Well we survived the heat but just barely. As I said before, my workspace was unbearably hot (someone registered it over 120- that was as far as their themometer would go) and after a few days of that and a few days of little to no sleep due to the heat in the house I just about cracked. My better half had to force-feed me last night since I hadn't been eating anything and couldn't figure out why I felt so horrible. The good news is the temps dropped substantially overnight and while it will still be warm - for us - it's not going to be the 103 we have had. I don't care where you live, but 103 without air conditioning is just unbearable.
Thankfully the heat has broken as it gives me a chance to get ready for a show I have this weekend. Technically I guess it's the first tradeshow of the season but unlike my others, this is a consumer show where people can actually come in and buy things. Given that it's consumer, and not wholesale, I'm really not sure what to expect out of it. Could be a total bust if it doesn't attract my kind of audience or it could go really well. At the very worst though, it only cost me $185 to have a booth there compared to the 10+x I usually pay for my wholesale shows so I figure it won't take too much to break even. I've tried to price my items in the $5-$10 range including tax mainly to give folks an incentive to buy (it's a touch cheaper then they can find online) and it helps make easy change.
Like I said, at it's worst I figure this is $185 and a weekend down the drain (and truthfully I'd be more upset about the weekend lost) but it does give me a chance to do a quick runthrough of my booth setup for the two big shows coming up and brush off my marketing spiell so I can sound a little more rehearsed and relaxed by the time I go to Vegas in six weeks. And heh, the venue is air conditioned so I can't complain about that!
And since it's always good to have goals, my main goal is to breakeven and get a chance to expose lots of new folks to my product/brand name. My stretch goal though is to make enough money to pay for the new labels I have to pay for next week which is roughly $2K. Keep your fingers crossed for me and I'll let you know how it goes...
Friday, July 31, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
This is your brain
This is your brain on 9 hours of incredible 100+degree heat. In case you haven't heard all the whining coming from the northwest quadrent of the US - the Pacific Northwest is going through a record heatwave and we are woefully inept at dealing with it. I've lived on the east coast and midwest and while I know it can get much much hotter (and more sticky humid) in both of those places - both of those have one thing we up here lack, air conditioning!My workspace is unbearably hot. Take the 95degree outside temp, turn on about 6 ovens, multiple equipment, stuff it full of people, and take away any ventilation and you essentially have my workspace. It felt markedly cooler to step from the workspace out into the 95degree heat.
As soon as my brain forms back into something that doesn't resemble pudding I'll write about the business again. Lots going on right now...just heat-hampered brain.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Sorta Like Christmas
I spent the better part of yesterday unpacking from last year's tradeshows. You can't say I'm not on top of things given that the tradeshows ended in October last year! But in truth, between the broken leg and then coming back from the shows and being so (blessedly) busy with orders, my better half and I just put the boxes into their storage spot and let them be.
With some warm weather predicted and a mini-tradeshow next weekend (more on that later), I figured now was the time to get my stuff out of the storage area and try to clean it up/get it ready for this year's foray into the tradeshow madness. So with the 60's folk rock blasting (can you legitemately blast folk rock music?), I spent all day yesterday unpacking boxes and going "Oh wow - so this is where that was!" Apparently packing up boxes at the end of a tradeshow while under the influence of some substantial pain killers makes for a really interesting packing job and it really was like Christmas with all the goodies I found or had forgotten about.
Last year at one of the tradeshows I noticed that a company had packed all of their materials into giant Rubbermaid containers rather than boxes and then loaded them up onto their pallet. This, I realized, was a brilliant idea as the tupperware is a bit more sturdy then the boxes and most likely has a longer usable life. After two shows the boxes just start to go to pieces with all the opening/closing/packing/unpacking/moving/jostling/banging/etc. So I also hit up my local Storables store (the west coast version of the Container Store) and picked up a couple of those which everything is now neatly packed into.
I'm guessing that this year I'm going to have about 200lbs of materials headed to the shows. That includes the actual display (for the first time I won't be renting furniture at the shows), flooring (which is required so either must buy and bring or rent for an absurd fee), and then all product as well. Every year my display seems to be getting better and better, but it's also causing me to have to cart around more and more stuff. My first year I just shipped two boxes to a friend in Chicago and called it a day. Course then I also paid $600 just to rent furniture at that show so I figure the $900 I'm going to spend to get my stuff to two shows and back again will have me ahead of the game...I hope.
