Breath

...just breath....

A few weeks ago I got an email from a "bigger company." Actually they are a BIG COMPANY but are looking to launch a new section into some of their stores that has to do with my product line. It's not a complete launch into all of their stores which is why they are just referred to as "bigger" and not BIG. But in truth, it's BIG compared to the independent retailers I'm used to working with. Anyway, they were interested in seeing some of our products so I sent along a catalogue and heard nothing. Figured the usual, nothing was really going to come of this, so didn't put too much thought into it. The other day, after a really poor night's sleep, I decided to follow up (again) with a(nother) phone call and this time I got a response in under two hours. Turns out the person I had been dealing with had been moved onto something else and I now had a new contact person. Let's just say, she's a go-getter and seems really excited to bring our products into the store.

So I went from thinking this wasn't going to happen to thinking that she may order in several thousand dollars worth of merchandise for the holiday season and while it would make it hard work given the time crunch it could be done. Then today she emailed me a preliminary list of products and quantities along with a request for samples (which are going out Express tomorrow) - let's just say that the amount she's talking about would be more than my company's total 2007 revenue.

Breath....

It's exciting, it's overwhelming, it will be a logistical and operational nightmare. Then add to it that I leave on Wedns for the last of the season's tradeshows and typically come home really busy from it (though given the current economy who knows!). Regardless, I can't let this fall through the cracks. It's too good for the business. So I've sent along the information she requested and the samples as well as a reminder that all of our stuff is handmade so if she wants it by the holidays I need to get to work on it ASAP.

It's really exciting...it's really overwhelming. I vacilate between focusing on it and all the moving pieces that would need to be pulled into place and going to friends' blogs so that I can stop my warpspeed brain by losing myself in someone else's world. I'm thinking that I need to stop the pain pills so that I can start drinking again. Either that or start taking more pain pills.

Breath...

Getting Ready for the Wind

The wind of the Windy City that is. Though so as not to be accused of spreading a myth, Chicago was nicknamed the Windy City not because of the wind whipping off Lake Michigan (which, trust me, it does with a gusto in February!) but because the politicians were considered long-winded. There's your random fact for the day!

History lesson aside, I am getting ready to head to Chicago for the season's last tradeshow. This is my third time going to this show but, sadly, for the first time I actually had to rent a hotel room. For the past two years I've stayed with friends of mine but it appears they've now all left the midwest. It's really too bad because nothing makes a tradeshow more manageable then knowing that at the end of every day you're going to get to catch up with friends on a comfy couch with a glass of wine before retiring to a soft bed. This year I will be enjoying the comforts of the Crowne Plaza.

The other bummer is that my hotel, like the convention itself, is out by the airport. Rosemont, for those who know Chicago, is lightyears away from Chicago in terms of being able to take advantage of what the city has to offer. And one of my favorite things in years past has been to go back to my favorite city haunts (I did my two years of business school in Chicago so I know the city decently well and absolutely love it...expect when it's cold enough to freeze my car doors shut...then I wasn't so thrilled with living there). While I know that I could jump on the el and get downtown, trying to do that from Rosemont after the show closes at 6pm everyday and with a broken leg just isn't going to happen. Which means that I'm stuck in Rosemont and the glory of O'Hare.

While I know the area is used to holding conventions and hosting business travelers, I'm fairly confident that I'll be able to find some decent food for dinner at the end of the show everyday. It's during the show I'm a little more worried about. In year's past I used to stop at a Panera Bread as I drove to the show and picked up a huge fresh salad which I would munch on during the show. Yummy and healthy. Since I won't have a car and there doesn't appear to be a Panera within crutching distance, it means I'm left to fend for myself for lunch from the selection offered at the Convention Center. For all the strides that Chicago has made in the culinary world, the convention center is very much stuck in the "cafeteria" type food mindwarp that just doesn't sit well with my stomach. The solution? I'm bringing snack foods with me that are healthier and will hopefully keep me from starving during the day. In fact, on today's to do list is "Make Chex Mix." Ok, maybe not so healthy but it is good and will keep me happy.

Where's My Coffee?

I always forget how exhausting tradeshow season is. Every day is filled with making product for orders, filling orders, shipping orders, billing orders, and then turning around and starting all over. Yes, this is exactly what a company wants to be doing all the time but during tradeshow season it's done at a frenetic pace and still it doesn't feel like we're keeping up. Then add to it the final packing of items that have to go to the next trade show, the sending out of marketing material, and basically trying to keep all bills paid on time while also maintaining your sanity is just exhausting. Then try doing all of that with a broken leg.

Which brings me to a really important lesson I've learned through all of this. Having help - and being able to ask for help - is priceless to a business. As I think I've mentioned, my mom is in town helping (for three weeks - basically from one show through to the next) and I've also hired someone who comes in and does packaging twice a week. Between the three of us we've been able to pound out a ton of inventory and get the shelves stocked and ready for orders to ship out. Plus my mom and I have shipped out a ton of orders that had to go out already so things are running smoothly - and they definitely wouldn't have been without the help.

The other day I also ended up grabbing another part-time employee from another person in my workspace who was going on vacation. He worked with us this past week and will help out again on Monday. Thanks to his help we've honestly been able to get more done then I ever anticipated. So while I'm still frustrated by how slow I am thanks to the broken leg, I've learned how much more can get done when you hire the right people to help (should be an obvious point but it was one I was hesitant to learn).

It's a good lesson to learn. Especially given that we received a call from a bigger company yesterday who may be interested in bringing in some of our products for the holidays season. Not on the magnitude of BIG COMPANY but enough that it would be a really good test of our operational system and how fast we can turn product around if needed. I'm excited for the possibility of the exposure it could give my company and the revenue it could bring in, but also excited to see how I would figure out the operational needs of the company to be able to meet the deadline. In the meantime though, I'm going to go get some coffee.

