Saturday, August 26, 2006

The Waiting Game


Patience is a virtue I've managed to acquire over the years, but waiting for our movie and television debut is a whole other thing! It's something akin to waiting for Santa Claus to visit again on the day after Christmas. Fortunately business is taking the expected upturn after the late summer doldrums, and checks for our larger summer projects have arrived (cash is always welcome!) We're continually looking for ways to evolve, and the Twenty Great Gifts-for-Hollywood Experience has jump-started a fresh look at our designs and packaging. Our creativity under fire resulted in 20 original upscale gifts that we loved, so we're incorporating some of these ideas into our everyday and holiday designs. And while we've always been careful about shipping, we're using a new packaging process that insures our gifts will arrive in picture-perfect condition every time (without those hateful and eco-unfriendly packing peanuts!) It's all part of The Big Game Plan we've put into motion since Tricia chose our company for this once-in-a-lifetime, believe-it-or-not product placement. We intend to be ready, if and when we have the opportunity to morph into a national entity. Just waiting patiently(???) for those movie stills, and Santa Claus!

Sunday, August 20, 2006

Emily Blunt


One of the baskets we sent to Los Angeles has found it's way to young up and coming actress Emily Blunt, most recently seen in "The Devil Wears Prada".

We received a phone call last week from Wendy Finerman Productions in LA. They had one of our gifts in their office, but the message card had gotten separated from the gift. They loved the basket, but weren't sure if it was meant for Ms. Finerman's birthday the previous week or if it was intended for someone else.

I did some detective work and discovered that we hadn't shipped anything directly to her, so it was probably one of the 20 gifts we sent out for "The Great Buck Howard" a few weeks ago. Wendy Finerman is a producer, with movies such as "Forrest Gump", "Sugar & Spice", "Drumline", "StepMom" and "The Devil Wears Prada" to her credit. I explained the situation with the gifts, and Wendy's assistant deduced that since Emily had just signed on to star in the movie that the gift was probably intended for her. Mystery solved!

I should say that I'm not really one to be star-struck. Thanks to one friend who works for a major record label and another who was a photographer for Modern Drummer, I spent some time back stage at more than a few big rock concerts when I was younger. After watching the members of a very famous hair band (well, it WAS the 80's) playing with remote control cars backstage, I concluded at a pretty young age that famous actors and musicians aren't much different from us....except for the fact that they're famous.

But - THIS whole story amazes me. I haven't completely accepted that our gifts and someone wearing our uniform will be appearing in a Tom Hanks movie. We also just shipped out 2 gift baskets that went directly to the set of one of the most popular shows on TV. I know it to be true, but it feels totally unreal.

My friend Laura made the comment that nothing is harder to digest than a big, fat slice of good luck - and I think she's right. We've been working so hard to make this business successful, and it's been an uphill battle. Having an opportunity this big seems pretty improbable. What's next - is Ashton Kutcher going to jump out and tell me that I've been Punk'd?

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Sunday, August 13, 2006

On the Road


Sunday we decided to get out of Dodge for the day. Just a couple of hours west on the Thruway to The Enchanted Florist, for a crash course in shrinkwrap. Us, the No-Shrinkwrap-Ever Queens...whodathunkit?
Our friend Betsy, the floral diva graciously offered to give us a lesson. Wrangling miles of plastic wrap with a heat gun may not seem like a fun way to spend Sunday afternoon, but our need is great.

The holidays and gi-normous mountains of shipping are looming large in Basketland, and we've decided to make some changes. And of course there are those gifts for the previously mentioned "unnamed tv show". They need to be picture perfect, and out the door this week.

So, we put a positive spin on the day and made the best of it! Four hours of travel equals four hours of uninterrupted holiday strategizing... no phones and no pesky baskets to make. We conjured up our Christmas pre-book order on Saturday, with only the vaguest of design ideas floating around. We tried to ignore the absolutely best summer day ever whizzing by outside the van windows, and focus focus focus on those elusive snowmen and jingle bells. Betsy took us to her shop and it's beautiful...we loved her designs and the fact that her ribbon wall looks just like ours! We're pretty sure if we joined forces , we could rule the world, or at least our little corner of it. The shrinkwrap lesson was helpful, but almost anti-climatic after the tour and all of the shop talk with Betsy and Ron. (Ron is The Supportive Husband we sometimes wish we had...but really only sometimes.) We wolfed down a quick lunch and headed back home, confident that we'll be "shrinking" with the best of them in no time!

Friday, August 11, 2006

WHICH television show???????


