Change and the Art of Perserverance

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once said, “Perseverance is a great element of success. If you only knock long enough and loud enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody.” At the Quacker Gift Shop, we started with a simple idea - to bring smiles to everyone we meet. What has happened has been nothing short of incredible - our business has taken flight on the Internet, at our retail store and coming in July, to a wholesale operation that will highlight our own products as well as other lines carefully selected for their whimsy, quality and dedication to the customer.

A recent post to the blog commented that it seemed the corporate offices and warehouse were empty. That's only partially true. As in any endeavor, change is a constant. As Longfellow points out, a single know rarely opens the door. When we opened the warehouse, it had a small showroom designed to allow our festival and show customers a place to see our little ducks when a show was not available. To our surprise, the same customers who came to the shows wanted to buy from the warehouse. We didn't have enough space, and that's why in August of 2009 we opened our first retail store in historic Englewood, CO. This year we were honored by Westword Magazine with a Best of Denver, 2010 award. In January we created LS2M Krown Distributing, a wholesale firm designed to distribute ducks on a wholesale level. This too has taken off, and less than a year from the date of our store opening we will be opening our showroom at the Denver Merchandise Mart. because of our continued expansion, the need for offices with our warehouse or unnecessary, as out time will be spent with our customers directly. We still warehouse, but the location doesn't require offices. LS2M Krown will allow us to reach more retail stores across the country. Our Bath Products under the Delish BodyWorks name is going national, and the ever increasing demand for duckies grows as well. We will be labeling under the name Quacker Creations and selling to other gift stores across the country. We currently have retailers for our products in

South Carolina, Arizona, Oklahoma, and Colorado in many mountain towns and the front range.


Getting back to Longfellow; as a business owner or entrepreneur it is so important to remember that perseverance is not just making it through the day by day. You have to be willing to knock on those doors, letting some close and looking for more to open. Keep on smiling and watch for our newest ventures to take flight!

I have a new idea!

Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.

  ~John Steinbeck

I have a new idea!

As a small business owner, new ideas happen all the time and it is easier to embrace it than fight it.  If you are thinking “easier said than done” you are correct! The following is a way to management all those  great money making ideas.

1) Monthly themes – choose one big idea – redo your website, write out your marketing ideas, create a new customer process – and make it the theme for that month – you can even plan out the next 6 months this way and you’ll stand a better chance of actually getting these done. This is a great idea when it comes to having too many irons in the fire. The problem is that when we try to do it all at once, we go into overwhelm and don’t get anything done. Make it simple, take the long view, and watch what happens.

2) Weekly reviews – When it comes right down to it, once you’re clear on your new idea it becomes a set of projects. When you start to look at the “big idea” as the habit of focusing on a group of projects, you can begin to break those projects down into action steps or tasks. Your weekly project review should include everyone in your organization and pose the simple question – “what needs be done next” to each project on your plate.

3) Daily goals – While you may have many things on your daily calendar, make it a habit to schedule one project time slot with yourself or someone working on a project each day. This is the only way to keep the focus where it belongs – on constant advancement and improvement.

Learning to work smarter and not just harder.

"Sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."
Lewis Carroll - Alice in Wonderland

As we walked the lake today I couldn't help but think about the week that had just passed.  After all, Sunday is the one day we stay away from the store and focus on the household, studies and self.  Reflection has been one of the greatest measures of our week as Jennifer remarked on in her blog 'Monday Morning Notes'. When I am away from the shop, I can look at the week with a fair, but critical eye.

I worked hard this week. We always work hard.  Our wholesale division, LS2M Krown Distributing,  placed products in several accounts; we added books including Eric Carle's Ten Little Ducks and nostalgic candy to the store and our Valentine's online campaign has exceeded our targets.  That said, we still have not placed our clawfoot tub in the store because the restoration is not complete, and our new paint colors for the store are not finished.  At each Monday meeting, I set realistic goals for the week, yet something always gets added to an already long list of to dos.

Jennifer and I started the year by committing to work smarter not harder.  When you are so dedicated to success, how can you slow down the everyday hectic pace of cramming as much as possible into a 16-18 hour day?  I think the key is to keep setting what you believe to be realistic attainable goals, commit to them, and adjust the results on a regular basis.  I used to stick the uncompleted tasks into the next period and keep the next set of goals in tact.  What happened with this strategy was a list that grew to unattainable every time.

In every management and marketing class I've taken we talk about decision making using the SMART method by Peter Drucker in 1954.  It's really pretty simple:
1.  Specific
2.  Measurable
3.  Achievable
4.  Realistic
5.  Time Sensitive
Although the concept is simple, the implementation of it in today's world is a challenge.  I will keep writing about our progress in living SMART decision making.

I have become an expert at working hard.  Now I am learning to work smart.  I'll become an expert at this too.  It's on my list for next week.