The Big Game I am talking about is actually a metaphor for several craft shows coming up in my life involving my business. I know I have talked about craft shows ad nauseum lately, but it is what is keeping the hope alive in the finance office at preschool that I will actually pay my bill this month. This weekend is the big Holiday Craft Show in Fairfax, VA. Rumor on the street among the hair bow people is that it is the biggest local show of the year (two weeks from now it is the famed Bizarre Bazaar in Richmond, VA).

I would once again like to say that it is amazing that I am able to keep this business going let alone successful since I always seem to be out of the loop. My husband says it is only because I have a kick-ass product. LOL. So now scandal of all scandals, I find myself a late entry into a craft show that is supposedly IMPOSSIBLE to join if you haven’t signed up 8 months in advance. Who knew? I applied and got in. I’m not complaining. But now the work begins. What to bring this weekend?

People often ask me to identify my big sellers. I would GUESS that my Mommy needs a cocktail tee is PROBABLY the best seller if you looked at sales over the year, but any given day is a toss up. I had a Mommy Needs a Cocktail Party two weeks ago and, are you ready for this, only had three items with multiple orders (different sizes) in orders for 45 shirts. Um, hmm. On the one hand, I’m pleased to see that my range of products is well-liked. On the other hand, it makes preparing for a craft show nearly impossible.

My ability to keep my costs to a minimum is based predominantly on my made-to-order manufacturing. I purchase 12 large blank brown tees. You order a “Mommy Needs a Beer” tee in size large. I go to my basement at 10 p.m. and screen print your tee. The next day someone orders a “Mommy Needs a Latte” tee in brown, size large. No worries about having to commit to a certain style in one size because everyone this month wears a size large for whatever reason and all I have to do is print them up as I go. Next month might be Super Small Mommy Needs a Margarita month.

Craft shows are different. You are selling on demand. The joy for the crowd is instant gratification for a purchase and a reduced price. The trouble is, what is the crowd going to buy? I’m stuck taking an “educated” guess and printing up some of everything. Maybe I won’t sell that margarita tee but maybe someone will order it online soon. Sure I can take orders at the craft show but my joy is instant payment for a purchase and unloading tees that I have already made. That and we find ourselves back to square one with the customer’s joy being instant gratification of the purchase in hand.

These are the troubles of expansion. Sure my decisions would be much simpler if I was back to my days of 10 products, but now I have broadened my range of appeal. And let’s just not even talk about how the heck this 6-month pregnant woman is going to lug all of this stuff to and from this weekend. This small business stuff is no piece of cake.

Today I set out to get the kids to work for me, rather than against me. You know how I am constantly pulling the kids out of vats of ink while I try to screen print? It hasn’t been very effective. Instead I have decided to include them in my tasks. I’m not saying I am brilliant or anything, but I am pretty happy at the results. Okay, I’m brilliant.

1. I found things for the kids to do. As long as you don’t care about the position or straightness of that stamp on the package, kids are great at applying postage. Sure an upside down stamp means “I love you” but isn’t that good for business to be spreading the love? My kids also like to put the tees in the packages. I set them up in a safe, clean space and keep an eye on any folding that may cause unnecessary wrinkles (if you got a wrinkled shirt in your order, SORRY!!)

2. Take a break. Sometimes giving your kids just a few minutes of your focused attention may be enough to fill their needs for “mom time” and they just might let you get some work done too. I spent about 30 minutes wrestling on the floor with the kids and then they were off to their room to play some game involving a box. It was a very elaborate game. I got work done. YAY!!!!!

3. Make it fun if you can. If you get wrapped up in getting things done, sometimes it can take 10 times as long to get it done. I’ll admit that sometimes I have the kids take the packages out one by one to the mailbox. They think it’s hilarious to be running back and forth and I think it’s hilarious that they are getting worn out.

Sometimes it works trying to get the kids involved in your business and sometimes it doesn’t. But when it does, it’s a good day for mom.

