What Impact Has the Economy Had On You?

I stole this blog topic from a forum I read as it's definitely something that's been on my mind with regards to the business.

Right now it's actually a little hard to tell how the economy has impacted my business since my business is very seasonal. I will know more after the Fall tradeshows since if retailers aren't buying then it will be a very good indication that people are incredibly worried about the economy and holiday buying season.

Right now we've actually been doing ok business-wise given the seasonality in our business. I can definitely tell that retailers are less apt to make new product purchases now and are sticking to "tried and true" products but our new products are getting a lot of attention from retailers but most are telling me to come back to them in the Fall.

At the same time, our new product seems to be generating a lot of buzz in the industry trade publications. I already know that we're going to be in the upcoming June edition of one publication (or so I've been told - we'll see if I make the final editorial cut) and it's looking like we're going to be spotlight in another publication in July. I've also sent in material to a few other industry trade publications so I'm hoping they bite and perhaps do a little more press towards August/Sept timeframe as that's getting mighty close to tradeshow season so I want our products/company top-of-mind for retailers.

So while right now the company is blowing through a decent chunk of change - it's not necessarily so much that it has me totally bent out of shape (only midly bent out of shape). I was hoping that we'd break even this year and while I do think that we still stand a chance of doing that, this economy may make that goal a little harder to reach than originally anticipated.

Playing the Lotto - Business Style

I'm not a lottery player with the exception of when the jackpot gets above $200M and I happen to actually hear that it's above $200M and I actually have $1 in cash in my pocket (interesting fact I recently learned - you have to buy lottery tickets with cash). As anyone who actually knows me will attest - typically having the $1 in cash on me is the deciding factor against buying my chance at $200M+.

I do happen to play the business lottery though. For example, today I sent a product sample off to a large company that is incredibly well known and has an equally high brand image though they don't typically carry products like mine. Heck, I didn't even have the name of the appropriate person so it's literally addressed "Dear Sir or Madam" - since hours of internet searching turned up nothing. But let's just say that on the off-chance it actually makes it to the right person and they buy into my carefully crafted and hopefully persuasive cover letter. Imagine the results!

And post memorial day I will be sending a sample to a well-known tv personality who has a famous "list" in her magazine that also typically makes the "list" she broadcasts on tv. It's one heck of a long shot - in fact my odds of winning that $200M+ lottery are probably better - but just for a moment imagine what would happen if someone did think it would be a great new feature for their publication.

I don't do a lot of this "business lottery" sample sending since, at the end of the day the probability of actually winning are next to nil and the money spent to send samples out the door could be put to better use. Though in two instances it actually has paid out for me. Like the above two scenarios, one was to a large well-known retailer (I did have a contact name that time) which actually ended up being the first retailer my company signed. And the other was a PR move where I sent samples to "Dear Sir or Madam" and it actually made the cut. So I believe these things can happen despite the fact that the odds are not in my favor. But again, just imagine what would happen if you won...

Week In Review

It's been a busy week with a ton of balls in the air so I apologize for not writing too much. Here's a quick recap and then I'm going outside for a ride in this first beautiful weekend in the Northwest (hallaluhia summer may have actually arrived!)

I've been getting a few calls this week from people who are interested in working with the direct mail group I worked with for my spring direct mail piece asking me what I thought of the group/results/etc. It made me go take a look at the ROI and I realized that we're at about a 75% ROI for the campaign which is really pretty good. We don't have the sales figures I thought we would (there's still another week left on the promotion) but I keep remembering that at it's base I wanted this to be more of a brand awareness campaign first and a sales campaign second in the hopes that when people see our ads & second campaign this fall and then see us at the trade shows it will spark them to come over and check out the product offerings (and place orders - big orders!)

The new website is underway and I'm ecstatic. After much searching I finally found someone - well really two people - who I think are going to do a bang-up job on the new site and really help us bring the site up to the brand image of the company as a whole. We're also going to have some great new componants for retailers so that they can quickly and easily get all the wholesale information they always need and place orders directly on the site. I'm very very very excited.

Our house is in the midst of being torn apart to have the wood floors on the first floor redone. That means we've been moving everything out of the first floor of the house which includes the dining room table/my office. We're actually moving out to a friends house for a few days so we're also trying to pack up what we'll need for a week, etc etc etc. In short, it's chaotic around here right now so next week is definitely going to be a shortened work week. I'm bringing my accounting to-dos with me to the friends house and if I get that taken care of and nothing else I'll be really happy since I also have to be at the house part of next week playing constructon foreman and then spend a day cleaning the house post floors/pre moving everything back in and then off to a race on Friday in the eastern part of the state. Phew!