The Big Question

Despite trying to read reassuring things into my dreams, what impact is this economy going to have on my business? My product is not a necessity - I know that clearly. And a large portion of my buyers are retailers who count on some level of credit (be it credit cards or lines of credit) to fund the spending they need to bring product into their stores. We're not there yet but at what point do you look at the economy and say that throwing money into a small business is not the best financial move. (Then again, throwing it into a big bank also doesn't seem like the best financial move.)

I won't lie, I'm a little bit scared. I'm scared about how this is going to impact the immediate short-term of my company with one of the industry's biggest tradeshows next week. I'm scared about the longterm of my business. And I'm scared that perhaps I made the wrong decsion and had I been working for a big company for the past few years out of business school at least we would have more money in the bank (again, not that that's necessarily a safe place these days, but you know what I mean). And I'm scared that if things go horribly wrong (more so then currently) that I've backed myself into a corner where I'm not highly employable especially when up against other MBAs who have been in the "outside" job market for several years.

Fun nightime thoughts...good times!

Dream Interpretation

I had a really odd dream last night. Most likely not connected to business at all but odd enough that it still has me thinking about it.

At some point in the middle of the night I dreamt that I was at a swim meet getting ready to compete in the 200yard freestyle. As a little background, I've swum competatively all my life - including college - and the 200 free was one of my events. As another little piece of background, dreams about swimming are usually my anxiety dreams. In those dreams I am typically at a meet and can't find my cap or goggles prior to my event. Other races are being swum and it's getting closer and closer to my turn but I can't find those blasted cap or goggles anywhere. When I have those dreams I've found that I'm typically vexing over something or another in my waking life and it's spilling over into my dreams.

This swimming dream was different. In this dream I was in Lane 1 waiting to start the 200 yard freestyle. This was the trials of trials/finals meet (as in, if you had one of the top 8 times from trials you would come back and swim finals) and as I stood there before the blocks I was totally calm. Somehow I knew that I was going to make it back to finals that night and I also knew that I was going to swim a 1.51.89 (one minute, fifty-one seconds, 89 tenths). For the record, the fastest I ever did swim a 200 was 1.51.99 (just under the 1.52 wire!) so somehow knowing that I was going to PR at trials and that the time would be good enough to have me competing at finals seems like a huge leap of confidence. But I stood there and I just knew that to be the case.

Sadly, I never did get to watch myself swim the race in my dreams. Given that I'm still two weeks away from being allowed back in the water - and likely four+ months away from being allowed to dive off a starting block - I don't see myself doing a 1.51 200 yard free anytime soon. I would have enjoyed watching and experiencing the race in my dream.

So how to bring it around to business? Now this is a long shot so bear with me, but I've been thinking this morning about how my swimming dreams are usually related to anxiety and much of that time it's related to the business. Perhaps this is my body & mind's way of telling me that everything is going to work out just fine. Even better than fine, you're going to have a PR so not to worry about it. Just stand behind the starting block confident that you are going to do what's needed to be done to be successful. It's a nice thought, isn't it? Course then again, perhaps it was the drug cocktail I need to take to sleep pain free every night? Nah, I'll go with Option A.

Now Waiting

I sent off said email to BIG BOX today after agonizing and rewriting it all weekend. I finally had it narrowed down to a trim three lines that (hopefully!) reminded them who I was and what our product was and then (hopefully!) piqued their interest in a potential future product release. After having it checked and rechecked by multiple proofreaders (my husband and mother) I finally sent it off this morning.

Now I'm trying to keep myself calm and remind myself that I'm likely looking at a week or more before they even get back to me. Of course, the highly unprofessional part of me - the part that loves immediate gratification - is whining about how come they haven't answered my email yet, maybe I should have reworded the email, perhaps I should have approached them another way?

Yeah, as usual my lack of patience is making me a blast to be around. (then add to that the broken leg and limited mobility...don't you wish you were here!)

Crafting the Next Big Thing

I'm in the midst of crafting a follow-up email to some BIG buyers. Here's the brief story:

While at the tradeshow last week two people came over to the booth oohing and aahing over our products. They loved the products and the packaging. Turns out, they admitted on the sly, that they were one of the BIG BOX retailers (they admitted it on the sly since many in the industry see them as BIG BAD - no they are not a "W" company). Personally I have no qualms with the BIG BOX retailer because it's one that we shop at to begin with and I think they're doing a good job given their market and customer base. While they were visiting the booth I had an interesting conversation with BIG BOX about their future plans for the company and their new focus on working with smaller entrepreneurs. Interesting...very interesting.

Of course the minute they left my mind began swirling about the various ways my business could leverage that information and could we possibly angle ourselves to be the next entrepreneur said BIG BOX works with. I have some ideas but while I pull them together to see if they look as good in reality as they do in my head, I wanted to drop an email to BIG BOX to basically remind them that they met me at the show and pique their interest in what we may be able to offer them. In my usual ocd way, I've written and rewritten the three line email numerous times and finally think I have a version that says what I want it to say without sounding A. overconfident or B. desperate for their business. It's a fine line to walk between those two!

Now that I finally have the email to where I want it I'm almost anxious for Monday to roll around so that I can send it out. I know enough not to pin my hopes onto this and the chances of this thing actually coming to fruition is slim to none. But it's still nice to think about the possibilities, right? (Actually, the operations and production challenges scare the daylights out of me when I stop to think about those implications so I choose not to worry about those until they are something that needs to be worried about.)