Archive for February, 2007
With us, it seems like everything is pushed up to the last minute. Rush Rush Rush. And it’s a stressful mode to be in all the time – but I think this is the way it is everywhere. For us, this has been the case for the last two months straight because we’ve jumped at time-crunched opportunities. We’ve opted to go for it rather than pass on the opportunities, but it is crazy-making to the extreme.
I love finding videos, like this one showing designer Mendel preparing a gown for the oscars. If you get the chance to watch it, notice how they are sewing, pinning, and cutting fabric off the dress right up to the minute the dress flies out the door for the fitting. And notice it’s because he had only 7 days to create a couture gown for a celebrity for the oscars. Last-minute opportunity that you do not pass up, no matter what is going on in the business otherwise. I’m pretty positive this dress showed up on Celine Dion during her song performance – imagine that.
When you jump at the opportunities, obviously, the other “already planned and happening” projects suffer. We jumped on an opportunity to do an oscar gift bag event, the timeline of which fell exactly on top of our prep for our first trade show. It was total insanity, and my motto became “make it happen”. We made it happen. There are ways I wish I was a little more prepared for the trade show, gosh I wish we could have accomplished a few more things, but we showed up, we got orders, we spread out around the US, we met a lot of people; we accomplished our main goals. And we met the deadlines for the gift bags with some of the most amazing products we’ve created to date.
And the bags have (supposedly) been delivered, so in the next few months we’ll see if all that hard work was worth it. I’m just hoping to get confirmation everything was delivered as promised, so we can at least say these celebrities have our stuff, even if we can’t claim they love it quite yet.
Back to the last minute thing; we’d like to participate in a fashion show for an event in April; which has given us less than a week to get the look book together with our fall fashions. We pulled off a modelling shoot on Saturda; I’m hoping to pull off at least one more and get the package shipped be end-of-day tomorrow. I’d be nowhere if my husband wasn’t a fully-involved partner. He’ll get the pictures in shape and will get all the catalog graphics and design together. I’m responsible for layout, the clothing, content and shipping. And we’re both dreaming of the days when we have more hands to help. Of course, the more hands we get, the more we take on..so I guess it’s a good sign if you’re rushed all the time.
February 26th, 2007
I managed to get my urgent pattern dropped off for grading yesterday. And I learned something new, which is awesome, but I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me before. I need to have an infant’s pattern and a toddler’s pattern made for each style. Especially for bottoms, because the room for the diaper in infant patterns requires a pattern change, not just a sizing change, between toddler and infant styles.
The first style that I had graded was a poncho, so there wouldn’t be much impact between toddler and infant growth; there’s really neck hole (already has a slit to ensure it eases over the head) and arm length to worry about with a poncho.
The standard sample size for infant clothes is 12 months, and standard sample size for toddler clothes is 2T. So, I was ok with the size 2T – and we can have that graded up fine. But, she has to do pattern adjustments to create a size 12 month pattern. I’ll work up a prototype, do a fitting, and then we’ll go from there.
I’m happy with this, because I was considering changing from size 2T to size 12 month patterns for my samples. At this stage, I felt ok with this change because: A) I haven’t created a ton of patterns at this point, nor anything I feel adament about using as block. B) Size 12 months clothes just look so darn cute compared to the size 2T clothes.
I went with size 2T samples because the kids are always walking by that age and the modelling should be easier. Now, I don’t have to compromise or lose what I’ve invested in…but I will start creating size 12 month samples as well. Here’s a link to an infant & children’s garment size chart: http://www.fibergypsy.com/common/children.shtml
It’s very exciting to be in the clothing sales now, and beyond the blankets, as magnificant as they are. 
Happy Sunday to all of you – I hope that you get some R & R.
February 25th, 2007
I have to give a big thanks to Kathleen at fashion-incubator (also author of one of the best breaking-into-the-industry book available, The Entrepreneur’s Guide To Sewn Product Manufacturing), because she was gracious enough to take the time to recommend a friend who might be able to help me get my pattern graded in a pinch.
