Sometimes you just gotta laugh
For all of you that are new to my blog, this is not your traditional business blog where I write articles that offer my “expert” opinion on different topics etc… (Although I do do that from time to time as it is a wonderful marketing tool and a fantastic way to get out valuable information) This is the real deal, nitty gritty, down and dirty tell it like it is truth about everything involved in having a light bulb moment one fine day, manufacturing a product and bringing it to market. I hope it does not deter you or scare you from this process because sometimes it’s not all a bunch of roses. “Stuff” happens and happens with great frequency. You just have to roll with the punches and maybe some of my hurdles will prepare you for your journey. Okay, here we go, ON WITH THE HURDLES!
To keep my cool and maintain my sanity, I have been laughing out loud to myself up here all alone in my office for about an hour now. My littlest one is napping and my older daughter is running errands with daddy, so they don’t know just how crazy mommy is right now. I got an email from my agent and they are still working on the “breakage” problem with the stem, so no samples yet. They think they totally can fix it; they just have to make a new tool for it, which takes time. In the meantime, yesterday I asked my agent for a time frame on tooling the other head designs as they come in sets of 6 and initially I wanted to launch 3 sets at the same time, well in advance of the holiday gifting season. Here is the email I JUST received.
“It is about 60 days for 15 different heads, 45 days for the tooling and 15
days for the sample.”
Ha!!!! Okay, for all intents and purposes it is September… it’s 60 days for just samples of all Charms, then I put in my first full PO which will have a production time of 30 days + once the first order is complete, Taiwan to Charleston is 26 days on the water + customs clearance time and delivery from port to door… YOU DO THE MATH!! Ha ha ha ha Hee hee hee Ho ho ho… Not so much Ho Ho Ho is there???!!!
Here is my email back
“Hmmmmm… that’s really not good news since I wanted/needed to be in stores for Christmas huh? I have pending orders for customers who are giving sets for Christmas presents…What do we need to do now? Can we start the tooling for the new heads today? What are your thoughts based on this new info and my deadline? What if we launch the 2 simpler collections quickly before the holidays (the Steak and Spicy) and worry about the more complicated Charmed Life collection after the holidays? HELP!!!”
I’m just gonna keep on smiling and keep on laughing… after all, it’s just another day in the life of a Mompreneur ®!! Yahoo!!!!
Leslie Haywood, Founder and President of Charmed Life Products, Inventor of Grill Charms™ www.grillcharms.com