1. Know your audience. If the buyers of your products have always been online but online sales are dipping, maybe you need to consider selling local. Or maybe the reverse applies. There may be other ways to expand your audience. I started with maternity tees. Small audience, right? Buying time is roughly 3-4 months for women buying for themselves (from 4 months to around 7 or 8 months) and perhaps a month longer for the consumer buying for the pregnant person. Once I expanded my line to moms, dads, aunts, grandmas, nanas and kids, I blew my audience wide open. I still appear to have limited myself by using the word “Mommy” (which appears to generally refer to mothers of small children) but “Mom needs a cocktail” doesn’t even remotely have the same ring as “Mommy Needs a Cocktail.” Branching out to Mommy Needs a Cocktail Parties also widened my audience to all those people who like to host product parties. It expanded my business because it got my products out to people who would not necessary have known about them at a relatively low cost to me. Providing party discounts and perks for hostesses encouraged higher (and immediate) sales.
2. Make adjustments. Figure out ways to save money in your business and decide what measures you can take. The number one way for me to cut overhead costs in my business would be to lower the quality of my tees. I use what are arguably some of the most expensive tees on the market today. People would probably still buy my tees if I used a tee that wasn’t as soft. I choose, however, to stay with my product choices. I now either have to chase rising prices of products with raising my prices, lower my profit margin or come up with some other way to make up the difference. I’m still working on my solution. I know a woman who makes gorgeous handmade paper bag scrapbooks. Her answer was to cut back on the number of pages she added in her books. Not one person noticed or complained. The cost-savings made up for the increase in materials prices but she didn’t need to raise her prices beyond her target price point.
3. Make realistic goals for the long-term. I have lost a ridiculous amount of money from my retirement fund thanks to the tanking of the economy. I am not alone. But you know what? I can’t retire for 30 years and to be honest with you, my retirement account grew a ridiculous amount during the tech boom. I put it all in perspective. I’m losing the fake money I made in the late ’90’s. The economy will rebound (sooner or later, depending on decisions made in Congress) but it will rebound. I’m young enough to ride this out because I don’t have all my eggs in one basket. If retirement is right around the corner, you might not have the same flexibility. Your choices may be more difficult than mine. Sit down and map it out. Last year may have been a banner year for sales but making 10% less this year might not be as big a deal if you are no longer paying off a piece of equipment.
4. Don’t be arrogant. You may have been one of the first people to think up this creative idea, but realize that most ideas can be copied or even improved. Someone might be able to do your job better than you can do it. How often as a mom are you explaining to your children that there will always be someone who is taller or who can run faster or who is smarter. What is important is that you do your best. The same applies to you. There are some things you can do to protect your ideas (copyright, trademark). Places like Law.com have great resources for your questions about some of these. Sometimes your business isn’t copycat proof. There might be five vendors at a craft show selling similar-looking jewelry. What is different about your business that makes you stand out or would make someone want to buy from you? Developing personal relationships, having competitive pricing and providing excellent customer service can make the difference between the sale going to you or going to the person beside you. You can also seek out situations where you are the exclusive vendor of your product category.
5. You gotta know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em. This is probably one of the toughest decisions you have to make. If and when to close your business is a tough decision. It’s like playing the stock market or the housing market. Everyone wants to buy low and sell high. If you are forced to close your business, doing it before it causes lasting financial hardship is probably your best bet. It is a lot easier said than done.

Only you know if you are going to make it through these tough times. Hang in there and make decisions with your head instead of your heart. Once again, easier said than done.

Things have been really hectic around here lately. Between online sales, wholesale orders and craft shows, I don’t seem to have a spare minute in my day. Of course, I have that whole parenting thing going on too. Those two kids? That baby in my belly? I’m just rolling along here.

But I think my husband is about to divorce me. Seriously. If I had to be honest, my priorities before today:

1. Work
2. Writing
3. Kids
4. Husband
5. ……
6. ……
7. Housework

Messed up, right? So I decided to make my husband happy today. I turned off the computer. I turned off the cell phone. I got the heavy-duty equipment out and I cleaned the kitchen. I maintain they are foolish to make either a bathroom or a kitchen that does not come with a floor slanted to the middle and a high-pressure hose. Wouldn’t that be awesome? Then I did all those loads of laundry (who remembered that’s the pattern on the laundry room floor).

The kids helped me do the laundry, we had lots of great conversation and at the end of the day, I didn’t really fall too far behind in my work. My husband came home and he has clean underwear. My marriage survives another day.

No, wait. You didn’t think I did something really fun on my day off, did you?

Today is commercial day. But it isn’t political, so you can breathe easy.

Every once in a while someone will contact me about sending me something free to review. I like it when it’s something fun (like a car) or something that I can use (a printer). Since lots of my business revolves around printing, faxing, copying, ect. beyond the standard office stuff (invoicing, ordering), I was excited to see what the Epson could do.

Is this where I confess that I am loyal to a certain competitor of Epson? The competitor whose all-in-one I purchased just six months (thanks to the sale at the big box store), which insists on uninstalling itself every time I boot up? Maybe I am starting from a bitter place with this review. I mean, this Epson printer will be ahead of the game if the software just stays installed.

