I'm very pleased to report that we signed the lease on our new production facility building!
It has been a real journey, and I know the journey isn't anywhere near over, but it feels like a big step and a lot of worry is beginning to clear like clouds over our heads.
Christmas is our biggest season, and unfortunately this drama started in the middle of us ramping up our production for Christmas.
In addition to our regular soap forecasts for Amazon and our website, we have the additional (and awesome) customer of UNFI / Whole Foods, who placed a pretty sizable order for Christmas. Plus, we have another ad running in Cowboys & Indians Magazine, Outside Magazine is including us in their gift guide, The Sierra Club is putting us in their holiday gift guide, and The Advocate just wrote accepting us to send samples for their gift guide. It's really an exciting time for us.... but with that excitement, comes the attention of hopefully many people -- and as the old saying goes, "You never get a second chance to make a first impression."
We want everyone's first impression of Outlaw Soaps to be of a company that has our soap together, which means that we really do try to stay in stock of everything for Christmas. Hey, just because it's never happened before doesn't mean it won't happen this year...
Except, of course, for the severe left turn that this year has taken, due to our unexpected move. 😳
Yesterday, Russ loaded up my car (pictured, above) with tons of fragrance oils and other tools of our trade, and drove it to the new shop for the official and very exciting lease signing.
You might think that we were besides ourselves with anxiety, but really, it's quite the opposite: we are cool as frozen cucumbers. Why? Because with the experience of the last five years, we have learned that freaking out about these things we can't control serves absolutely zero purpose. We're doing the best we can, and we can do no better. There's no point in getting upset about things when we truly don't know the future. The only thing we can do is try to stay flexible and optimistic, while doing things like pitching things we're sure we'll have enough stock of (i.e. colognes).
This is all part of being a small business owner.
But the fact that we have the perspective to know that it's always something -- there's always some wild storm on the horizon (thank God not literally... my friend had to evacuate herself and her business out of Florida) -- and the only thing we can do is prepare to be flexible, and try to ride things out as best we can.
All told, we are very lucky.
We are very glad to be newly arranged in the freight room, and we're clearing out all the stuff from the old facility as quickly as we can. Ruth now has a much bigger fulfillment room, and opens the door so people can wander in and say hello. (we're going to put a counter in there eventually)
It's interesting to have this be the story of our business. I'm having a nice time working these things out - and yes, I do wake up in a cold sweat from time to time, but that's just business. It's all just business.
As always, thank you for being on this journey with us.
