Connecting with the Outside World

Two thoughts for this post:

1. I saw a discussion this morning (on the Today Show - I keep it on in the background during the morning) with a group called Ladies Who Launch. Apparently the idea is to bring together women entrepreneurs (and wanna-be entreprenuers) to help one another through the process. They have an introductory workshop in cities around the country (for $250) and after that it looks like you can attend monthly meetings, access their network, etc. On the one hand it looks like a great way to connect with local entreprenuers which is something I'm constantly trying to do. On the other though, I'm not sure I necessarily agree with all of what the group says with regards to the fact that women starting up businesses don't necessarily think "business plan" and shouldn't be forced into that mold. Perhaps I'm not reading what they're saying correctly, but I do believe that every business - if you want to make it a real business - does need a business plan and set of financials that are constantly evolving as your business grows (says the gal who desperately needs to update her business plan). But then again perhaps I was just brainwashed by business school. I'm not yet ready to put down $250 for the experience but I'll let you know if I do and what I think of it. If you're interested in checking it our for yourself you can find out more here: http://www.ladieswholaunch.com/

2. I had my first meeting with my new PR team yesterday. In an effort to get the word out about the company/product to a national audience I've hired them to help me with the process. It's a little frightening to put down so much money but I know it's something that will be good for us (assuming it works). The PR team seems to think that my product is an easy placement for a range of print/tv and that perhaps the bigger problem is can I keep up with potential demand since everything is handmade. Hiring staff...that's the next problem to tackle.

Confession

Here's the truth - today is a day when a decent part of me wouldn't mind simply selling the business or shutting it down. It's a day when I dream about what it would be like to sell the business and have all the associated stress be done with.

Let me start this post out with saying that ironically the business has never been going better. We've gotten an incredible amount of opportunity literally land at our feet due to the BIG PR piece a few weeks ago that is bringing in new customers, new potential customers, and interesting marketing opportunities (we'll most likely be given away at the Primetime Emmys). So honestly things have never been better and when I compare it to this time last year I'm overwhelmed at the progress we've made both in terms of building the brand and finances.

But today I'm tired (didn't help that I was up at 5am to drop fiance off for a flight to Vegas for his bachelor party). And I'm tired of dealing with the stress associated with the fact that I now find myself in a position that I may need to hire part-time workers to help with production. Hiring folks makes me nervous because like any true entreprenuer - I'm obsessive compulsive and a control freak. So the thought of having other people help create "my product" makes me have to take a few deep breaths to slow down my speeding heart (all the while fully realizing that the only way to truly grow is to expand production).

I'm also tired of dealing with all the red tape associated with hiring folks - even part-timers - and am working with the accountant to get that little mess sorted out before I can even start to figure out if I can afford to hire part-time workers once unemployement taxes and such are taken into account.

And I'm worried about the fact that we're about to drop a substantial amount of money into a nationwide PR campaign. It's the largest amount of money we've put into anything up to this point and I'm terrified it won't work. And then at the same time I'm terrified that it will and we'll end up on Oprah and there I'll be all by myself (having chickened out from hiring anyone) desperately trying to keep up with production.

And the fact that I'm still not bringing in any money and am essentially just a drain on my fiance weighs heavily on me. I dream of when I can actually bring home a paycheck - even a small one - to help out with the variety of things we seem to be spending money on right now (lesson learned - weddings and honeymoons are not cheap). I hate not being able to help out whereas I could have taken a corporate job and be making enough to support us while simply socking his salary & bonus away for a rainy day.

Like I said before, ironically the business is going really really well and we are already at 40% of our annual goal which is stupendous given that first and second quarter should be incredibly slow for us. In fact, I've readjusted our year end financial goal given how well things are going. And when I look at the big picture - the building of a brand and a company that means something to me and is focused on some way or another in giving back to the community I'm incredibly excited and passionate about what we're doing. But today I'm bogged down in the little details and it's making it hard to breath.

Maybe it's because it's such a nice day outside that I want nothing more then to head out with a book and some sunglasses. But then again, if I wasn't doing this then I would be stuck in an office with flourescent lighting working hard for someone else with no opportunity to enjoy the sunshine. At the very least I can take a two hour lunch today and read. That's gotta be equivelent to a $100K salary, right?