I just got another call from Tricia, and she wants us to send her some gift baskets to be used on a television show she's working on. I really don't watch a lot of TV, but it happens to be my most favorite show - how cool is that?

I have to say, I wouldn't have ever imagined that Hollywood product placement would be a tool we would be using to publicize our business...but I'm not complaining! In between planning for our "make or break" 4th quarter, I'm laying the groundwork for our PR campaign. I've started sending out press releases, and I got a nice email back from Amy Robbins, the fun and fabulous radio personality from 93Q. She is interested in doing an on-air interview when the release date of the movie gets a little closer. It's a good start, but I've still got lots of work to do. This is a phenomenal opportunity, but nobody is dropping a million dollar contract in our laps - it's completely up to us to work every angle and make the most of it.

I'm reminded of Peggy Pointkowski, the founder of Sassy Scrubs. They were a local company that produced fun patterned nurse's scrubs, and they sent samples to the producers of "ER" back when it first came out. Peggy parlayed that into a ton of media coverage, including a mention in the National Enquirer. And (as she likes to say) - she got to touch George Clooney.

We're trying to come up with some creative promotional ideas for our "movie debut". I've mentioned having a screening at the Palace Theatre (which is a beautifully restored historic theatre right in our neighborhood), but I want to make it even more of an event - maybe have a drawing for a super-sized gift basket displayed in the lobby, or a fun give-away to the first 50 people in the door. We could rent a red carpet and stanchions to put at the entrance of the theatre. I was also thinking we could offer a special discount for anyone who comes in with a ticket stub from the film and we may design a line of gifts that are the same as the ones that will be seen in the movie.

Now we've got the television show coming up too. It will air this fall, long before the movie is released - which is a good thing, because patience is NOT a virtue I am blessed with . It opens up other possiblities to tie into that. We'll announce the details as soon as we have them....

We're looking for any and all suggestions, so send us your comments and ideas - the crazier the better! I read "Buzzmarketing" on the flight out to LA a few weeks ago, and it was truly inspiring. The author, Mark Hughes, was involved in the launch of Half.com, and they did some really creative things to get people talking about their company - including renaming a small town from "Halfway" to "Half.com" (which scored incredible media coverage), advertising on urinal screens and on the little peanut bags that NYC street venders sell. The company was bought out by eBay for a VERY nice sum. No, I don't think urinal screens are the right place for us to put our name - but you get the idea. We'll award PRIZES for the best ideas we receive.

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

My two or maybe three cents...


Before Julie posted her last entry, we discussed how much we REALLY wanted to tell. We agreed that to fully understand and appreciate the impact of our most recent Great Good Fortune, you'd have to know where we were coming from. From outward appearances, I'm sure you would imagine that we were a successful little company, wouldn't you? In many ways, as Julie has said, we are. BUT, the financial struggles and personal sacrifices we have made, (and continue to make) would curl your toes!!! Working full-time on our business and retiring from nursing is my dream, but the truth is that the business barely supports Julie. We have fallen back on my income to fill in the financial gaps, on more occasions than I can count...cashflow issues are an ongoing NIGHTMARE! On most days I work at the store from 10-2:30, and on to the hospital for another 8 hours. In the meantime, Julie puts in an equal number of hours trying to keep the business running smoothly. This doesn't include our time away from the store, spent planning, doing paperwork, and web updates. Bottom line...lots of work for little money. This is NOT a business not for the faint of heart! Ask anyone who's trying to do it. We've held on by our fingernails, putting our time in until we hit the magical sales figure that makes it all work. We're constantly streamlining our operation, we've ramped up our marketing efforts and we're hoping that The Great Buck Howard is the key to making it all happen.

Monday, August 07, 2006

Isn't it ironic...


So here is the irony in all of this - we were seriously contemplating the fate of the business when our "opportunity of a lifetime" came up. Let me give you a little background.

Everyone in the world thinks that running a gift basket business should be a blast. While there is definitely a "fun factor" involved in designing the gifts, it's really a pretty difficult business model. Consider this - the profit margin on a gift basket is roughly 50%, and the average gift is about $50. Don't forget you'll need to deliver and ship the gifts. You can make a small profit on local deliveries and UPS shipping, but you might only break even (especially with the price of gas rising exponentially). Most - if not all - of your gifts will be ordered via phone or internet, so a percentage of your sales right off the top will go to credit card fees, and you will pay a higher rate because the cards are not present. You'll need to carry a generous selection of inventory, and this will change based on holidays, best selling themes and seasons. Add to it the fact that most GB businesses do 1/3 to 3/4 of their annual revenue in the last 6-8 weeks of the year (stop and think about that for a minute!). This means that your sales are not spread out nicely through the year, allowing you to process them with minimal extra help - it means they are crammed into a brief, chaotic holiday season requiring an army of extra help....further cutting into profits. Sounds fun, doesn't it?

