A Good Call

Last week was the second of the two big Fall tradeshows and for the first time in four years I didn't go. It was a bit sad as that was the first tradeshow I ever went to with the business and I distinctly remember calling my better half partway through the show saying "I think we have a legititmate business here!" There was just that much interest.

But that was the heyday of the economy and as the economy slid into the doldrums so did that show. Last year it was painful to be there and stand around for three days - from 9am - 6pm - twiddeling my thumbs. The good news is that I wasn't the only one staring down the aisles just hoping a buyer would come along simply to have someone to talk to. It was that bad for everyone!

So I made the decision not to go back. It's bad enough to kill three days with nothing to do and no orders to show for it. It's even worse when it's cost you about $4000 once you figure in booth fees, flights, hotels, etc etc. I was nervous about the decision but just didn't have it in me to go through that again this year.

Turns out I made the right decision. In talking to some folks I know in the industry who went to the show it was even slower this year then last year (something I find hard to believe). My one friend said she had a total of five sales all show. That's not a quick way to make up the $4000+ investment in the show.

I'm sad to see this show become so poor but am glad I didn't go back this year and certainly won't be jumping on the bandwagon next year to head back!

Pulling A Double

It's been quiet on this blog lately because I'm doing double-duty of both employee and business owner and right now, when things are busy with my business, that leaves me little extra time for blogging or just about much of anything.

Orders continue to go out the door almost daily so things are pretty good right now. And while I wish I knew that a big order was coming in on the scale of last year's big orders, honestly the fact that it likely won't happen has actually taken a huge weight off my shouldars. Even though this means I'll be sitting on some inventory for the next few months and working through it, I am happy that I'm leaving my workspace at the end of the month on my terms yet I have some time to figure out what I'm going to do next workspace-wise. As I think I mentioned before, my workspace had changed significantly over the last few months not the least of which is that the owners are putting it up for sale. While it won't likely sell too quickly in this economy, I feared that one day I could show up and learn that I had 30 days to find new digs. With this build-up in inventory I have time to proactively determine what my next steps will be rather than simply reacting and trying to make do with something.

So it's all good here and I'm loving what Fall can be like when my stress level is ratchted down significantly. I imagine it'll get even better come November when I'm not constantly running between job to workspace to FedEx/UPS for order shipment to home to packing orders...it'll all be good!

Lemonade Anyone?

Cause we got plenty of lemons around here this week.

Every year for the past few years I've gotten slammed in the fall between orders from my small independent retailers and a few BIG orders from BIG retailers as well. Which means that every fall for the past few years I've run around like a chicken with my head cut off. Earlier this year I decided I was done being so nuts in the Fall and worked feverishly in the first part of the year to build up my inventory so at least I'd have something to fall back on when those orders came rolling in.

Only now it doesn't look like they're going to be rolling in. My little independent guys are ordering but the BIG guys have taken a pass this year (apparently you can get stuff cheaper over in China...who knew!). So now I have all this inventory and no where to send it. As you can see...lemons.

But here's where the lemonade part of it comes in. After sulking for about two hours yesterday about the BIG guys passing on me, I realized that the amount of inventory I have actually sets me up very well for next year. I have plenty of stuff to sell and it all fits with my company's mission of being handcrafted. Which means, I realized, that I don't need to hold onto my workspace lease because I don't need a place to make stuff. This is actually great because it not only frees me up timewise to spend more energy on 'selling' but it also frees up a significant portion of cash to put towards 'selling.' So I'm really excited by the change. Starting in November (I was able to get out of my lease at the end of Oct) I will be operating like most other manufacturers in my industry as I will have 'bought in' (or in my case - made and paid for) my inventory already and will be focused on selling it.

So yes, while it was raining lemons for a little bit yesterday. I'm surprisingly excited about this new tactic and seeing where it will go.