An honest assessment…..
Before I get into the details I just want to send out my sincerest thanks to every single customer I have. I really appreciate all of your understanding. You have brought me to tears of thankfulness several times. I truly have love for each and everyone of you. I consider you to not only be my customers, but my friends.
If you have any concern big or small please do not hesitate to contact me. I am here to help you in anyway. I am not happy until you are 100% happy.
An honest assessment of the wholesale fiasco.
I have been thinking through everything with the wholesale fiasco and I tried to figure out exactly what went wrong and after pondering this over and over I have come to these conclusions.
1. The ordeal with the wrong shipment was beyond my control. It was supposed to arrive 5-6 days prior to its actual arrival. Which cut my production time considerably. I had originally had my schedule organized in a way that would allow me to complete the orders up to order 1075 with out a problem.
2. I had assumed that with the turn around time set at 2-3 weeks, the orders placed after a certain date were not for Christmas. This assumption was wrong on my part. I realized this while perusing the forums and did change my schedule to attempt to accommodate as many customers as I possibly could. This accommodation would have been possible if the wholesale company had not dropped the ball.
I have been on the phone with them prior to Christmas but I have been unable to contact them since the holiday. They were instructed to call me Dec. 26th on my cell phone but failed to do so. Friday their offices were closed. I will be in contact with them again today.
3. With the stress of the holidays approaching, the stress of a neglected family, as well as the stress of having customers waiting for my product, I worked as hard and as long as I could but I was on the verge of burnout before Christmas. I thought I would be able to rest while at my parents house for a few days but Gabrielle was very restless due to the big change in her surroundings and went to bed at 3am the first night. The earliest she went was able to fall asleep was 1am. This did not allow me to rest and recharge. It caused me to get closer to burnout.
By Friday I had accomplished as many orders as I could. And did continue to work but I was unable to finish much. I still had shopping to do for my entire family, my husband, daughter, sisters (of which I have 4) and brothers (of which I have 2). I had not had a chance to decorate our tree, despite many attempts to make time. (This was accomplished at midnight on Saturday.) I did not have the energy to wrap any gifts other than my husbands. I did not have any energy to take pictures of Gabrielle by our tree, I did not have the energy to give my daughter the Christmas she deserved since it was her first.
4. I did not have the energy to email everyone. I was worried that they would be angry with me which was something I afraid to face. I did not have the energy to update my blog with the precision I originally set out with. I felt as if I had failed and was unable to write that in professional way. Perhaps this is not the most professional blog entry, but it is honest. And I feel that my honesty is what I must give.
Quite honestly, this incident has burned me out. I had every intention of getting the delayed orders out by today and I gave it my best shot. But I am worn down and wore out. I do not believe the wholesaler is aware of how their mistake affect the little WAHMs who choose to do business with them.
A New Modus Operandi…….
In light of these events and how it has affected my family first, myself and my customers I realize the need to implement a new MO.
1. I will be working on the orders first thing in the morning prior to my family waking, and during the Gabrielle’s naps in the rare event that she takes a nap longer than 20 minutes. (I wish I had her ability to recharge in such a short time…lol.) I will still answer emails all throughout the day.
I feel as though this will allow me to better sever, my husband first, my daughter second, myself and my customers. I have realized that if I do not take care of myself, I cannot take care of anyone.
2. After your order has been placed through the cart, I can no longer allow additions to the order. This is unfair to subsequent customers and increases the turn around time for their order. If you do wish to add to your order it will be moved to the end of the orders for that assigned week.
3. I will be increasing the price of custom orders. They can triple the production time and increase the turnaround time for existing customers. I have not yet set a new price scale but will in the future. I plan on basing it on complexity of the design.
4. I will start offering in stock items and decrease the availability of customer orders. I feel as though this will allow me to accomplish more in the week and better meet everyone’s needs.
5. A lot of customers have not been selecting either First Class or Priority shipping. I will not begin production until shipping has been paid. I am considering the need for a flat rate shipping charge but I have not yet come to a conclusion. Fed Ex, and UPS are not options which is why there is no price attached.
I do not consider this to be a written excuse. I do however feel as though it is a written explanation to which I feel each and every customer deserves. I know I have continued to apologize, and I myself feel as though that it is at times sorely lacking, but it is the least I can do.
I have finished order #’s1046, 1063 and 1067. I will ship them ASAP.
All of the other orders are in progress and will be completed as fast as I can without burning myself out.
Here is the tentative schedule:
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This is an UPDATED version of the information in the blog entries below.
Orders That Were Voluntarily Delayed (Again, I cannot thank you enough.)***I should have said that this is tentative. I am working as fast as I can but I am still slightly behind this.
Production has begun and orders will ship as I get them completed.
Today
Order #’s 1053, 1054, 1056, 1059
Tuesday
Order #’s 1060, 1062, 1065, 1069
Wednesday
Order #’s 1070, 1073, 1075 This finishes the delayed orders.
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December 13th stocking orders will begin January 2nd. Order#’s 1076-1089 (14 orders) - Should ship by Monday, January 7th.
December 20th (Limited Stocking.) orders will begin January 7th. Order #’s 1090-1101 (11 orders) Should ship by Monday, January 14th.
December 27th Stocking Orders will begin week of January 7th. STOCKING CANCELED TO DECREASE TURNAROUND TIME
January 3rd Stocking Orders will begin production January 14th.
I will state that there will be an increase in the turnaround time. My goal is to have everything finished and shipped within 2-3 weeks. But in the event of circumstances beyond my control, I must state that my turnaround time is now 2-6 weeks. So that in the event of another wholesale fiasco, I do not approach burnout.
-Please Note-
Those on the waiting list will be contacted prior to the January 3rd stocking to finalize and place your order. Please be ready with your choices. If I do not contact you prior to January 3rd. PLEASE contact me.
Thank you.
All depending on smooth production/wholesale shipments etcetera, etcetera.
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Matching Adult/Child hoodie Test Product Volunteers:
S.W. - Hoodies have arrived. Set to begin week of January 1st.
W. H. - Child hoodie has arrived. Need to contact wholesaler about the adult hoodie, and its failure to arrive. In the event of the timely arrival of the adult hoodie, set to begin week of January 1st. (I still haven’t been able to contact them concerning the adult hoodie. I will be speaking with them today.)
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