Stay positive

Warning. This little rant may include food for thought.

I’ve written about the importance of customer service and keeping in touch with your customers in previous blogs. It’s a big important part of your brand. As a small business owner, I’ve experienced a few customer service disappointments this past week that are really getting me down.

I’m working with a partner on a project that has several moving parts, including setting up a new business. We’ve had lots of ups and downs, but have kept our project moving closer to the goal posts.

This week, however, has been particularly challenging. Just when we thought we were going to hit a significant milestone — assembly of our kits for market — not one, not two, but three suppliers let us down!

The first was a printer who didn’t have time to meet to discuss the first real print run of our product, an educational game. I guess our business wasn’t important enough.

The second was a supplier who could no longer provide us with the packaging we wanted to use. Why advertise a product you can’t supply?

The third was a printer who, despite having already missed the deadline and two promised subsequent delivery dates, was still not able to deliver. I’m looking forward to hearing what they can do to make this right.

As small business owners, we can’t afford to waste money or time. Delays with our suppliers can’t immobilize us. We need to keep moving. There are steps we can focus on while we wait.

1. Find alternate suppliers. You’ve heard the cliche “don’t put all of your eggs in one basket”. It’s a good idea to have other businesses at the ready. Rather than wait for my suppliers to get back to me, I’ll start the quoting process and prepare to pivot.
2. Keep moving. Although we may not be able to book space, we can identify the best places to offer our product so that we’re ready to book when the time comes. This might pose a problem as spaces in shops or markets fill up, so having a number of options is a good idea.
3. Work on marketing. A healthy start to selling our product will mean telling the world all about us. Ok, maybe not the world, but definitely our target market. A solid marketing plan will let customers know who we are, what we sell and more importantly, what we’ll do for them!
4. Enhance online presence. As our business grows and our offerings expand, we’re going to need a stronger more robust online presence. This is a good time to plan for the future. How will we offer new products? How will we keep customers coming back and engaged?
5. Plan next steps. We haven’t launched yet but the excitement has us thinking about what’s next. Using this time to capture new ideas and get them in the mill will set us up for future success.

Stumbling through the steps of a new business venture has been a great experience. At times it’s been frustrating, scary, disappointing, but most of all exciting! We may be experiencing a set back, but we’re remaining positive and moving forward!

Thanks for listening!