It's good to be home! I got back earlier this afternoon from my 10 day stint around the country which ended with the Chicago tradeshow. I'm tired and my computer is running out of juice so I have to keep this short but just wanted to say that the tradeshow was a HUGE success. We more than doubled our results on any other show and, interestingly enough, made 400% more in the last three days then I made in 2006. Definitely reason for celebration. But celebration has to wait until after I get all the orders out the door! It's going to be a really really busy next week (or more if it takes more time!).
On the plane I was thinking about the fact that last year at this show the majority of my orders were <$75 per order while at this show the average is - at first glance - most likely around $150 per order. The difference is due, I believe, to the fact that I created "sampler" packages for retailers. For example, let's say my company offers chocolate fudge, vanilla fudge, and mint fudge. At last year's show I had minimums for each flavor so if retailers wanted to bring the fudge into their store they had to buy, for example, a dozen of each flavor. Many retailers were hesitate to bring that much "untested" fudge into their store so would choose to only bring one flavor in. This time around I offered retailers a few sampler packages (of varying sizes) which enables them to bring in all three fudge flavors without having to buy the minimum of each. For retailers it provides piece of mind that they can bring in this "untested" product without spending a significant amount of money. But the sampler package costs cost more than simply the minimum of one fudge flavor so rather than paying $30 for one dozen fudge pieces the retailer is paying $75 for 28 fudge pieces.
Ok, I'm not sure that math totally makes sense but you get the idea I hope. Anyway, very good show and I'll be busy for the next few weeks! By the way - I do not make or sell fudge. But I'd love some if anyone has a good recommendation!
Monday, October 15, 2007
Friday, October 12, 2007
Tradeshow Day 1
Just got back from a nice little 12-hour day at first day of the last (hooray!) tradeshow of the year. All in all the first day was pretty successful. We had a bunch of people come by and pick up material which is typical for the first day and hopefully we'll have a good attrition rate and a fair number of those folks returning over the next two days to place actual orders. We also had a decent amount of new retailers place orders today and a good number of folks come up to us and say "oh, I've heard of you before" which is validating.
Most exciting however was probably the first person who stopped by our booth this morning. Without giving away too much information, it was from a large chain retailer (though not as large as a Target or the like) specific to this industry and even more specific to my niche. I honestly thought that they produced everything inhouse but in the last year the company was bought and new management took over. It was the CEO who stopped by our booth this morning and seemed sincerely interested in potentially bringing our product into some of their stores. It may, as I've found, come to nothing at the end of the day but it's always exciting to have that as an option. Always good to have options, right?
But at the same time I'm tired, been traveling far too long, and have those moments that I'd be willing to sell the company to the first person who asked. Thankfully they are only brief moments and I've so far managed to regain sanity before anyone comes looking to buy.
Most exciting however was probably the first person who stopped by our booth this morning. Without giving away too much information, it was from a large chain retailer (though not as large as a Target or the like) specific to this industry and even more specific to my niche. I honestly thought that they produced everything inhouse but in the last year the company was bought and new management took over. It was the CEO who stopped by our booth this morning and seemed sincerely interested in potentially bringing our product into some of their stores. It may, as I've found, come to nothing at the end of the day but it's always exciting to have that as an option. Always good to have options, right?
But at the same time I'm tired, been traveling far too long, and have those moments that I'd be willing to sell the company to the first person who asked. Thankfully they are only brief moments and I've so far managed to regain sanity before anyone comes looking to buy.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Letting Go
So I fired my PR company. Trust me it was not nearly as easy as I made it sound. But first, the backstory:
I hired a PR firm in early summer after interviewing a number of them truly believing that the one I chose would help me get a tremendous amount of publicity which would in turn help build the brand equity. Between then and last week they got me precisely one radio spot on a local radio station. During that same time period I got (without even trying but simply through contacts I had who contacted me) four print pieces and one national radio spot (albeit all were within my industry) for or about the company. If you do the math - their one radio spot cost me more than the annual rental cost of my production space whereas my 4 print pieces and one radio spot cost the company nothing (though one could argue that I should be getting paid for my time - which hopefully will happen one day).
I'm incredibly frustrated that I spent all that money this year - money that could have gone to so many other things.