We've been in business for 6 years and grown at a steady pace - 20-30% each year. We have a showroom in a very visible location and customers all over the world. Our sales figures put us at middle to high range in the industry - more than most, but definitely not in the big leagues yet. I'm becoming convinced there is no "middle class" in this business. I think you can be profitable when you are small and homebased, keeping your overhead to a minimum. But unless you have a significant portion of your home dedicated to your business (or you're lucky enough to rent space only when you need it) you'll need to relocate when you hit around $100,000 in sales and outgrow your spare bedroom/dining room table/basement. Now you've got rent and everything else that comes with it. After that it's pretty tough going until you approach the half million mark, because you'll need a certain amount of square footage to produce $250,000 in sales, but you're not earning enough to smooth out the seasonality. Obviously everyone's circumstances are different, but it's really hard..... even when you have a clue what you are doing going into it.

So why does everyone think it's a great idea for a business? Even in my economically depressed neck of the woods there are new basket businesses popping up all the time...although it's telling that at least 3 of them closed last year. For one thing, the barriers of entry are really low - you can start one out of your house, for less than $1000, and it doesn't require any special training. For another, it tends to attract right-brain types (and I include myself in this catagory) who think it will be a great use of their creative energy, but don't look too closely at the numbers. You don't get a clear picture of how difficult it is to make living at it until it's too late. (DUH!)

So...we've arrived at year 6 and we're taking stock of the situation. We had sales goals we needed to reach this year, and quite frankly, we just didn't hit them. We are still growing and we've acheived a great reputation in our area. We have an impressive roster of corporate customers we do business with and the feedback we get is amazing. Our clients tell us pretty regularly that we are fantastic and they are so grateful to have a service like ours right here in Syracuse. I get a huge amount of personal satisfaction from creating beautiful gifts that put a smile on people's faces, and owning this business has given me opportunities I couldn't have imagined a few years ago. Still - I'm a single parent with a deadbeat ex. My mother has been divorced for more than 20 years. This isn't a hobby, and neither of us has the luxury of a spouse (I know all my married friends are laughing themselves silly at that phrase) to pick up the slack financially while we struggle through this particular phase of the business.

Unfortunately it just hasn't grown fast enough. We're out of resources and we have to make some hard choices - do we switch to a "Christmas only"model, and close the rest of the year? What would I do for the rest of the year? Do we sell the whole business, or just the inventory? And now we have this crazy-ass wild card in the mix - our MOVIE DEBUT next year! It has the potential to change everything...... or nothing.

We're looking at ways to close the gap between where we are and where we need to be. The Buck Howard project could provide the exposure that will push us to the next level, so we're brainstorming ways to maximize it. We'll be running promotions and specials to tie into the movie and I'm talking to the Palace Theatre about holding a special screening party when the movie is released in July 2007. My very cool pals Kathy Dwyer and Stephanie Salanger of the TAG Group have offered to help with PR, and they are the local gurus of public relations. The national exposure along with our increased online visibility should make us less dependent on the local economy, but that remains to be seen.

In light of the new developments, we're going to stick with it through the holiday season and certainly until the movie is released next summer. If we manage to pull our butts out of the fire, it will make one hell of a come-back story.....stay tuned.

Friday, August 04, 2006

We're not in Kansas anymore


Okay, now that we've emerged from the twilight zone of the past couple of weeks, where exactly are we? Adrenalin and euphoria are gradually giving way to reality, and the dead zone of August.

The holiday pre-book order with our major vendor is due in less than 10 days. We need to design our holiday gifts, choose components, and pick delivery dates in October, November, and December, based on how much product we will need and when. ESP would be helpful here. We'd settle for having our heads back on straight.

Visions of sugar plums are hard to come by in the heat of August (100 degrees?) With heads full of Hollywood dreams this year, it's a challenge! Since the trip to the west coast, it's been tough reeling ourselves back in...but we're getting there. Gearing up for the holidays when we do 4-5 times normal business requires every brain cell we can muster, and Julie is the master mind. I'm the Go To Girl/Partner/Mom...TRYING to be the voice of reason. Did I mention that I've been wild about Tom Hanks since 1904 (forever!) Sugar plums, sugar plums, sugar plums...