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.