I pinch myself about how I've learned (earned?) an entirely new vocabulary, one about making a product, marketing and selling it, shipping and delivery, collections, NAFTA, freight forwarders and FOB. but most fun is getting emails and phone calls from around the country when people see my WOWindow Posters in their neighbors' homes at Halloween. And they tell those neighbors "I know the guy that makes these . . ." !!!

It wasn't very long ago (5 years now) that I felt despair about my career stagnation -- feeling little to be excited about, angry at people I worked among, unable to see the tangible impact of my work, and having little to exclaim to friends and family and children about my work. Well, I still do that work (benefits communication) to pay the bills and get benefits and serve my clients well. In a way, that work is finally just a job and not the 'aspiration' that I forced myself to believe was my calling. I'm good at it, but not focused enough to reach higher.

So today I reflect on 3 full Halloween seasons under my belt, selling my poster product to chains, catalogs, mom & pop stores and direct to consumers. While we've doubled sales each year (broke the $1mm mark in sales this year), I'm realistically enlightened that there is no certainty about what might happen next year. Our customers are struggling, the product isn't 'flying off the shelf' like I imagined, and, coupled with the bad economy, I know that complacency is more risky than action, so we continue to test ourselves to move forward.

I keep a laminated card on my computer from the Bigger Game workshop I attended 5 years ago at the leadership forum at Silver Bay. Two words stand out 'Gulp' and 'BOLD Action'.

As Halloween season three concluded, this week's Gulp was the realization that our business might not grow next year, and could even fall off. We haven't been able to convince many skeptical prospects, and many customers are not selling as much to their customers as expected. I need it to grow a wee bit more to replace my current day job income.

BOLD Action? We have a great margin in our product, but our niche as a higher priced 'new idea' may be over, and could be trampled by competition and what's happening around us in the economy. Being niche isn't going to be big enough for the cost of producing our product.

So, we dropped our wholesale price by 20% to better align with what we have learned about consumers who often think twice about the cost of our product. I think this is a good move, others are saying so too. This time the decision seems to more from my gut than my customary spreadsheet analytics. Though, I realize, the gut feeling is coming from hard experience and industry awareness - which is surely an 'analytic' element that I didn't have three years ago.

My partner returned home yesterday after 3 months in the hospital for his second battle with Leukemia. Day to day it's been more about keeping the operation going than the ceative goals both of us set for our partnership.

And with the economy as it is, I'm on edge about leaving my security blanket day job. Had it not been for these two things, I would be more mentally prepared to cut loose and throw myself fully to my business. I still question whether these are just more convenient excuses to delay taking the plunge. I probably would be okay doing it, but the scale hasn't tipped that way for me yet especially with my silly son's desire to go to a place like Bucknell or Villanova for college next year! (cha ching)

All that said, I am thankful about having created another source of income (personal goal to diversify income streams), for the fact that the hard work is working, and that I have the freedom to do what I am doing.

I am grateful for my wife Erika's work on seemingly everything else and I am grateful for my healthy, thriving children!

Robert
908-451-6290
robert@wowindows.com or robert@schottmail.com
www.wowindows.com