It did stay installed. And it works like a charm. I may have switched loyalties, is all I’m saying. You crafty people? This might be one for you. I make all of my magnets that I sell at the festivals and craft fairs and this printer kicked them out and the quality was rocking. You can make all manner of cards and can turn photos into coloring paper. I know that lots of printers have fun little things these days but for once, I don’t need a 200 page manual to figure it out. The huge 7.8″ touchscreen panel makes it easy to find everything (especially for a pregnant woman who can’t find her own, well, you know). It’s idiot-proof. But what about the pictures?

Epson is renown for having vibrant colors on photos. This printer boast Ultra HD photos. Rather than finding a technical explanation for you, I will just tell you that means your photo of your child actually looks like your child. Go all crazy and print up pictures of flowers that look better than the ones you took. Thank heaven for corrective software, right? And the printer has corrective software. I wish I had this printer two months ago when I printed up photos of all the kids in Ethan’s class and made the photos into magnets for a school fundraiser. Maybe I’m just a photo snob but I want my blues to be blue. With 35,000 pictures sitting on my hard drive, my mother-in-law may not need to keep bringing those yard sale 1970’s pictures of dead presidents to hang on my wall anymore.

Downsides? It is the exact same complaint I have with the last three printers I have purchased (okay, I buy printers. It’s cheaper than jewelry, right?) The ink cartridges are small. In Epson’s defense, all the competitors have this same problem. I have instituted the same product-saving measures I have in the past. Using the draft setting on unimportant printed docs. I’m saving up the ink for important things (like transparencies for my screen printing or an 8″ x 10″ matte black and white of me and the Mister on our wedding day).

So if you are in the market for an all-in-one that has great features (including the ultimate lazy feature, Wi-Fi–Yay!!!!!!) and can actually print up a gorgeous photo, you may want to check out the Epson Artisan 800. Retails for $299.99.

But craft shows? Welcome to the mother lode.

You read that right. Craft shows. Your town has a fall festival? Chances are that festival has vendors. Ranging from the size of the event, you can pay as little as $25 for a table at a local elementary school. The top end I have seen is $1050 for a two-day wine event. That seems like so much money but people were paying $85 to wine taste for only 4 hours. If you are willing to pay $85 to attend an event, you probably will not balk at paying $25 for a t-shirt.

Events in my town seem to average about $150 for a day-long festival with a standard 10 feet by 10 feet space. Outdoor festivals might require a tent (a nominal one time cost of $150 for a tent you can use forever, as opposed to renting a tent for $150 every time) . Seems like it is adding up, right? You would be surprised how much you can sell at a Holiday Fair if you have a great product. I know a girl that has been known to sell $2,000 in one day selling $2.50 hair bows. How crazy is that? Everyone is making hair bows these days but this girl is clearly onto something.

If you decide to embrace the crazy life of craft shows, don’t fall into the comparison trap. Set your own goals and ignore the fact that The Soap Guy just made $4,000 selling… soap. Your goal is to “make booth” (the cost of the event, including incidentals such as table rentals, ect.) and whatever your time is worth. Some days your time is worth more than others. On the days the credit card bill is due, your time might be coincidentally worth your minimum payment.

I reduce my prices at craft shows from my online prices to encourage people to buy now. My friend Wendy doesn’t and does just fine. I also try out new color schemes or unload products that just aren’t selling online. When your sales are predominantly online, it is sometimes cost-prohibitive to add surplus product to your online site to try to get rid of it. I did a show this weekend and had at least four people say they saw that I was going to be there and that they were looking for me. Yay, repeat customers!!!

Craft shows aren’t for every product but you don’t know unless you try.

I listened to the partisan politics. Both sides screaming that the people should be getting the bailout, not the financial institutions. I’m not sure exactly how that would happen but wouldn’t that be awesome? A check in the mail for around $ 4,000 to every taxpayer?

I began to argue with my husband about the reasoning for the bailout. I mean, if my business goes under, there is no one to bail me out. With no expectations that the government is going to hand me a blank check, I make careful decisions. If my decisions are wrong, then it’s on me. My husband said that without money, the banks would have no money to loan. Money to loan to whom? Because I couldn’t get a small business loan a year ago and I’m pretty sure I couldn’t get one now. Sure I could if I wanted to use my house as collateral. No, wait. They didn’t want to do that either.

Where is the bailout money going? LOANS TO OTHER BANKS. Not small business owners who have, since the beginning of time, kept the economy going. It’s clear the banks were giving out lots of money to people who couldn’t pay it back. I understand that the amount of small businesses that fail is not insignificant, but I’m having a problem common to lots of small business owners. I have a cash flow problem. I have lots of orders but I won’t get paid until my orders ship. For big orders, I have to ship the product and then the customer has 30 days to pay.

