I am in a bind......

[southern.scents]

Hi everyone. As some of you know my business was to be featured in a newspaper that goes out to several counties in central Mississippi. There would be approximately 60,000 copies going out. Well, the more I though about it, the more I wanted to know for sure I had the exact look, etc that I wanted for my business so I had them postpone the story. Well, the story will come out NEXT MONTH!!!!! Great huh? Well, no. I have been trying to build up inventory for this large event. I figure if only 1-2% that see the story purchase I will be struggling to keep up. The dillema now is what if I can't keep up with the orders. What if 30% of the customers order. There is NO WAY that I can plan for that and have enough stock on hand.

So, if you were in my shoes, had little money free at the moment, how would you handle this. I was thinking of saying, you can order between The 1st of September and the 14th of September and it would ship by the 30th of September, order between the 15th and 30th and it ships October the 14th. Or should I just say that due to the large response that our feature has generated, all orders will take 1-3 weeks to be shipped. They did put in the article that due to the fact that all of my products are handmade, they should expect some delay.... They said that they featured a florist one time a month before Valentines day and she ended up closing for half of a month to restock all of her gift items because she sold out.... I am so neverous but so excited....

[mizbizzyb]

Congrats on the feature....however! What if a random customer came to your site and ordered more than you could handle....what would you do?

You should always be prepared when it comes to your business. Make it a habit to reorder when you get at a certain point of being out....for instance I reorder when I have one pound of an FO left. I try to keep 2-3 lbs on hand of each scent.

You may have to use all of your monies between now and then to get prepared for the what if factor.

Another alternative - one that I hate as a consumer, is to offer an alternative....example, if someone wants apple pie scent and you are out maybe offer them something close like apple cinnamon. Some people may not care....me on the other hand would ask for my moolah back asap.

Just a few things for you to think about....can you get a loan from your mom, dad, cousins, someone? Seriously....be prepared at all times as you never know you may miss your big opportunity.

Off my box now...have a good day.

[cozyaromas]

Well that's good news Southern Scents!!:highfive:

I agree with mzbizzyb, or you could say something to that fact that due to the increasing amount of orders generated from the newspaper article the TAT for orders are 7 to 10 business days. I saw saying similar to that on an website Oprah had as one of her favorites. The company was generating so many much business due to the endorsement that they had to say something to keep up with orders and to keep the customers informed. HTH

[debscent]

Deal with the orders as they come in. You don't want to waste supplies & time by pouring apple scent when you get 45 orders for pumpkin.

I had a story in a local magazine where my business was mentioned. I had to shut my website down in order to keep up with the orders that one article initiated. I work a demanding full time job, and made the decision that I was NOT going to run myself into the ground. Am I losing potential $$, yeah...but can I take it with me when I'm dead...No.

Take the pressure off yourself.

[blazerina]

Do you have any upcoming shows for the fall or holiday season? If so - and if you haven't already- you could mention that they can find you there 'just in case' they aren't able to place an order due to backed up orders. Something to that effect anyways.

I think you are maybe a tad more worried then necessary though. You can only do what you can do. If they can't understand that you are one person, then they will have to go somewhere else. You can't possibly serve all the readers at your current state of preparedness and business size. Many will order just to support you... and they will be the ones who won't mind waiting.

I would rather be a busy fool than foolishly overstocking. But I guess it's best to find a happy medium somewhere in between.

Best of luck to you. :highfive:

[southern.scents]

I think that I am partially prepared. I have cut my normal fragrance line down to only 8 of 20 and I am only offering two season fragrances, one for fall and one for xmas. I have on my website currently that orders are poured as they come in and that larger orders may occur longer production times. I will not substitue fragrances, however. I want my customers to get what they order and be satisfied. I really would like to have lots of items poured but as debscent said, I dont want to have five pounds of one FO in stock and not sell any of it. Thats fifty bucks that I could have used somewhere else.

What do you guys think of offer the order periods.

Order September 1st-14th for shipment between September 20th-October 7th

Order September 15th-30th for shipment between October 8th-30th

and so on and so forth

Or should I just say, do to the large response the article has generated, orders may take up to three weeks to ship.

I will have some supplies but I want to make sure I will have time to order if the need be.

THERE is no way in the world I will shutdown for this. This money would be valuable to my business and eventually my life. I will start college next year. I plan to attend Millsaps University and the prices there are about 32,000 per semester notincluding housing, food and books. I have a 27 on my ACT and plan on taking it two more times so I will get some scholarships but I would love to be able to pay for my own college without taking out loans.

Thanks for all of the ideas, goodlucks, and best wishes.

[SliverOfWax]

Good job! I hope it makes you rich.

OK, the first thing I thought of when I thought of September is . . . get ready . . . yes, Christmas and/or holidays. I would lean toward that in the jist of turn around time. Say something like, "due to heavy holiday shopping, orders might take 30 days (make up a number if you don't like 30).

In other words, focus on the holiday orders rather than your potential inability to get orders out immediately. And yes, definitely say candles are poured to order and that you don't keep a large inventory. It certainly wouldn't hurt to add that orders over $XXX (again, make up the number, whatever you're comfortable with) require a 50% deposit.

Something like that. You know what I mean.

[SliverOfWax]

Order September 15th-30th for shipment between August 8th-30th

Which year would that be?

[southern.scents]

Order September 15th-30th for shipment between August 8th-30th

Which year would that be?

LOL, yeah, I am a little backwards there huh????

[Stella1952]

Get a grip on yo'self!! It's gonna be all right!! Don't borrow trouble!! Perhaps back-to-school expenses will temper a run on your products and things will pick up slowly but surely and cause a fabulous holiday season for you.