And, wa-la, I’m on my way to drop off the pattern mid-morning, and I have full confidence because I have a lot of respect for Kathleen. In her book, she talks about the power of a referral in the industry, and I know I’ve talked about it before too. But it can’t be said enough. If you find someone you respect for quality of work and work ethic, utilize that person’s resources as much as you can, ask them for referrals.
You’ll find that people won’t give a referral they can’t stand behind. I made the mistake (at one of my first jobs) of referring a friend for a position, with no clue about her work ethic really. What a mistake that was…she was somewhat of a prima-donna who got pissed when asked to work. After that, I’ve found that I’m very very careful about who I’ll refer, I feel it is a reflection on myself. And in turn, I’ve found that referrals from people I respect prove time and time again to be the best way to find resources and helpful people.
And, I guess if you were to take this one step further, this speaks to the power of networking..unfortunately, not my strong point. I’m very talkative – at home. I have a harder time breaking out of my shell, but I’m working on it. I have to say the blogging helps. I’ve met some cool people from having a blog. Getting out and going after sales helps too. Meeting cool people at the trade show helped. I guess every little bit helps.
And that said, I must say I’m excited to be off to meet a new friend in the industry this morning. And I feel blessed to find someone local who is willing to help me in a pinch.
So, again, thanks Kathleen!
February 24th, 2007
Well, I’ve heard companies are fleeting in this business, and poof, my pattern grader is gone. I hate being in a somewhat desperate position for resources, but at least I’ve got more people to ask for referrals from. I just need one little pair of bell-bottom pants graded, so I’m confident I can do this, find someone, find someone, find someone.
Today has me a bit down, and for no reason except that I’m really tired and feeling really disorganized. I hate feeling disorganized, yet I always feel disorganized. Working on it, I’m really working on it. The calendar I’ve mentioned before definitely helps me out, but it doesn’t make me do all the stuff on my list.
I feel so lazy after pushing so hard for a month and a half, and I’m looking at a couple of months ahead where I have to push even harder. No joke. Because paying our bills depends on it, so we have to become the energizer bunnies. But I know if we keep working this hard, there has to be a payoff for it down the road. There has to be. And when we get there, we are travelling and taking a great family vacation. I need to get some pictures of exotic locations and paste them to my walls for inspiration and motivation.
Very exciting things are happening on Friday. One day, all of these “very exciting” things are actually going to lead to “very fruitful” things. Right? right right right right right right right.
February 21st, 2007
The three day weekend is over and it’s time for us all to get back at it. Does anyone else feel like staying in bed all day? But I can’t!!! Not even an option. I’m starting a contract job this morning for some extra cash, so I have to get a lot more done in the wee hours of the morning than I usually do. And I’m writing instead. But this writing keeps me sane, I highly recommend it as a start to your day.
The theme for today has to be about contact. I have to start following up with the people I met at the tradeshow. I have to contact my (clothing) sewing contractor and get a production plan in place. I have to find a pattern grader NOW. And I have to keep the blanket production in full-swing. So, with a new job, I think that’s plenty for me to focus on today.
As far as a plan for tradeshow follow-up, I need to get all the addresses into my business contact manager. I need to get everything backed up. And then, I need to craft the initial email I’ll send – make a PDF of our final catalog (must be attached); update our press kit and then start connecting with people.
That’s it, I’m stopping the “to-do” list there. I’ll be happy to be back home tonight. I guess I already said I wish I could stay in bed all day.
February 20th, 2007
I actually took two days off and enjoyed a weekend. I can’t remember how long it’s been since I had down-time like that, but I really needed it. Really, really, really needed it. And it was just enough time that I’m not freaking out about stuff piling up too much. I feel I can get focused and figure out what I need to do next.
We need to tackle a project schedule for Baby Celebration ASAP. That’s two months out, so we have a chance to make the schedule a little more realistic, especially if we stick with it.
