There's Always Something To Do!

You might think that with a seasonal product, once the weather heats up, there's not much to do. NOT SO!

We have a trade show in September that we have no display for. We have magazines to promote to, and it may already be too late. I'm still gonna send the samples though, because you just never know. We have companies that have expressed an interest and asked us to send a sample even though it's too late for this fall. I have to pull together the data for a press kit and we still need good pictures of the final product, on the hang tag for web sales (ours and retailers). We need to figure out how people can "size" our gloves for their little ones hands and inmplement that into the web site. We are revamping the look of our web site so there attention needed there and I haven't even touched on the administrative stuff (bookkeeping, updating the database, inventory, etc.).

Just when you think you can settle in and take a break, think again! There's always something to do! What are the things you found to do that you didn't expect would take so much time?

Entrepreneurial Generosity

Entrepreneurs are some of the most generous people. In the last year I've met many people who are bringing products to market or running their own businesses. The one thing that seems to be true with all of them is that they want to share what they do. They share their knowledge, their expertise, their network of friends and associates, and their products. Part of the desire to share comes from wanting people to know and love what they do. The other factor is the pride they feel in their product and/or service.

I understand this because I find that I want to give away gloves to anyone who helps me that has small children. I don't have very many pair to sell this first season, let alone give away, but I sure want to! I want people to know what Dave and I created and that our product will solve their problem. There is a sense of pride and accomplishment that comes with each mile stone. I know I can't give away as many pair of gloves as I'd like to...yet! But the day will come when I can donate, give back, and share our product with everyone we want! Smiling!

I'm Camping!

Even us hard working mompreneurs need a break! I'm camping with a big group of friends and will be back on Monday. I'll see you all on Wednesday, June 24th! I hope you are doing something fun, too!

How Do You Pay For It?

How do you pay for your business? It takes money to make money and it certainly takes money to launch a product. We did okay getting the ball rolling, but now we have product ordered and need to pay for two trade shows, a booth, travel expenses, and anything else that crops up.

I know people who have relatives who foot the bill, and others use credit cards. The days of home equity are long gone for most, and banks aren't making business loans nearly as easily as they used to. So what do you do?

I'm pretty creative when it comes to fund raising. When Dave and I were planning our wedding, we got a donation of a weekend vacation and sold raffle tickets. We made over $800 and that was almost enough to pay the caterer. Yes, we got off cheap! Our friends all rallied and provided their professional services either at their cost, or in several cases, as our wedding gift. It was wonderful. When Dave was in Iraq, I got big name musicians to autograph a guitar and then the local morning DJs would auction it off for me. This money paid for shipping of hundreds of boxes of CDs and DVDs to our troops.

Have you ever sought out a creative fund raising solution? I would love to know how you raise money to make your business fly.

I Call It The "RLF"

I missed a day this week. For all best efforts planning, I found myself buried in tasks that on average, all took more than twice the amount of time I had planned. When I look at my list and what's still not done, I have to attribute it to the "RLF," or the Real Life Factor. It's the stuff in your real life, that interrupts the life we really want to be living. You know what I mean, actually calling the friends you truly want to get together with and researching the classes you want to take at the local college this summer.

I followed through yesterday and called a friend who our family loves to hang out with. We haven't seen each other since last September because the RLF has been in the way for both our families. If not school schedules, work schedules, out of town visits with family, or realizing a press kit is much more information than originally thought, it's something else that must take precedence.

I'm giving myself a break and not feeling like I need to publish a post just so Wednesday isn't left bare. Whatever! Laughing. Real life is that some days blogs don't get updated, and that's okay. Now that's the RLF!