But that's what I'm learning running a small business is all about. While you do your absolute best to make the right decisions based on a combination of knowledge, know-how, and gut instinct - at the end of the day there's still a fairly large amount of trail and error and sometimes, as in this case, you error.
What's the plan from here on? I really believe PR is a huge asset to a company but I will most likely be bringing it "in-house" after the new year. I'm right now looking into getting a PR Newswire subscription in 2008 and once I have a chance to investigate that a little further I'll let you know what I find.
I hired a PR firm in early summer after interviewing a number of them truly believing that the one I chose would help me get a tremendous amount of publicity which would in turn help build the brand equity. Between then and last week they got me precisely one radio spot on a local radio station. During that same time period I got (without even trying but simply through contacts I had who contacted me) four print pieces and one national radio spot (albeit all were within my industry) for or about the company. If you do the math - their one radio spot cost me more than the annual rental cost of my production space whereas my 4 print pieces and one radio spot cost the company nothing (though one could argue that I should be getting paid for my time - which hopefully will happen one day).
I'm incredibly frustrated that I spent all that money this year - money that could have gone to so many other things.
But that's what I'm learning running a small business is all about. While you do your absolute best to make the right decisions based on a combination of knowledge, know-how, and gut instinct - at the end of the day there's still a fairly large amount of trail and error and sometimes, as in this case, you error.
What's the plan from here on? I really believe PR is a huge asset to a company but I will most likely be bringing it "in-house" after the new year. I'm right now looking into getting a PR Newswire subscription in 2008 and once I have a chance to investigate that a little further I'll let you know what I find.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Another Goals Post
(Please excuse the cheesy photo - I thought this post needed something a little "extra"). I was recently contacted by an export company about potentially exporting my products overseas. Like anything, I'm finding, it's not nearly as easy as it looks between deciding whether this is a company I want to work with (under a 5 year contract) plus all the bits and pieces of bureaucracy that I have to get through simply to get the product ready for export.
And truthfully, I'm somewhat scared. Scared that I won't make the right decision with this. Scared that neither I nor the company are ready for this next step. And at the same time scared that this is a huge opportunity that I may potentially pass on.
Obviously I need to know more about the opportunity itself (have a phone call scheduled for Wends) but I think at the crux of it I need to reorganize my thoughts and figure out exactly what I want out of the company in the next 1, 3, and 5 years and then see if this fits in with that plan. Hoping to have some time today (while on the train from NYC to Philly) to put some of my thoughts in order in the hopes that it will give me a little more clarity in this and other matters. Guess I'm feeling a little lost right now as to what my goals really are which makes it very tough to accurately weigh potential future opportunities.
And truthfully, I'm somewhat scared. Scared that I won't make the right decision with this. Scared that neither I nor the company are ready for this next step. And at the same time scared that this is a huge opportunity that I may potentially pass on.
Obviously I need to know more about the opportunity itself (have a phone call scheduled for Wends) but I think at the crux of it I need to reorganize my thoughts and figure out exactly what I want out of the company in the next 1, 3, and 5 years and then see if this fits in with that plan. Hoping to have some time today (while on the train from NYC to Philly) to put some of my thoughts in order in the hopes that it will give me a little more clarity in this and other matters. Guess I'm feeling a little lost right now as to what my goals really are which makes it very tough to accurately weigh potential future opportunities.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Rethinking Goals
This is actually a tag-on to the earlier post about thinking like the cake guy...so let's talk goals.
When I started this company I laid out a set of financial goals and an overreaching goal of becoming "the" luxury brand within my very specific niche. And I laid our financial goals for the first and second year which I did alter based on quarterly results.
But what I haven't done - and need to do - is come up with other short term goals. And I think those goals need to be two-fold. On the one hand they do need to encompass the short-term financial goals, the steps I want to take to grow the business (and help meet those financial goals), and other business strategy goals. But at the same time I think that I need to have "personal" goals when it comes to the business. Things that my not be as tangible as end financial goals but will help me remember, even when things get really tough, that progress is still being made.
I also think I want to make out a five-year plan so I can lay out - to the best of my ability - how I get from where we are to where I want us to ultimately be and what my role in that is going to be.