There are blankets that need to go into production from last week’s tradeshow. We’re spreading out around the country; and we’re in some great luxury locations like Steamboat, CO and Scottsdale, AZ.
The fashion line is fun and my cutie pants sets sold really well. But they wanted them now! (here’s a huge lesson I learned at the tradeshow – the buying trends are changing drastically, so we need to talk about this. It also makes sense to me why fabrics are sold out by the time you place an order for production. Changing consumer trends in turn changes the manufacturers buying trends. It’s much more of a “want it now; get it now” mentality.)
So, since I was following good manufacturing processes and selling based on samples, I still have to get the cutie pants pattern graded and the pant sets out to these boutiques in three weeks. But I wasn’t about to miss the sale. The bummer for me is that my ex-pattern grader went out of business. So, I have to call my industry friends and locate a pattern grader who will work a small order on the fly. Then we have to get the fabrics cut, to the sewing contractor, and get them shipped in three weeks.
At least I already have the fabric, that’s some stress off.
I heard some of you did great at KIDShow last week! Congratulations to all of you and thank you for contacting me. I love hearing from you. I’ve also changed commenting settings so that you no longer have to register, which I think wasn’t working at all. So, please jump in and share ideas. There are more than a few of us in the midst of this together, and it’d be great for us all to “chat”.
February 19th, 2007
So, now that I’ve had a day off from KIDShow, a breather from our first tradeshow, I feel like I’m ready to start figuring out what I learned. The biggest new experience for us with this event was setting up a tradeshow display. There were things we didn’t think about, things we tried to do – but ran out of time, and things we did right. I think we did great for our first time out – we took up the booth space and we had all of our products on display.
Here’s what I think we did right:
- We had mannequins so that our clothing could be well-displayed.
- We ordered the grid walls so that we had a good display for our silkscreen onesies, blankets, and some bibs.
- We scurried at the last moment for enough hooks and hangers but pulled it off.
- We brought plush covers for the tables; we had our signs.
- The booth looked nice and uncluttered.
Here’s what we didn’t even think about:
- Special lighting for certain areas of the display
- Carpet, carpet, carpet. (We have a carpet for photo shoots and I considered it a month ago, but forgot all about it. It wasn’t apparent to me just HOW much of a deterent the “default” carpet was at the show until I saw the picture. But no doubt it detracts.)
- Custom backdrops. We had a drape and pipe booth and it would have made a world of difference to have custom drapes.
Here’s what we tried to do but just ran out of time:
- Print custom posters of some of our models in our clothing.
- Get a few more samples of each design.
- And we ended up not getting two of our designs to the sample stage.
Image is everything; a picture is worth a thousand words. So, the display is incredibly important. The display will be a big consideration for us at the next event. We actually have two whole months to prepare for the next one. Now isn’t that something miraculous?
February 17th, 2007
It’s the last day of KIDShow and what an adventure it’s been. Yesterday was slow, slow, slow. I know there were a few vendors that did good – but for the most part, everyone was just trying to keep themselves awake. Where have all the people gone? Here’s the theories I heard:
- Trade shows suck now because of the internet.
- No body could make it out of the east coast because of the storm and cancelled flights.
- Too many shows going on.
- Did they advertise?
I met a lot of vendors yesterday though, so that’s cool to me. I’ve had a chance to meet some people who own companies I admire, which is super-cool to me. And most importantly, I have learned a world of information from some of the more experienced exhibitors. I am incredibly lucky to be surrounded by happy and helpful people, because not everybody at that show is so friendly (I will save it for another post, but it will be another post).
We have picked up new customers and it’s been exciting. But getting here and getting set up was the craziest experience of our new-business lives. We couldn’t get a babysitter to save our lives, so the kids had to come with us. I was going to come alone, but my husband was kind enough to come up for a couple of days to help with setup. I would never have made it without him. Not for our first show, no way. But it is really difficult to function with two rambuctous youngun’s in -tow.
