Bursting at the Seams

It's Friday and I am not writing my blog for buy local.  Not because because I don't want to or because there is nothing interesting to write about.  I have met with at least three local business owners over the course of the past two weeks.  I have hung out with far more at a few networking events.

I am not writing about them because I am taking a pause to document another landmark for our little family business.  Paul and I have been working together since 2003 when we renamed Torok Ceramics, our first smaller attempt at business, Heritage Flooring.  We have grown from a part time gig to a full time business.  We have graduated from a sole proprietorship, to a partnership with employees.  We continue to depend on our happy customers to be our best sales force but have begun to gorilla market like crazy people.

It has been a stretching, learning and growing experience for all involved.  This month we celebrate our relocation to our first store front.  To understand the magnitude of this evolution you have to see what our operations look like now.  For honesty's sake, I am going to show you what we generally hide from our customers. 

This is our current office space...

This is our warehouse.

You may notice there are a few extra things in our "warehouse".  A double jogging stroller for the Jr. Associates, a few camping chairs, bikes, our freezer, tackle boxes and folding chairs.  Our "warehouse" is our garage too.  Just like our family, it has been doing double duty for several years.  I look forward to not having to play Twister to get to my freezer every week because of our supplies and tools.

When our customers call us to find out where we are located, we slyly offer to bring samples to them.  We have a P.O. Box for our mailing and we almost never schedule appointments at our office.  It is just not big enough for two people to have a discussion.  We have built our business slowly and therefore did not want to take on too much overhead. However, we have decided now is the time to expand.

This is where we are moving.

I cannot tell you how much excitement is brewing.  For the first time since we began our professional installation company we will have all of our operations in one place.  Our employees will have a hub and our communication will be more efficient.  Our customers will be able to benefit from our design center and gallery of completed work.  We will host seminars on DIY projects, interior design and occasionally business.  On a personal note, my husband and I will be able to finish a majority of our work in a location other than our home. It may be time to stop joking about writing off our mattress because it no longer applies. Shop talk will remain at the shop...most of the time.

We have a lot of renovating, cleaning and organizing to do over the course of the next month and we can't wait to get started.  When we are done we will invite all of you over for our grand opening and it will be a blast!

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I should mention that I will continue my series on the Great Small Business Adventure after we are all moved in.  I have been delighted to sit on Barb Hranilovich's back porch and discuss her invention of the BeveraceCADDi.  I have spent time with Chad Jordan and discussed his growing business in gourmet popcorn at Cravings Popcorn.  I have a lot to say about Rycus Flooring and my friend BJ Rycus.  I hope to meet Angela from Annabelle's Pet Station too.  The best part of my buy local series is meeting all of these great local entrepreneurs and I can't wait to continue to share them with all of you!

The Big Dogs

I wish I were a big dog.  In this picture, I am the little one.

The difference?

Well, the big dog does not make his own coffee, there is a paid intern for that.  He has no need for going to each and every networking event because he has a sales force now.  Who needs a fax?  Oh, I'll have, insert employee name here, handle that.  The big dog does not handle his own social media content.  They hire a firm for that too.  A big dog would never have to clean the employee restrooms, manage payroll and write the marketing plan all in the same day.

I am a little dog.

I am eating my kibble and growing everyday but I am still using the little doggy door to come inside.  Most of the local big dogs were small once too.  I keep telling myself that as I spend time developing my business.  I look up to the big dogs.  I am lucky to have called some of them my friends.  The funny thing about the really good ones' is they want to see everyone succeed too! 

I am a hands on person and it's a good thing because my hands are literally on every aspect of my business.  At this stage of the game, I enjoy my tweeps, fans and all of the local business owners I am able to meet.  Networking events are good for networking and even better for building relationships.  I suspect that in ten years time I will have made some very interesting friends.  I also suspect that in ten years time I will be a medium sized dog helping a little dog.  I look forward to it.

Until then, I'll see you at the dog park.