On a totally unrelated note it's going to be wicked hot here this weekend. Yes, I pulled out my old Boston slang for that one. Wicked! It's supposed to be in the upper-90's which is all well and good for you folks in Atlanta and parts south, but the Pacific Northwest literally does not know how to deal with this type of heat. Mainly because none of us have air conditioners and I don't care how many fans you have going it's still just moving hot air around at that point. Under the auspices that I'm worried about the dogs in this heat, I went out and bought an inflatable kiddie pool. It was on sale and I figure the $23 I spent will be well worth the entertainment value of watching the dogs trying to figure out what the heck this new contraption in their backyard is. Plus, at 97+degrees I may very well end up in there with them - with a margarita in one hand and a book in the other.
With some warm weather predicted and a mini-tradeshow next weekend (more on that later), I figured now was the time to get my stuff out of the storage area and try to clean it up/get it ready for this year's foray into the tradeshow madness. So with the 60's folk rock blasting (can you legitemately blast folk rock music?), I spent all day yesterday unpacking boxes and going "Oh wow - so this is where that was!" Apparently packing up boxes at the end of a tradeshow while under the influence of some substantial pain killers makes for a really interesting packing job and it really was like Christmas with all the goodies I found or had forgotten about.
Last year at one of the tradeshows I noticed that a company had packed all of their materials into giant Rubbermaid containers rather than boxes and then loaded them up onto their pallet. This, I realized, was a brilliant idea as the tupperware is a bit more sturdy then the boxes and most likely has a longer usable life. After two shows the boxes just start to go to pieces with all the opening/closing/packing/unpacking/moving/jostling/banging/etc. So I also hit up my local Storables store (the west coast version of the Container Store) and picked up a couple of those which everything is now neatly packed into.
I'm guessing that this year I'm going to have about 200lbs of materials headed to the shows. That includes the actual display (for the first time I won't be renting furniture at the shows), flooring (which is required so either must buy and bring or rent for an absurd fee), and then all product as well. Every year my display seems to be getting better and better, but it's also causing me to have to cart around more and more stuff. My first year I just shipped two boxes to a friend in Chicago and called it a day. Course then I also paid $600 just to rent furniture at that show so I figure the $900 I'm going to spend to get my stuff to two shows and back again will have me ahead of the game...I hope.
On a totally unrelated note it's going to be wicked hot here this weekend. Yes, I pulled out my old Boston slang for that one. Wicked! It's supposed to be in the upper-90's which is all well and good for you folks in Atlanta and parts south, but the Pacific Northwest literally does not know how to deal with this type of heat. Mainly because none of us have air conditioners and I don't care how many fans you have going it's still just moving hot air around at that point. Under the auspices that I'm worried about the dogs in this heat, I went out and bought an inflatable kiddie pool. It was on sale and I figure the $23 I spent will be well worth the entertainment value of watching the dogs trying to figure out what the heck this new contraption in their backyard is. Plus, at 97+degrees I may very well end up in there with them - with a margarita in one hand and a book in the other.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
NYTimes on Twitter
An article from the Small Business section of the NYTimes about the power of Twitter for Mom & Pop's:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/23/business/smallbusiness/23twitter.html?_r=1&ref=smallbusiness
...and with that I'm off to go update my twitter profile.
(sorry the article is a few days old, I've been out of the loop trying to get the company's snazzy new brochure finalized. It's amazing how many times you can proofread the same sentance and still find mistakes!)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/23/business/smallbusiness/23twitter.html?_r=1&ref=smallbusiness
...and with that I'm off to go update my twitter profile.
(sorry the article is a few days old, I've been out of the loop trying to get the company's snazzy new brochure finalized. It's amazing how many times you can proofread the same sentance and still find mistakes!)
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Ground Up
I heard about this book yesterday (via DailyCandy.com) and while there aren't currently any reviews posted on Amazon, it sounds like it could make for an interesting summer read if you have an entrepreneurial bend and need something to add to your beach read collection.The novel is a fictionalized account, loosely based on the author's life experiences, of one couple opening up a coffee store and the trials and tribulations that occur in the course. I'm a little disappointed it's fiction as a true account would be much more interesting (to me personally at least). There are plenty of entreprenuer becomes millionaire stories out there but few true entreprenuer falls on their face stories and I think there's something to be learned from both sides.