Spend your time and nervous energy making sure you are well-stocked on all your products, especially the most popular. Then, if the stuff DOES hit the fan, you will be in a better position to ship out your current stock and burn midnight oil making more. If you get deluged with orders, you could think about employing some temporary labor to help fill those orders and prepare for the holiday season.

[Candybee]

Congrats on the news article! Thats super for you! I'm inclined to agree with others here-- don't sweat over this. Things have a way of working out. Even if you do get swamped you will be able to gain some important info on how well you are able to manage it for the next time around. But I really think you'll do okay!!

Now post a link to the article when it comes out. I would love to see it!!!

[Kimberly]

Congrats!

I say deal with it as it comes. I keep very little stock on my shelves now except for the top sellers. You already have a little stock made up...draw from that to fill the first orders...then fill the others as they come.

Good Luck!

[LaVida]

Well that's good news Southern Scents!!:highfive:

I agree with mzbizzyb, or you could say something to that fact that due to the increasing amount of orders generated from the newspaper article the TAT for orders are 7 to 10 business days. I saw saying similar to that on an website Oprah had as one of her favorites. The company was generating so many much business due to the endorsement that they had to say something to keep up with orders and to keep the customers informed. HTH

Was it Edenbody works (I was about to type Edens Crush *l*)....

That would be a welcomed delimma.....

[awickedscent]

With the economy the way it is Im sure your not going to have a problem keeping up with orders.

[Chele]

Congrats!

I say deal with it as it comes. I keep very little stock on my shelves now except for the top sellers. You already have a little stock made up...draw from that to fill the first orders...then fill the others as they come.

Good Luck!

I agree with Kimberly 100%. We have been featured in magazines and newspapers several times. You will see a good wave of orders... but you will be just fine. We have had to bring in extra help but always got the orders out. Be careful listing a long delivery time... it will discourage people from ordering.

HTH,

Chele

[Debra Phelps]

At one time I had a very busy store in the mall. At Christmas time it hit hard. I hired people to help me. They set up and wicked the jars, I did the pouring. They finished up the candles and labeled them. We could put out 80 cases a day with no problem. People are easy to find and can learn how to help you in just a little bit of time. Don't worry. Most of my orders take over a week to get out now. Sometimes 2 weeks. Fundraisers are 3 weeks. I wouldn't say anything. Unless they ask. If you placed an order for some candles, would you expect them really fast? If they ask, then tell them that you are backed up. People like to buy from backed up people. That means they are getting something everybody else wants. Cool, hugh:D

[Ring of Fire]

At one time I had a very busy store in the mall. At Christmas time it hit hard. I hired people to help me. They set up and wicked the jars, I did the pouring. They finished up the candles and labeled them. We could put out 80 cases a day with no problem. People are easy to find and can learn how to help you in just a little bit of time. Don't worry. Most of my orders take over a week to get out now. Sometimes 2 weeks. Fundraisers are 3 weeks. I wouldn't say anything. Unless they ask. If you placed an order for some candles, would you expect them really fast? If they ask, then tell them that you are backed up. People like to buy from backed up people. That means they are getting something everybody else wants. Cool, hugh

Wow you never charged for labor because you never thought of it and the small town you live in maybe can't afford the higher prices if labor is included but you had a store in a huge mall and produced 80 cases of candles a day? How did you pay for rent in a mall let alone employees and not loose your shirt?

BTW, who is hugh? Your DH?

[VerticallyEnhanced]

Welllll, I can honestly say I have been in your shoes. I had an article come out in a large market paper in the same month as yours will. It was on the front page of the particular section, color photos and all that jazz. I was not prepared for what hit me, but I survived. I literally had to take a "calm me down" pill I had left over from a surgery because when I saw how many hits were on my website the first day the article came out, I almost fainted!

Looking back at it, things would have been much easier if the article came out in April or May, but instead, it spilled into the busiest time of the year. I normally do shows during Oct-December but that was cut down to only two shows because I just did not have the time. I sourced out a lot of my stuff to help me out. I paid someone to wick all my jars and put warning labels on them. My husband took over the books/invoicing/shipping. A friend would come over for two hours a day and label what I had made the night before. (I paid her in candles...she was happy, lol)

I would hold off and not sink a lot of money into one area right now until you see what happens. You don't want to have all your money sunk in "x" and someone wants a bunch of "y" and you are up a creek. Since you only have a few scents, if it were me, I would keep a few cases of each scent on hand. I bulked up on my bestsellers and the ones mentioned in the article and they went quickly, but of course, people ordered the ones that I did not expect. I just made them as they came in.

At the time, I did put something on my website that said something like "Due to the AMAZING article that came out in the x paper, I am only sleeping 2-3 hours a night! If you need your candle in a hurry, your best bet would be to visit one of my retailers. Please understand that after you place your order, your candle could take up to ten days to make it to your doorstep."

Also, check with your webpage server provider about what kind of bandwidth issues you may face. I learned that the hard way.

[cybersix]

first of all congratulations, it's great!! Don't spend too much time thinking about what could happen after people read that article, but check your inventory, if you're really low on something I guess you could have supplies shipped to you in a reasonable time... not like me LOL in the other side of the world!

We say "don't bind your head before you break it" I don't know if this makes any sense for you LOL

Anyway just be prepared in a reasonable manner, I like VE suggestion on what you could write on your site just in case orders fly in like a madness. I hope they will!

I decided to take a 10 working days delay for any order I get, I don't stock candles, obviously if I can ship earlier I do, but my customers already know that.

Just in case. Everyone has to set his limits. You offer handmade candles, so people will understand.

Congratulations again!!