Posts filed under 'Planning beyond the collection'
The advent of yearly taxes has forced us to finish up our spring cleaning. I couldn’t be more thankful. I feel like we’re getting a little bit of control back. Going through this exercise, coupled with mis-placing important papers over the last couple of months, has been just the slap-in-the-face we needed to get the business paperwork together.
To create a method for the madness, for the madness will never subside.
I’ve learned that I need to keep much better records of our every move. I’ve learned that there is a lot I don’t know, so “bookkeeper” is high on our list of must-hire goals / priorities. But we’re alright for this year considering we’re still a small company. And I kept receipts and bank records help on the double-check.
Taxes are this great big black cloud that just hovers until the fateful day arrives. The silver lining is that mounds of papers have now been properly filed and it feels like my head got de-cluttered at the same time. We’ll be going back to our tax accountant next year, guaranteed. Especially since we plan on being a much larger company. I guess this isn’t much of a helpful-post business-wise, unless someone out there gets motivated to keep track of everything from the get-go. Every thing, every thing, every little thing.
I can’t believe how stressful it is. We’re in the home stretch. And we have to be, because I’d really like to make it to the textile show tomorrow.
Besides taxes, there is so much admin stuff that has to happen today it’s crazy. Go girl, just keep going.
April 16th, 2007
Could it possibly be that the arrival of Spring has me feeling better, feeling at peace? I don’t know, but I’ll take it. Business is booming and we’re selling our personalized baby blankets in boutiques. We have a large order of our graphic baby tees and onesies to ship at the end of the week, and we’re working on new designs. It’s been a long time coming. Now, the key is to keep the momentum.
I’ve given up on the lost package. Someone has that darn thing sitting in their living room, I just know it. It was for a big celebrity and someone at that post office knew it. But, the cool thing is that I found better one-of-a-kind fabrics closer to the requested color scheme than I found before; so I’m going to be happier with the end result. For whatever reason, *those* one-of-a-kind blankets weren’t THE ones she was supposed to receive. What is exciting is that this isn’t just us shooting these blankets out to a celebrity in the hopes she’ll receive them; these blankets were hand-selected by her personal assistant as THE newborn gift she wants to give. That means a lot and that’s why it’s worth it for us to do them over. Sometimes, “do overs” are nice.
Now that we’ve completed some orders, it’s important that we keep the sales process rolling. You have to keep stuff in the pipeline all the time. This is why I’m trying to make 10 contacts a day. I didn’t meet my goals last week, but I made more contacts than I made the previous weeks, so the plan is working in that respect. The more boutiques we can get these blankets into, the more residual sales we’re going to have. The fact that a boutique can sell unlimited blankets from one display blanket means that we’ll be selling unlimited blankets through those boutiques too.
Today is a day for re-grouping, admin tasks, and prepping for a great week. I want to hit the ground running manana and feel like I’m prepared for it. That’s the best possible way to start a week. Getting more and more organized by the day will help me hit the ground running.
March 25th, 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
These days are so crazy busy, but this is a *good* thing, we’re on the upswing. We have this last week and a half push to the Vegas tradeshow. But what’s cool is that all the stuff we’ve had to do for other deadlines in the last month has pushed us to get it together, really together. Most of the print materials are done, just waiting for a few new pictures. Including the catalog. I want to shout from the mountains; that thing was hanging over my head forever. Now, it’s done. And I’m actually happy with it. If you have these print materials when you walk into a boutique, you’ll have enough information to walk out of there with an order, signed and sealed:
- Catalog / Line Sheets - I put these together because you can get away with the line sheets if they have good technical sketches - but the catalog adds some pizazz and imagery. The line sheets contain:
- Technical sketches
- Style#
- Colors available
- Useful name (maybe just my opinion but it helps to say “the retro flowers” instead of “BL2-8998-99″, better reference point)
- Price List - These can be really simple - just tables of the item#; brief description; and wholesale price.
What I don’t have here is bulk pricing, which I want to add.
- Purchase Order - I use the PO form to gather all of the store information; the order form, payment options, AND the terms & agreements. This keeps it all together and helps me stay focused long enough to gather all of the information. This is important because you’ll find that there’s a lot of chatting going on and it’s easy to get distracted.
We’ve made a few boutique sales this week and it’s been a great experience. I can’t get over how much I learn at each appointment. I get so much feedback on our product, what’s selling in the market, what sells well in that location; how many items they’ll purchase, and most importantly, their personal style.
It’s cool to visit all the boutiques and see how they set up their stores, you really get a feel for how each is unique, even though they are all baby boutiques. Some are edgy, some are frilly, some SO pink, some not pink at all - it’s pretty cool.
Back on the topic of getting it all together for the tradeshow; a lot of people are jumping through hoops to make it happen and to make another project happen on top of that; both now with a one week deadline. That’s amazing. And we’re so grateful - really, really, really grateful. There’s still A LOT to pull off on this end, but we’re in motion.
