I'm on my way out of town but wanted to share this great article from the NYTimes in case you've missed it:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/12/business/smallbusiness/12hunt.html?ref=smallbusiness
Six months ago the Times Small Business section highlighted three new businesses with the idea that they would follow up six months and a year later. Today's article is the six month update and, in a way, it's actually nice to hear that they've had as many challenges, cash flow issues, changes in strategy, etc as my little business and probably many of small businesses out there.
It sounds like all of the entrepreneurs featured were overly optimistic of how quickly they were going to build their businesses and I have to admit about being just as guilty. However, I tend to believe that entrepreneurs almost have to be overoptimistic because otherwise the number of challenges you face simply getting to the starting line is enough to push you out of the game before you even start. Besides, it's no fun to sit around and dream about how you're going to start your business and blow through a massive amount of cash...where's the fun in that!
Friday, June 13, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Handing out Medals
My husband deserves a medal for putting up with me...honestly!
Yes, I have my quirks, but the real reason he deserves a medal is for putting up with all the business stuff I throw his way. In addition to his very demanding full-time job he gets to also play the following roles:
1. Therapist to talk me off the cliff's edge those times I'm convinced this business is going to bottom out and fail
2. Creative director since I constantly run all new creative, product, packaging, and marketing ideas past him to get his feedback
3. Strategic leadership to help me figure out the best course of action and plot the future of the company and where we want to take it
4. CFO for all the financal help he provides
But he mostly deserves a medal for the fact that he has never lost faith that this is not only a great idea but that I am also the person to pull it off and it's that type of faith that keeps a person going.
So who in your life - entrepreneurial or otherwise - deserves a medal?
Yes, I have my quirks, but the real reason he deserves a medal is for putting up with all the business stuff I throw his way. In addition to his very demanding full-time job he gets to also play the following roles:
1. Therapist to talk me off the cliff's edge those times I'm convinced this business is going to bottom out and fail
2. Creative director since I constantly run all new creative, product, packaging, and marketing ideas past him to get his feedback
3. Strategic leadership to help me figure out the best course of action and plot the future of the company and where we want to take it
4. CFO for all the financal help he provides
But he mostly deserves a medal for the fact that he has never lost faith that this is not only a great idea but that I am also the person to pull it off and it's that type of faith that keeps a person going.
So who in your life - entrepreneurial or otherwise - deserves a medal?
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Something to smile about
This is my new favorite commercial - makes me smile every single time I watch it.
It's Beginning to look a lot like Christmas
I'm not simply making a reference to the freakishly cold weather here in the Pacific Northwest (as I type this the local news is talking about the amount of snow that has accumulated in the area - yep, snow!) but the fact that the holidays are on my mind.
Why holidays? Because this is the time of year where trade publication editors start asking about what seasonal products we'll be carrying and we have to start doing all the fall tradeshow marketing which will also include seasonal products since our retailers buy all their holiday merchandise in September and October.
In a way it's a little odd to be thinking Christmas (and Valentine's Day!) at the beginning of June. The main thing that's coming up is our half day professional photo shoot next week to get all of our seasonal products photographed and get some new product shots that we'll use in the upcoming tradeshows.
This is all part of my plan to try and bump up the overall external marketing image of the company. We have a web-rockstar working on our new website (hoping to have that up in July), we're pulling together a new interim marketing brochure that will stand in until we have the time to get a brand spanking new professional brochure pulled together in 2009, and I'm trying to upgrade how our booths will look at our big Fall tradeshows so that we truly look like a serious market leader rather than simply a player. It's all about image, right?
And in the meantime, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
Why holidays? Because this is the time of year where trade publication editors start asking about what seasonal products we'll be carrying and we have to start doing all the fall tradeshow marketing which will also include seasonal products since our retailers buy all their holiday merchandise in September and October.
In a way it's a little odd to be thinking Christmas (and Valentine's Day!) at the beginning of June. The main thing that's coming up is our half day professional photo shoot next week to get all of our seasonal products photographed and get some new product shots that we'll use in the upcoming tradeshows.
This is all part of my plan to try and bump up the overall external marketing image of the company. We have a web-rockstar working on our new website (hoping to have that up in July), we're pulling together a new interim marketing brochure that will stand in until we have the time to get a brand spanking new professional brochure pulled together in 2009, and I'm trying to upgrade how our booths will look at our big Fall tradeshows so that we truly look like a serious market leader rather than simply a player. It's all about image, right?
And in the meantime, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Online Mentoring
This is one of those "Why Not?" ideas that makes total sense but it never even crossed most people's mind. For entreprenuers there are always a million and one questions that we'd love feedback on. Unfortunately, most of us don't have the resources to build a wide enough network to answer all of those questions or the funds to hire the best and brightest to deal with the issues. So who do we turn to? (my husband is raising his hand high here I'm sure!)
Highlighted in today's Wall Street Journal (http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB121244235415639289-lMyQjAxMDI4MTAyNjQwNDYyWj.html) it appears that there are now online mentoring sites that will help match questioners with experienced mentors to help guide them through a process/question/phase of the business. Best of all, yu can even give back to the process by inputting your information becauses you never know who will view you and your experience as a valuable tool to help them grow and succeed. It seems like a great win-win tool!
