Well, we’re back from Vegas and trying to get our business and personal lives back on track. It can be tough to be out of town for over a week, but fortunately we have supportive families and great staff that can hold down the fort while we’re gone.
Coming back from this trip has been a bit tougher than others. I got sick during the trip, along with Carlos, who worked the Dayspa Expo with me. And we’re still dealing with a lingering cough and fatigue…but it could be worse. Our friend and colleague, Gary Cole (head of Snazaroo US Division) was in a terrible moped accident right after the FPBAA Convention ended. He’ll likely have 6 months of recovery and rehabilitation before he’ll be ready to return to work at full force. Not to mention…he’ll spend tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills. It sure puts things in perspective for me. I think I can just suck it up and get over my little cough.
Health issues weren’t the only thing we came back to when we returned home. Unfortunately, we only earned about half of what we had hoped to earn at these two conventions. We ended up a couple thousand dollars short of break-even, but that’s the way business goes sometimes. Conventions are meant to be advertising opportunities, not money-making ventures. Some shows don’t even allow you to sell product at the show, just to distribute information and possibly take orders. So, when we have a show where we break even on our expenses or make a profit, we count ourselves lucky. At shows like this, where we lost money, we have to come home and figure out how we’re going to pay booth fees for the next shows and how we’re going to be able to afford to restock the warehouse. Just like artists who have a slow season and still have to support their families during that slow season, our business has a slow season and still has to support the operations required to stay in business. But every year, we finesse our budget and get better at preparing for slow times.
Along with the financial issues, it seems that a million other things have not gone according to plan these past couple of weeks. We’ve had an unusual amount of orders go missing, get damaged, or get delayed in transit and several of our most important stock items have been backordered or discontinued from the manufacturer. Just to highlight….Our silver glue vials are unavailable until May, so we’ve had to substitute for gold. I suppose it’s not a big deal, but I feel like silver is one of our company colors, so it does bother me a bit. Several of our suppliers have increased their order processing time to anywhere from 1 week to 1 month, causing us to be out of stock of several items. Seven of our most popular Mica Shimmer Powder colors have been discontinued from the manufacturer, including Grape Soda, Superhero Blue, Spring Break, Aqua Lagoon, Sunny Daze, Tangerine Dream, and Cherry Pop. We should be able to find similar colors, but they won’t be identical, and it will require some time to find replacements. If you really love these colors, I strongly suggest that you stock up while we still have some left.
I truly feel like I’m putting out fires every day as some new problem arises…juggling finances, resolving customer problems, finding alternative product sources and replacements, and somewhere in there…trying to have a life with my family. At some point, I really have to decide what is important, what needs to be focused on, and what I need to accept as being beyond my control. I was talking to my husband, Mitch, last night. Mostly I was detailing the list of things that had gone wrong this week while he patiently listed and promised that it would get better soon. Amongst my closest friends, I’m referred to as the President of the Kick-in-the-Ass Club. You don’t get away with whining about being a victim of life when you’re around me. I firmly believe that we create our own circumstances in life and that we are the only ones who can make them better. So I resolved to not spend too much time whining and tried to focus on the positives. My family is healthy and happy. We have a sturdy home, filled with love and laughter. We have friends who would give us food and shelter if some disaster ever took ours away from us. And even after 12 years of marriage, I’m more in love with my husband than I ever thought possible. At the end of the day….I have everything that really matters. Everything else is just temporary.
Have a wonderful month, and hug your loved ones today!
~Erika
