Evolution

As my mother mentioned in her last post, we've been very busy EVOLVING.

evolution - ev-uh-loo-shuhn - noun
1. any process of formation or growth; development
2. a product of such development; something evolved
3. a process of gradual, peaceful, progressive change or development

I should give some background. Before I started this business, I worked for a gift basket company in Madison, WI. I thought it sounded fun, and I had the idea that I could learn the business and maybe start my own someday. Jan and Catherine were the two women who owned it, and they were a dream to work for. Catherine was a very talented trained artist. She handled the creative part of things while Jan took care of the books and the business end.

If you've never been to Madison, it's a phenomonal place to live and work. Aside from being the capital of the state, it's also home to several company's national headquarters. The crime rate is low and so is unemployment. It's very clean, there are bicycle lanes on most of the roads, and an ordinance stating that no building can be taller than the capital building (which is a smaller version of the capital building in Washington, DC). The city sits on an isthmus between 2 lakes and someone had the forthought to allow for a lot of green space (urban planning - what concept!) It's beautiful. More importantly, the economy is thriving, which makes it a perfect city to have a corporate gift basket service in.

Anyway, I digress......I learned a lot about the business while I was there, and a few years later I made the decision to move back home to Syracuse. Jan and Catherine encouraged me to start my own gift basket business. They pointed out that I had at least dabbled in most aspects of running the business during my time with them, and we wouldn't be competing geographically. They even offered to mentor me when I got started.

It took a couple of years before I launched my own business. I had actually started with a tiny part-time venture in 1998 and called it Gift Basket Express. When I began thinking about putting up a website, I quickly discovered that there were at least 4 or 5 other companies with that name, both gift basket services and wholesale suppliers. I certainly didn't want to be confused with them, so Syracuse Gift Basket Company was born in July of 2000.

I was so grateful to have the skills and the knowledge I learned from Jan and Catherine, that for a long time I didn't even consider doing anything differently. After being in business for a few years I became more comfortable with my own abilities, and every once in a while I would stumble across a better way to do something. An "Aha moment", if you will. "Aha moments" serve an important purpose - they smack you out of your complacency about the way you run your business. I also find it useful to remind myself that Jan and Catherine's business has certainly evolved too - I'm sure they aren't doing things exactly as they did when I worked there 10 years ago.

I was talking to my friend, Dr. Mike Morris recently about my business. Dr. Morris is one of the most brilliant people I know, and he runs the Entrepreneurship department at the Whitman School of Management up at SU. I value his insight immensely. I mentioned that I was thinking about what my next business venture might be. He expressed disappointment that I seemed to be giving up on Syracuse Gift Basket. Why are you giving up? When was the last time you took a risk?, he asked.

It dawned on me that losing your passion isn't just something that happens to couples. It's also what happens to entrepreneurs who have fought their way through a business start-up, battled cash flow problems and unethical competitors, made inventory and advertising mistakes, and ended up exhausted and burned out.

Mike brought up Cordia Harrington, who was a keynote speaker at WISE last year. She owns the Tennesee Bun Company, which supplies the hamburger buns to Chili's, KFC, Ruby Tuesdays and McDonalds. Cordia started from nothing, and has built her business into a multi-million dollar empire. She was also warm and funny and very down to earth, and she calls herself "The Bun Lady". She had our audience of 500 absolutely enthralled. One of the things she said stuck with me:

“Without the disappointments in our lives, we can’t appreciate the good times. Instead of spending energy being disappointed, use that energy to take yourself to the next level. There is not an easy path for an entrepreneur. You will have huge problems. Persist. Have PASSION."

Mike said, "You could be the next "Bun Lady". You could be THAT successful. You have already laid the groundwork, and your movie opportunity could change everything - so don't give up!" And he's right - we've invested too much into this to give up now.

So, instead of giving up we're EVOLVING. Reinventing ourselves, or maybe just refining what we're already doing. We're looking at the things that aren't working well in our business and looking for ways to make them better. Our design changes will be obvious, but we're also revamping a lot of our internal systems.

Our biggest competitor is Wine Country Gift Baskets. They are a national company based in California, they have a huge presence on the web and they also mail out slick color catalogs - to EVERYONE. Most of the bigger corporate accounts we have are companies who have been using either them or Harry & David. These are the companies we keep an eye on. Not to copy what they are doing, but to do what they can't do - or do what they are doing and do it better. On my trip to the west coast this summer I happened to meet a gentleman at the Buffalo aiport who is a consultant for - you guessed it, Wine Country Gift Baskets. He helps them do more with less at their call centers. I hadn't really thought about the fact that they are big enough to need call centers, but I guess it isn't surprising. It did make me pause, though. One key to competing with them is to keep the personal touch as you grow. There is nothing personal about a call center! So how do you connect with your customers on a personal level as you get bigger? It's something we're pondering as we continue to EVOLVE......