I also submitted my application to join the Board of a local nonprofit that is connected to my industry and, obviously, in line with something I believe in and love. I'm excited to meet with the Board in a few weeks to talk more about the position/responsibilities/and goals of the organization to see if it will be a good fit.

Many in my industry are at a big tradeshow this weekend on the east coast and while I'm not there - obviously - I'm interested to hear from friends in the industry how it went. It's in a new venue so people were a little skeptical of it not to mention the slowing economy so I'm glad I didn't go but am anxious to hear how things panned out.

Lastly, I did have the first round interview with "Big Company" which I don't think actually went too well since I haven't interviewed in over two years so am a bit out of practice. It's still an interesting position and if I get a callback I'll probably continue the interview process to learn more but am leaning towards sticking it out fulltime with my company rather than hiring someone to run it for me for a few years. But who knows...we'll have to see how this all plays out.

I was talking to a good friend the other day and after doing the quick "what's happening in your life" rundown he said it sounded like I had my hand in a lot of pots. I don't disagree with him for a second and while things are going really well I'm definitely reaching my limit on what more I can take onto my plate and think I may need to start taking some stuff off/delegating some stuff off.

Being Beaten by my own Employee

I think my employee may be better then me. Seriously. She's been working with me for about a month now - just part time two days a week - and I honestly think she's better at the production end of things then I am.

This is actually a huge relief for me. I won't lie that as the typical entrepreneur I was (and sometimes still am) pretty much convinced that I am the only one in the world who can do this as perfectly and with as much care as they need to be done despite the fact that this is not brain surgery. And then within the course of a month she's not only picked up on everything but is probably doing it better then I can/do.

I could be upset at the realization that I'm really not as special as I'd made myself out to be in my own mind (sarcasm), but it does give me something to think about as I start down the road of talking to this other company about their fulltime position. At the very least, it's reassuring to know that with the right staff this entire business doesn't have to rest solely on my shouldars.

Belated Mother's Day Musings

I've been thinking about Mother's Day for the last few days. The first thought was brought on by the fact that I could either use A) a better organizational system or B) a personal assistant since my mother's day card didn't get mailed until Saturday adn didn't show up until today. Oops - sorry mom!

But I've also been thinking about how this business really is like my "baby." Here's the similarities I've come up with so far:
1. It is always on my mind
2. It has the ability to frustrate me to no end but I love it regardless
3. It's a sinkhole for money (I don't yet have kids but I've heard they can be little moneypits)
4. I'm constantly wondering if my business will grow up to be a productive member of society (ie - add something positive to the world in some way or another)
5. It keeps me up at night
6. It requires babysitting when I'm away

But in truth, this business is my 'baby' and I love it.

Supporting a Cause

My husband and I went to a charity dinner and auction event last night. And how exactly does this pertain to entrepreneurship? There were actually two items up for grabs in the silent auction that I bought for use for the business. The first was a 1/2 day professional photo shoot (product shoot - not personal) with the person that is actually the business's professional photographer which I nabbed at 1/2 the normal price. The second item was a bit unusual for an auction in that it was 1000 color copies from a local copy place. Not surprisingly I was the only bidder on the item so I got it for a steal which is wonderful as I'll need to copy my existing company brochure in advance of the tradeshow season this fall.

So it was win-win as the charity got a bunch of money at the end of the evening and I got a few things that are needed for the business and potentially also some good karma as well.

Back To Work

It's been back to work at my business today with a few sales calls to make. Sadly none of them turned into any sales though I wasn't really expecting any from the retailers I visited today so I wasn't surprised in the least nor was I disappointed. If nothing else I got to meet the retailers face to face and they all said that my products might work for the holidays so I'll try back again in a few months. Yes, sadly, as one of the retailers and I were talking about, "the holiday" planning starts for all of us in just a few months while the weather is still warm and the big box stores haven't even put their Halloween merchandise on the shelves yet. Sometimes that's the odd thing about being in this industry - you're constantly mentally a few months ahead of the current season.

Tomorrow a bunch more retailers to call to set up for visits next week and I have to start pulling together all the graphics for my new website (very excited!). Hopefully the weather will stay nice and I can do some of the work from my deck.