I'm leaving tomorrow night for a ten-day trip that starts on the west coast, takes me to three cities on the east coast, and finally lands me in the last trade show of the year in Chicago before coming home again. My hope is that sometime in all of that - since I won't be able to be using my production space - I can sit down and better articulate these thoughts onto paper. That and get a new rough draft of my business plan (version 2.0) completed. Those are my first two new short-term goals.
When I started this company I laid out a set of financial goals and an overreaching goal of becoming "the" luxury brand within my very specific niche. And I laid our financial goals for the first and second year which I did alter based on quarterly results.
But what I haven't done - and need to do - is come up with other short term goals. And I think those goals need to be two-fold. On the one hand they do need to encompass the short-term financial goals, the steps I want to take to grow the business (and help meet those financial goals), and other business strategy goals. But at the same time I think that I need to have "personal" goals when it comes to the business. Things that my not be as tangible as end financial goals but will help me remember, even when things get really tough, that progress is still being made.
I also think I want to make out a five-year plan so I can lay out - to the best of my ability - how I get from where we are to where I want us to ultimately be and what my role in that is going to be.
I'm leaving tomorrow night for a ten-day trip that starts on the west coast, takes me to three cities on the east coast, and finally lands me in the last trade show of the year in Chicago before coming home again. My hope is that sometime in all of that - since I won't be able to be using my production space - I can sit down and better articulate these thoughts onto paper. That and get a new rough draft of my business plan (version 2.0) completed. Those are my first two new short-term goals.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
And Then...
I got a new copy of a new industry publication (consumer publication for my niche) and right in the front of the magazine - which by the way appears to be a really nice new magazine, great editorial and wonderful layout/photos - is a HUGE picture of one of our products. I mean we really have the entire page to ourselves. It's like a big beautiful ad - only it's editorial!
I'm leaning towards - if I have any money to do it - creating an ad budget for next year to target to a few of these consumer and business pubs in my industry. Editorial like this certainly encourages me to buy ad space when/if I can afford it!
I'm leaning towards - if I have any money to do it - creating an ad budget for next year to target to a few of these consumer and business pubs in my industry. Editorial like this certainly encourages me to buy ad space when/if I can afford it!
Blustery
The weather outside is frightful! Not a winter frightful - a true fall frightful. If Halloween were today this would be absolutely perfect weather for the ghoules and goblins. Truly frightful weather.
Which makes it the perfect day to stay indoors and get stuff done. And there is a ton and a half of stuff to get done. The past few days I've been busy trying to get all our Las Vegas orders out the door (they all finally shipped today), get everything shipped out to Chicago that has to go to a trade show out there, and continue to work on building up inventory before what will hopefully be a busy third quarter. Not to mention trying to pack up for a wedding on the east coast this weekend and prepare to take my older dog into the vet tomorrow for a teeth-cleaning (the type of deep cleaning where they've got to put her under to get it done).
Perhaps it's the weather that's making me cranky but for the past day or so I've totally been in a "I'd be willing to sell" mood. As my husband rightly said - if you didn't feel that way every so often I'd worry that you weren't taking this seriously. I knew it would be hard, but I honestly didn't think it would be this hard. Yes, the production end of things is hard physically, but for me it's more of the day-in and day-out always thinking about the business, working on building the business etc. It just never ends!
Yes, I'm whining...I'll shut up now...
Which makes it the perfect day to stay indoors and get stuff done. And there is a ton and a half of stuff to get done. The past few days I've been busy trying to get all our Las Vegas orders out the door (they all finally shipped today), get everything shipped out to Chicago that has to go to a trade show out there, and continue to work on building up inventory before what will hopefully be a busy third quarter. Not to mention trying to pack up for a wedding on the east coast this weekend and prepare to take my older dog into the vet tomorrow for a teeth-cleaning (the type of deep cleaning where they've got to put her under to get it done).
Perhaps it's the weather that's making me cranky but for the past day or so I've totally been in a "I'd be willing to sell" mood. As my husband rightly said - if you didn't feel that way every so often I'd worry that you weren't taking this seriously. I knew it would be hard, but I honestly didn't think it would be this hard. Yes, the production end of things is hard physically, but for me it's more of the day-in and day-out always thinking about the business, working on building the business etc. It just never ends!
Yes, I'm whining...I'll shut up now...
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