If you're interested check it out here: http://tinyurl.com/m2bqtv
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Burning through the reserves
Nothing like spending upwards of $1500 in the course of two hours to feel like you're really burning through the company's cash reserves. Sadly, none of it was frivolous stuff. It was all boring grown-up company stuff that I needed. Mainly parts, pieces, etc to help me create my products. And since I'm trying to do a much better job this year of building up a larger inventory - just in case, for example, I break my leg again a week before the busy season begins in earnest. I'm trying to be better prepared this time around. But to be prepared means I need those parts and pieces so I was a spending fool earlier this week.All of which then had me up in the middle of the night worrying about our cash position and whether there's enough cash in the business to cover all fixed costs through the end of the year assuming no actual sales between now and then. Nothing like midnight angst to make for a really good night's sleep.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Motivation
Am I the only self-employed person who struggles with motivation? I'm normally a very motivated person and very much of a "to-do" list person. However most days seems to be the same cycle. I start out first thing in the morning going gangbusters against my list - crossing off to-dos like mad. Then by noon I start to slow down a bit and figure I'll check some websites, browse the net, etc. I can typically get remotivated but it's not with the same morning fury but I still manage to get another few things done. Until around 4:30 when I seriously start to lose steam and have to fight to keep myself focused. You notice I'm writing this right around noon...
Finally made it back once and for all last night. After vacation I had to head to my parents house to pick up the dogs and spent a few extra days there before the very very long 14 hour drive home yesterday. But a book on tape made the drive much easier (on me at least - the dogs still hate me I think). Check out "Don't Let's Go To The Dogs Tonight" if you haven't yet read/listed to it.
On a totally seperate note. I learned today that the brochures I'm planning on having made will cost 50% less then I had estimated. Hooray cause I had budgeted double! Unfortunately I also learned that one of the really popular stock packaging options I used last year is no longer available this year so I'm trying to quickly figure out an alternative.
Finally made it back once and for all last night. After vacation I had to head to my parents house to pick up the dogs and spent a few extra days there before the very very long 14 hour drive home yesterday. But a book on tape made the drive much easier (on me at least - the dogs still hate me I think). Check out "Don't Let's Go To The Dogs Tonight" if you haven't yet read/listed to it.
On a totally seperate note. I learned today that the brochures I'm planning on having made will cost 50% less then I had estimated. Hooray cause I had budgeted double! Unfortunately I also learned that one of the really popular stock packaging options I used last year is no longer available this year so I'm trying to quickly figure out an alternative.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
And I'm Back...
Wow - what a vacation. As soon as I get a few pics pulled off the camera I'll post them. All I can say is that if you're looking for a unique European vacation definitely check out Croatia. The country is slowly rebuilding itself from the war in the 90's and tourism is their biggest source of revenue. And it's well worth it. The northern part of the country is a wealth of national parks and UNESCO sites and the southern coast is everything you've ever dreamed of in a Mediterranean vacation spot. We even went to Bosnia for about 36 hours and did some white-water kayaking there. Seriously, white-water kayaking in Bosnia...not something I'd ever thought I'd do!
It was a great great great trip and I'm horribly jetlagged right now. I got up around 4:30am and have been going strong ever since so I'm fully expecting to get smacked upside the head by the time change in another few hours. In the meantime, I've been able to start to catch up on work and even get QuickBooks updated! :)
Since there's not a lot of work stuff to talk about, let me share a karma story with you:
As many of you know, my husband and I are nuts about dogs. One day in Croatia - early in the trip - we were kayaking on this remote river with our group and a little dog starts barking frantically at us and following us on the shore. This dog was no more than 25lbs but was desperate to keep up with us. At one point I got close to the shore and pet the dog for a bit but then continued going. As did the dog. She just kept following us and hubby and I started to wonder if she were perhaps lost in this really desolate part of the country. But not knowing how things work in Croatia we opted to leave well enough alone. Until the pup came to a point where she couldn't follow us on land so jumped in and started to follow the kayaks in the water. She was a good little swimmer but couldn't keep up with the group so hubby and I hung back a bit so make sure she was ok.
She started to get tired and as she headed towards the shore (with hubby and I following along behind) she got caught in a tree branch and started to drown. My better half defetly moved us right along side her and I was able to grab her collar and yank her out of the water into our boat where she clung to me with all her might. I'm not kidding, I tried to get her to sit between my legs so I could continue paddling (there were some small rapids on this river) but she couldn't let me move her and dug her little paws (and claws) into my shouldar - the entire time shaking and shivering so badly it just broke my heart. Once I had her in the boat it was also obvious that she was really skinny and we surmissed that she likely was lost but without a tag there was no way to tell who she belonged to.