Sites that were mentioned in the article if you're interested in checking them out:
MicroMentor.org
GoBigNetwork.com
IdeaCrossing.org
Score.org
Highlighted in today's Wall Street Journal (http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB121244235415639289-lMyQjAxMDI4MTAyNjQwNDYyWj.html) it appears that there are now online mentoring sites that will help match questioners with experienced mentors to help guide them through a process/question/phase of the business. Best of all, yu can even give back to the process by inputting your information becauses you never know who will view you and your experience as a valuable tool to help them grow and succeed. It seems like a great win-win tool!
Sites that were mentioned in the article if you're interested in checking them out:
MicroMentor.org
GoBigNetwork.com
IdeaCrossing.org
Score.org
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
On a Lighter Note - Working in Your PJ's
One of the biggest benefits everyone always talks about when I mention I "work from home" is that I can wear whatever I want to work. Or, more accurately, they say "it must be so great to wear your pj's all day." To which I indignantly set them staight that I do not actually work in my pj's.
Only I'm finding that more and more I do. Not my pj's persay...but yesterday I took a shower and two hours later found myself still in my post-shower robe with damp hair since I'd gotten sucked into doing just one thing on the computer which ultimately turned into five or six things. And today I did get up at 6am but threw on an initial set of clothes (grungy clothes that need to be washed) to get me through the first bleary hours before switching out to something more appropriate (aka - clean clothes). I believe I managed to switch into those today around 10:30am and that's only because I had an appt at 11am.
This cannot be a good trend...
Only I'm finding that more and more I do. Not my pj's persay...but yesterday I took a shower and two hours later found myself still in my post-shower robe with damp hair since I'd gotten sucked into doing just one thing on the computer which ultimately turned into five or six things. And today I did get up at 6am but threw on an initial set of clothes (grungy clothes that need to be washed) to get me through the first bleary hours before switching out to something more appropriate (aka - clean clothes). I believe I managed to switch into those today around 10:30am and that's only because I had an appt at 11am.
This cannot be a good trend...
Monday, June 2, 2008
Building a Brand or Producing a Product?
I'm supposed to be swimming right now but got stuck in some pretty ugly traffic thanks to a jackknived tracker trailer accident combined with professional baseball traffic. As such, after sitting in the car chugging through my $4+/gallon gas for about 30 minutes without making much headway I decided to turn around.
The upside? Those 30 traffic minutes gave me some time to think about - what else! - the business. I'll warn you upfront that this isn't a fully formed blog thought but more something that's been wrattling around in the back of my head for a few days and I'm hoping by getting it out here it may help clarify my own thoughts at the end of the day.
I'm a firm believer in "the brand." That if you're a small business owner you're not just producing a product (whatever that "product" may be) and sending it out the door but that you're creating an experience that has to permeate every aspect of your business so that from the outside people associate your product and your name with an entire brand experience.
Yeah - it may all sound good - but it's not cheap to create a brand. Right now we're revamping our website to bring it up to par with our brand identity and next year my focus will be on redoing all our print marketing material (I'm trying to use up all existing material this year as I just can't stomach trashing it all from either a financial or environmental standpoint). But for me it's also little stuff like a call today from a retailer who bought some product and one piece of her order didn't turn out the way she wanted. I could have simply said "well, sorry to hear that" since she wasn't looking for a 'freebie' but instead we'll be reimbursing her for that one piece. As I explained to her on the phone, I want to make sure that she's happy with every piece of product she puts out to her customers since it's her brand that's in question then and I understand that she only wants to put her best foot forward (I gotta admit - she was pretty happy!).
Don't get me wrong, we don't have it all figured out by any stretch of the imagination. But as I watch some of the newcomers to my workspace it's interesting to watch those who seem to be solely focused on producing a product versus those who seem to be focused on building a brand. In a way it's like a mini experiment since many of these newcomers are only here for the summer season.
That's the idea...I'll watch how the product vs. brand battle plays out with the summer workers and see if my thoughts that brand should reign supreme actually brings successful results.
The upside? Those 30 traffic minutes gave me some time to think about - what else! - the business. I'll warn you upfront that this isn't a fully formed blog thought but more something that's been wrattling around in the back of my head for a few days and I'm hoping by getting it out here it may help clarify my own thoughts at the end of the day.
I'm a firm believer in "the brand." That if you're a small business owner you're not just producing a product (whatever that "product" may be) and sending it out the door but that you're creating an experience that has to permeate every aspect of your business so that from the outside people associate your product and your name with an entire brand experience.
Yeah - it may all sound good - but it's not cheap to create a brand. Right now we're revamping our website to bring it up to par with our brand identity and next year my focus will be on redoing all our print marketing material (I'm trying to use up all existing material this year as I just can't stomach trashing it all from either a financial or environmental standpoint). But for me it's also little stuff like a call today from a retailer who bought some product and one piece of her order didn't turn out the way she wanted. I could have simply said "well, sorry to hear that" since she wasn't looking for a 'freebie' but instead we'll be reimbursing her for that one piece. As I explained to her on the phone, I want to make sure that she's happy with every piece of product she puts out to her customers since it's her brand that's in question then and I understand that she only wants to put her best foot forward (I gotta admit - she was pretty happy!).
Don't get me wrong, we don't have it all figured out by any stretch of the imagination. But as I watch some of the newcomers to my workspace it's interesting to watch those who seem to be solely focused on producing a product versus those who seem to be focused on building a brand. In a way it's like a mini experiment since many of these newcomers are only here for the summer season.
That's the idea...I'll watch how the product vs. brand battle plays out with the summer workers and see if my thoughts that brand should reign supreme actually brings successful results.
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