Picking up steam

Things the last few weeks have gotten really busy all of the sudden. The big PR piece I talked about a few weeks ago brought in a fair number of really interesting leads (despite the fact that my one retailer didn't pass over all the leads as expected). So now we're weighing the options and starting to move on some stuff. The biggest one being that we're hiring an outside PR agency.

I had actually had the search for a PR agency underway before the big PR piece came in but that really lit a fire under me. So I spent the last two weeks interviewing PR agencies and have found one that I'm comfortable with. Truthfully, it came down to this PR company (Company A) and another company (Company B) and while Company B probably had more direct experience, Company A was much much more hungry for the business and seemed to care about my product and understand my consumer. Company A did also come in about 3x my budget so I've had to significantly reel them back, but they seem excited for the opportunity.

I'm hoping that this works out as we're devoting a really large chunk of money to it. Largest that we've spent so far on any one thing. Can't lie - it all makes me a little nervous!

To Do Lists

I've been meaning to post in the last ten days or so but things have ramped up at an incredible speed. Ever since that last post about getting some really big press, things have gotten a little crazy. All of the sudden we're fielding phone calls from Award Shows about being part of their gift bags and gift lounges among other opportunities!

So every day I dilengently make out my long to-do list so that I can try to continue juggling what is becoming an increasing number of balls. The problem is that I seem to loose the to-do list every single day! If I had more time I'd develop a much better to-doing system but right now I barely have time to eat (or blog).

I've got a ton on my mind so hopefully if I have a chance I'll get some of it down here. In the meantime I'm off to find my to-do list.

Sleep?

I woke up this morning thinking that I was going to update this blog with some thought-provoking post on the world of the small entrepreneur. At this point I can't even remember what I was going to write about but let me tell you it was going to be good...I think. Then my day got completely turned upside down.

Let me set the stage -

I live and run the business out of the west coast...which as most of you probably know is three hours behind the east coast.

My VPs (the dogs) and my fiance were sick all last night. Total hours slept were probably in the neighborhood of 5 hours which wouldn't have been too bad except none of it was contiguous (can't spell, sorry!).

I wake up in the morning with a list of personal and work stuff that has to get to done to find a few emails from friends and one from a retailer with "DailyCandy" in the subject line.

For those who don't know, DailyCandy is probably the premiere online publication for trendy affluent 20/30-somethings. It reaches 2.4million readers and is considered by many to be the barametor for what is new and unique in the retail/services world. In short, it's a really big deal to a company like mine.

And guess who was featured in it this morning! The emails I had from friends was the first word I had gotten that we were being featured so the entire thing caught me a little unaware to say the least. Don't get me wrong, I'm incredibly happy with what is undoubtably some amazing PR but wow did that get today off and running in a hurry!

Being three hours behind the east coast to begin with meant that by 7am I was already three hours behind in phone calls and emails so it's been a massive day of playing catchup. And like any windfall, there are good things and bad things so it's been a day full of celebrating the good (and trying to build on them) and trying to remedy the bad before they become an issue.

I feel like my brain has been going 101 miles an hour for the past 15 hours and I just don't know how to turn it off right now. There feels like there are a million things that need to get done/could get done/should get done and I'm almost so overwhelmed by it all I don't even know where to begin.

For the record - let me state that I am incredibly overjoyed that DailyCandy thought the product was worthy of their attention and I have no doubt great things will come of it. But as I am right now at what will hopefully be a strong PR push, this is a good wakeup call to me about what I need to do to get the business and my own personal emotions/mind in order for what will hopefully be some big responses. First things first - I need to turn my mind off and get some sleep...but how?

Small Business Section

Looks like the NY Times is jumping on the entrepreneurial bandwagon with a new section dedicated to small businesses. I haven't read through their articles yet but it definitely looks interesting.

http://www.nytimes.com/business/smallbusiness/index.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1178165630-pFnRE9GCpNzgU9h1DvP92g

(may require you to create an account if you don't yet have one but accounts are free and well worth it)

Playing Professional

One of the biggest kicks I get is when on the phone with some "large" company. I've been that person before, calling from the multi-million dollar company and acting all professional sitting in my cube. Now I'm calling from a little dollar and a half company, sitting at my dining room table, and trying to convince them that I'm actually just another run-of-the-mill million dollar company. It's little things like answering the phone with my business name (and business voice), having a dedicated web address and email address helps immensly, and otherwise trying to convince them that's it's more than just me and dogs hanging out here at home. I'm not sure I have everyone fooled but so far it seems to be working.