February 1st, 2007
This article on TIME.com was incredibly interesting to me as a small-fry clothing manufacturer / retailer. It gives anyone thinking about going into this industry a lot of food for thought. Mainly how important it is to remain new and innovative, you have to always keep the momentum going, right? It also points out how difficult it is for the big manufacturers to turn on a dime.
Here’s a couple of things that are of importance to us little fish clothing manufacturers:
- Retail stores (esp. specialty boutiques) refresh their floors every six weeks. This means you’ve got to be in there all the time with new stuff to show.
- Don’t fall into the pitfall of too small of a core offering. I think we were in danger of slipping down this slope with our blankets. But, we’re small enough to react and get a fashion line out in time for fall instead of just accessories.
- Pay attention to trends; get out and get inspired!!
There is a lot more you can get out of the Time article if you’re interested. In my opinion, it’s definitely worth a read.
January 30th, 2007
Oh my goodness. Things are moving along, but the time is SO precious being just a few weeks out. I’m starting to feel that crunched “oh boy are we going to make it?” feeling. Heck, at least that feeling kicks me in gear.
I’m also updating the catalog, price sheets, & line sheets today. Because it HAS to get done already. I don’t know what my problem is, I put too much pressure on making it great, or I should say “fabulous”, that I end up with a ton of half-finished stuff. I have to just get it done to the point where I have all of the necessary information on the materials, then worry about making them oh-so-pretty.
I’m crossing my fingers and praying for the fashion line to come together. Running into glitches all along the way, but isn’t this typical? That’s ok. If it comes down to me sewing a few of the samples, I will. It’s actually the fabric that’s a problem. My long-time supplier suddenly decided not to do sample cuts, and frankly, this is crucial to me. We didn’t spend enough $$ with them last year for it to be worth it to them to do some sample cuts. Right, so it’s more worth it to me to “go for it” and hope those colorways sell because my supplier made me buy too much fabric. No, it’s actually worth it for me to spend my time and find someone that will give me sample cuts, so I can actually test the fabric before I invest in it.
But that’s more scurrying around and somehow I always get to o-dark-thirty with too many phone calls I didn’t make. But I can do this. I have some prospective suppliers up in LA and they can get me sample cuts fast. It’s finding something I’m happy with that I’m concerned about.
I could change my plan and offer a lot more of the fashions in one colorway. But I don’t really want to work with that company, and I don’t want to change my plan to suit theirs. How are you ever supposed to start up with them?
So, business hours are about phone calls today. Which makes right now, the kid’s sleeping time, about the print materials. Just get it done.
January 25th, 2007
I am having the hardest time getting ahold of people. It’s that busy-outside-of-work time of year. At least I’m leaving the messages and sticking to my plan. I’m hoping to get a few more boutique appointments before the end of the year, and am also hoping my pattern maker is available sometime soon.
Feeling incredibly overwhelmed today. Don’t even know how to take a step back and figure out where I am. I have a cold and that has me feeling extra knocked down, extra foggy. I think the best thing I could do for myself tonight is to hash out my schedule - based on fall market dates and prioritize my “to do” list. AKA find some sanity.
Hopefully, tomorrow’s post will share the schedule dates I’ve come up with (I also can’t find the one book I need right now that gives me an overview of key dates for the development & production cycle - BOO).
We’re doing KIDShow in February. We’re doing KIDShow in February. We’re doing KIDShow in February. We just need to make it that far.
November 28th, 2006
Everything with the business seems to take so much longer than I think it will. Which means one of my weaknesses is project scheduling / planning. How do you get better at this? The steps I’ve taken are to break my day into segments, so that some time is allotted towards (pretty much) everything. Some marketing, some web updating, some production, some sales, some advertising, and always some designing - at least in the back of my head.
Better balance. A better rythem really. I’m tired of being the mom who’s always late, who forgot this-or-that, or who is just completely out of the loop. This means I need to do more deep breathing and more re-grouping.
Another thing that HAS helped me is to re-fresh my to-do list every night. That buys me a bit of sanity and easy breathing in the mornings. It’s just that it’s the fires that get you. All the stuff that pops up each day that blind-sides you, that you just didn’t see coming.
I need to open my mouth and talk to moms more, because it seems that when I do, I get comfort in a “me too” type of story from them, a story that lets me know I’m maybe not the only one that feels like my head is not attached to my body all the time. I to re-focus a bit and make sure the kids needs are taken care of first first first. Like the thank you notes I STILL need to get out for my daughter’s bday a month ago. I think that I’ll feel better if I’m a little more in control of what’s going on around the house.
I’m writing this here because it’s pretty much the reality of running a business and raising your kids. It’s everything all day long, it’s squeezing in little business tasks while they nap, while they snack, etc. And for how long the days are, I really love what I’m doing.
October 30th, 2006
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