It is moments like this that I hate my friend Wendy. She sells the most adorable hooded kids towels that she makes herself. It takes her tons of time to do, but she only has to buy around 6 different colored towels. Me? 20 sizes, 7 styles, dozens of sayings, and the colors. Oh, the colors. And there are minimums to purchase if I want to keep my costs manageable. The plus with this business was doing my own printing so I could print as I get orders. The thing is, with my expansion came more inventory. But with all these orders, I keep running out of tees. As in, needing only one more. That means I am buying 12 to cover one.

Let’s not even discuss the order I will need to make with my manufacturer to replenish my pregnancy tees. We’re moving from minimums of 12 to minimums of 500. I guess I’ll just be hoping to find yet a little more room on the credit card to cover me yet again. If Congress wants to stimulate the economy, how about taking a chance on small business owners who can clearly pay the money back?

It seems that while I took my 4 minutes to make lunch, The Baby took his 4 minutes to rapidly rip as many keys off my keyboard as he could before he got busted. That would be over 30. To say that I cried would be a mild understatement. This was my laptop that we couldn’t afford but that my husband said I needed because of all the trouble the kids would get into when I went downstairs to use the desktop. The desktop that is about 20 seconds away from the blue screen of death.

Thus the low-end laptop with which I am in love. Sure it has no software on it and it’s last year’s technology. But by golly, the felony rate has gone down rapidly around here. Until today. Thing is, I knew he had it in him. He had just done it to an old broken laptop he found in the closet two weeks ago. I knew better.

I knew better. I should be happy though. At around this age, his brother decided to take a hit off a Costco-size bottle of children’s vitamins. He ate 50 in 4 minutes. At least this didn’t require an ER trip. So I have spent the last 2 hours doing surgery on my laptop. I re-attached 25 keys. That’s good, right? I didn’t get one thing done that I needed to get done and now I just want to cry in a beer. The beer I can’t have because I am pregnant. Oh, the joys of the work-at-home-mom. Whose idea was this anyway?

So I will make my apologies for whining about success, accept that the day will come at some point of this business where I am saying, “remember that time I was complaining that I had TOO much work to do? WOW, do I wish I had that problem now!!!” and move on to getting my life in order.

And realizing that the only way I am going to get through the day is to set out all my tasks and knock them out one by one. Personally I think it would better to just lie down on the couch in The Defeat of the Overwhelmed, heralded by moose track popcorn and a can of high fructose corn syrup-laced Pepsi. Because when you have your own business, you can just rely on your employees to be responsible and get things done. No, wait. You don’t HAVE any employees. Well, you have Susie Sunshine but she doesn’t count because she is at the end of the earth in Michigan so it’s not like she’s coming any time soon to screen print.

She can be bossy about business from afar though. She was back on her list rampage when I called to tell her that I wasn’t managing to get anything done at all. She reminded me that if I make a list and I just complete one task, I fill find energy and motivation I didn’t know I even had. Brilliant, right?

Sometimes finishing one little task on your list will energize you enough to cruise right through the rest of the list. If it does nothing else, the list gives you a sense of satisfaction when you can cross something off and gives you a sense of closure when you complete it. I think I’ll just be ignoring the fact that my list is two pages long. You can’t let it bring you down.

Things went really slow on Sunday. And Monday. I was starting to wonder if this was a big mistake and that maybe I was throwing my money away being at this show. My husband gave me the “you will never know if you don’t try it” speech and I started to rally by Monday afternoon. Then Nora came by.

Nora said she had received one of my post cards in the mail and then she was really excited to check out my line. She said she was on her way to an association meeting in the morning. She loved my stuff and asked if she could perhaps borrow the big ticket sellers to show to her meeting of 140 other independent buyers the next morning. They have a little “competition” between them about who has found the newest hot item. I looked at the time. It was 4:15 and the day wasn’t over until 6:00. Coughing up my “My mom doesn’t want your advice” with an hour and 45 minutes to go would be a BIG sacrifice. I only had one with me and what if someone came by and it wasn’t there to show them?

She mentioned that she wanted to win the informal competition. Then I wanted to Nora to win too. I gave her two shirts and wished her luck.

I mentioned this to someone at the show and suddenly I got the back story I didn’t know. Apparently this “competition” is a huge deal. Apparently the members of this association wear a pink button that lets vendors identify them. Vendors attack them, trying to get them to take their products to the meeting. The person that won last year? Her vendor got her products in 35 stores that year. She said it changed her whole business.

Guess who won? Guess who added 4 stores yesterday that don’t even carry clothing right now? They are furniture stores. But they just had to have the latest and greatest and this year it turns out that is me.

I was clueless. I just wanted to help out Nora. Turns out Nora is already changing my world. Somehow I think I’m getting the better deal.