last nght when it hurt. I'm a little bit afraid I'd become hooked and then next thing you know I'm that nice sweet neighbor that noone every would have guessed who gets hooked on Oxycotin. I'd love to see how that went down on this street of mine that has a ton of young families with little kids. As if not handing out Halloween candy last year hasn't made us enough of a pirahi with our neighbors.

So I'll keep this short with a thought I've had going over and over in my head recently. I apologize if I've written about these before but in that case you can skip over this and go to a more interesting blog.

"Great fortunes are made when there's blood in the streets." Apparently this is an adaptation on the original quote by Baron Rothschild, an 18th century nobleman who was part of the Rothschild banking family, but it works well regardless. In fact just yesterday a friend told me about a conversation she had with a local retailer. This retailer said that they've had a few bad months but in hindsight realizes that those months happened when she was being very conservative with her spending because the media hype had her completely freaked out that people were going to stop spending all together. As such, her shelves were only half full and it obviously impacted her sales since nothing could be bought. After a few months of this she realized she was being too conservative and took a leap of faith to buy up more inventory. Business is still down somewhat from the highs of 2008 but she's doing significantly better. It may not be a fortune right now, but that type of figuring out exactly where the line is that she has to walk may make the difference of her staying in business in the long run and at some point when this financial Humpty Dumpty gets put back together again she may be one of few retailers in her niche left standing which then does open her up for a potential fortune.*

*Keeping in mind that "fortune" varies wides from person to person and business to business. For some, being able to run a small business out of their home while caring for their kids is the fortune they dream of while others dream of making millions and going to live on a their own private island.

Shopping

I'm no fun to go shopping with. Every weekend my husband and I go grocery shopping together and while he is figuring out the menu for the week and getting the food we'll need to eat, I undoubtably wander off to check out displays, packaging, or products. I'm like a 5 year old with very severe ADD and should probably be kept on a leash given how many times my husband has turned around to discover I've wandered off. But many higher-end food items are on the cutting edge of packaging and display and I'm always interested to see what companies are doing and also watch how people react. The grocery store is like my own mini anthropological study as I watch people interact with products. We also end up with countless random products in our grocery cart simply because I like the packaging and may want to somehow mimic it in any new packaging I have planned. That packaging may not be planned until 2010 or later, but I'll buy the product now and keep it sitting around. My husband jokes that going grocery shopping me has prepared him for taking young children grocery shopping.

And when I go to the mall (which trust me, is a rarity. I am not a fan of shopping and will usually wait until I have a list of 25+ items I need, that can't be bought online for one reason or another, before trekking out to the mall and dealing with that craziness) I'm no better. I can't tell you how many times I've managed to forget half the items on my list simply because I got sidetracked checking out how Williams Sonoma has their products displayed or how some of the cosmetic products in MAC are packaged. I may be in the hunt for a new pair of jeans but will spend 5 minutes trying on jeans and buy the first pair that's remotely comfortable despite the fact the salesgal is more than happy to bring me another 100 pairs to try on but I can kill 30 minutes checking out the displays in the paper store and wondering how what they're showing might be incorporated into our brand.

Now that I think about it, the only store I enjoy in the mall is Storables (the west coast equivelent of The Container Store). There's something about that place that just makes me salivate. Everything is so organized and it gives me a glimmer of hope that one day I too could perhaps be that organized. In reality it's not likely, but that's one store I can wander around in with a glazed expression and not think about the business. With the exception of thinking how organized it could also make my business.