Very long story short, we coerced one of our guides to help get the little pup (and she was young, we guessed right about a year) down the river. He tied a rope around her which he attached to his life jacket so that he could pull her out if she fell in during the rapids. The few times the group stopped to walk a bit the little dog ran right along beside us and was super friendly with everyone. She absolutely stole the hearts of everyone in our group and hubby and I were figuring we might have to ditch the rest of our trip to care for the pup and get her home with us. Though I had hope that "the universe" would get something worked out for us.
Right as we reached the last rapid - a really big rapid with a waterfall drop - our guide ran into friends of his who owned a kayak park right across from the waterfall and a nearby house. He talked to them and they gladly took the little pup with promises to feed and care for her. Given how attached he had become to the little one I trusted when he handed her over and hope that she'll have a really great little life by the river.
Now give me just a moment because here comes the Karma part. Hubby and I had nicknamed the dog Petra since it not only sounds eastern european but also means 'stone' and that's where we found her. Wouldn't you know it that when we were checking in for our flight from Frankfurt to the states yesterday the woman checking us in had the nametag with "Petra" on it. We didn't say anything to her but just smiled between us as we thought of our little dog friend. Then the desk agent Petra handed us our tickets and told us that, for no reason, she had upgraded us to Business Class.
Karma! (and let's just say, business class on international flights is something I could get used to!)
I'll post some pics as soon as I get them (need to grab the Petra pics from some of the others on the trip) and will be back on the business side of things before too long.
It was a great great great trip and I'm horribly jetlagged right now. I got up around 4:30am and have been going strong ever since so I'm fully expecting to get smacked upside the head by the time change in another few hours. In the meantime, I've been able to start to catch up on work and even get QuickBooks updated! :)
Since there's not a lot of work stuff to talk about, let me share a karma story with you:
As many of you know, my husband and I are nuts about dogs. One day in Croatia - early in the trip - we were kayaking on this remote river with our group and a little dog starts barking frantically at us and following us on the shore. This dog was no more than 25lbs but was desperate to keep up with us. At one point I got close to the shore and pet the dog for a bit but then continued going. As did the dog. She just kept following us and hubby and I started to wonder if she were perhaps lost in this really desolate part of the country. But not knowing how things work in Croatia we opted to leave well enough alone. Until the pup came to a point where she couldn't follow us on land so jumped in and started to follow the kayaks in the water. She was a good little swimmer but couldn't keep up with the group so hubby and I hung back a bit so make sure she was ok.
She started to get tired and as she headed towards the shore (with hubby and I following along behind) she got caught in a tree branch and started to drown. My better half defetly moved us right along side her and I was able to grab her collar and yank her out of the water into our boat where she clung to me with all her might. I'm not kidding, I tried to get her to sit between my legs so I could continue paddling (there were some small rapids on this river) but she couldn't let me move her and dug her little paws (and claws) into my shouldar - the entire time shaking and shivering so badly it just broke my heart. Once I had her in the boat it was also obvious that she was really skinny and we surmissed that she likely was lost but without a tag there was no way to tell who she belonged to.
Very long story short, we coerced one of our guides to help get the little pup (and she was young, we guessed right about a year) down the river. He tied a rope around her which he attached to his life jacket so that he could pull her out if she fell in during the rapids. The few times the group stopped to walk a bit the little dog ran right along beside us and was super friendly with everyone. She absolutely stole the hearts of everyone in our group and hubby and I were figuring we might have to ditch the rest of our trip to care for the pup and get her home with us. Though I had hope that "the universe" would get something worked out for us.
Right as we reached the last rapid - a really big rapid with a waterfall drop - our guide ran into friends of his who owned a kayak park right across from the waterfall and a nearby house. He talked to them and they gladly took the little pup with promises to feed and care for her. Given how attached he had become to the little one I trusted when he handed her over and hope that she'll have a really great little life by the river.
Now give me just a moment because here comes the Karma part. Hubby and I had nicknamed the dog Petra since it not only sounds eastern european but also means 'stone' and that's where we found her. Wouldn't you know it that when we were checking in for our flight from Frankfurt to the states yesterday the woman checking us in had the nametag with "Petra" on it. We didn't say anything to her but just smiled between us as we thought of our little dog friend. Then the desk agent Petra handed us our tickets and told us that, for no reason, she had upgraded us to Business Class.
Karma! (and let's just say, business class on international flights is something I could get used to!)
I'll post some pics as soon as I get them (need to grab the Petra pics from some of the others on the trip) and will be back on the business side of things before too long.
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