And I have to give a shout out to my husband who spent the entire day yesterday doing stuff for me. And it was stressful for him because I know where all the stuff is back at home and he hung in there and did the whole darn project after driving our kids back home in the morning. That was our Valentine’s day. An early-morning good-bye and lots of stress. But we’re going to get some time alone after this journey. We need a break!!!
February 15th, 2007
Well, this is it. One day until I leave for the Vegas tradeshow. I’m nowhere near ready, but isn’t that always the story. This brings me back to project management. How in the world do you get better at project management; at estimating length of time for certain tasks, at not taking on too much, at finishing with breathing room?
I have a problem saying no, especially to opportunities. I know that you can’t jump on every opportunity because you can’t over-extend the business too much, but I definitely jump on opportunities which I think are doable, even if I know it will stretch us thin. I really think that jumping through hoops is crucial to a small startup. Making it look like you didn’t have to jump through any hoops at all is even better.
So, I’m open to any and all ideas that will help me with project management. I finally went back to a paper calendar that I have on me at all times. I scheduled one two-many double appointments before I finally learned that one. And, it helps me remember to write down my business expenses, especially mileage. So, that helps me a bit with the time management.
The other thing that is going to help with my time management is trusting others more. A lot of stuff has come to a head lately that has left me with no choice but to ask for help. Lining up help for all of these little parts is going to help our business a ton. But really, I’m open to ideas – what is everyone doing to set realistic project schedules?
One thing I need is many more tiny deadlines, and I have to meet those. I set intermediate deadlines, but I don’t think I set nearly enough. Ah well..here I am, one day until the tradeshow and we’re crazy not ready. But we’re going to jump through hoops and make it happen, and we’re going to make it look like we’ve always been ready.
February 10th, 2007
Sometimes, an amazing amount of stuff can get done in a limited amount of time. Such as some last-minute samples we need for the next week’s trade show. Pattern maker and sewing contractor are literally jumping through hoops to make this happen, but it’s happening.
It makes me wonder what the hell I’ve been doing for the last 4 years it took to finally, finally, finally launch our line. Officially. For about the third time. If I can get samples done in literally a matter of weeks – from sketch to complete salesman’s sample – why did it take us so long to get to “GO”?
Then reality hits and I remember that on the surface, it seems like it’s just the business that took a long time to get going. But life is always happening, and actually happening more than the business is. So, earning a paycheck, having first one baby, then another, buying and selling a new house – all these things relegated starting a business to a mere few hours a day. If that.
Oh the nights I couldn’t drag myself off the couch or away from the tv to go work back in the quiet end of the house. During my second pregnancy, I was so exhausted from chasing a toddler around and working full-time, that I pretty much put everything about Baby Fabulous on the back-burner.
But the “back-burner” is the key. I never said “forget it” in my head, just that it was on-hold. And in retrospect, that was ok, because life is more important anyway. Time with my kids, what little of it I did have, was far more important than me building a business fast.
And, another thing that makes it seem so simple NOW, is that I’ve come so far. I’ve learned so much. From being absolutely a deer-in-the-headlights at my first trade show, I now see that trip as a “must do” and know where I’m going, who I’m going to talk to, and the really huge difference – what I’m looking for when I’m there.
It seems simple now because I’ve gone through that first boutique sale, I’ve gone through the first line sheets, catalog, web launch, advertising campaigns, publicity event, etc. Now we have our first big trade show in a week, and there is so much to learn over the next couple of weeks. I’m reeling to be honest with you. Reeling from another big publicity event we piled on top of this, reeling from going full-throttle since after Christmas. Full throttle as in 3AM mornings. Though I’ve only been able to drag myself up at 4 the last few days. But there are these times when you go full-throttle and push through because passing up the opportunity is not an option. So, we go on and on and on and come a week from now, we’ll be winding down and we can get back to a normal groove.
February 7th, 2007
Previous Posts