All this talk about dogs has me thinking about Annabelle's.  The next Great Small Business Adventure post?  

Take a minute and vote for the next small business blog posting!

The Edge

We have been in business since 2003 and we have not reached the point were we are done learning. Some would say that the ability to keep learning is the mark of a great business owner. I would say that sometimes it is the mark of a business owner that doesn't know what they are doing and so they are forced to keep learning. Failure, although not recommended, is great for the learning curve.

I have spent a lot of time sifting through ideas on everything from how to treat our customers to how to write a great press release. Press releases are a new idea for us. We have had a lot of good news lately and we want to share it with everyone in the Mid Michigan area. Recently I just had a press release published with Capital Gains Media and I was over the moon. My secret weapon was Maureen McNulty Saxton from PR Edge.

PR Edge is a public relations and marketing firm that specializes in writing, event planning, issue management and strategic planning. I am lucky in that I have her to sit next to on field trips, school committees and playdates. I usually begin our conversations with, "Hi, how are you!" and a hug. Somewhere inbetween our salutation and interruptions from the kids I insert, "So, I have this idea."

And then we are off and running. I am bouncing ideas off of her like a dodge ball target and she is sending them back at me at the same speed. I have asked her to proof my writing, plan seminars and participate in a referral program for my Business to Business clientele. She has even helped me deal with difficult customer relations and how to deal with innapropriate comments on our Facebook Fan Page.

Check back for the referral program. I am still working on it and it's going to be fantastic. But I digress.

One of her company's biggest roles is to help public awareness about issues that may effect your business. She is currently on the board of the Women's Caring Project, a non-profit dedicated to helping prop up families that are having to choose between three vital needs. Employment, childcare and/or early education and the basic neccessities. The criteria for recieving assistance is income based and usually involves a parent that is working and attending school at the same time. She assists the Women's Caring Project by offering her expertise in spreading public awareness and seeking out like-minded foundations and endowments for the Child Care Commitment.

She educated me. Did you know that as a nation, we agree that early childhood education is important but there is no viable budget support behind those statements. I didn't know that but I do know many women who find working a challenge because their wages are not enough to pay for childcare and not quite low enough to qualify for State assistance. The math doesn't add up and their children end up going without something (ie, quality care, healthy food, medical care) but that is a topic for another blog.

Recently, I ran across this article by John Schneider from the Lansing State Journal. Oh my, someone really needs a issue management consultation with my friend. So I asked her.

*microphone lifted up to her like a paparazzi*

"Maureen McNulty Saxton from PR Edge, if you had any advice for the owners of this remodeling company what would it be?"

And this is what she said.

"While it may be (appallingly!) true that the law allows liens to be made on homeowners who've done nothing wrong, it's too bad that this remodeling company didn't get out in front of this situation and contact the homeowner before the distribution company did - and before they took a hit in the newspaper. While it's good to hear they are now working with the homeowner to resolve the lien issue, they are still just playing catch-up and in the future might want to consider setting up a proactive press strategy. This is not the kind of story with which they want their name to be associated. They might even want to consider contacting their state representative and inquire as to why the state fund to relieve homeowners is "broke" and how they can help rectify that -- as a local business concerned about their customers. Assuming the situation gets resolved and they take some proactive measures to show their concern, they might want to issue a press release. They most definitely should contact the same newspaper columnist once the situation is resolved to everyone's mutual satisfaction."

Great advice, don't you think.

To contact PR Edge, you can come with me on a field trip or two. Or, you can just refer to the information below. I recommend that you do...but I will bounce that idea off of her too. :)

Maureen McNulty Saxton
PR Edge, LLC
P.O. Box 4493
East Lansing, MI 48826
(517) 899-5513
PR-Edge@comcast.net

Some resources for homeowners;

Consumer’s Guide to the Michigan Construction Lien Act & The Homeowner Construction Lien Recovery Fund

Blank Construction Lien Form Instructions