Black Friday

Well, I hope you had a good thanksgiving holiday. Thanksgiving is one of those holidays that I feel we seldom allow to properly sink in. Sitting around a table, surrounded by friends and family. We take just a moment to thank God for everything that he has provided.

This year, I am very thankful. My company continues to grow, my relationships continue to improve, and my children grow more amazing every day. What more could you ask for.

So...a thankful Thanksgiving day leads to .... getting up early to get into the office just before midnight. Yes, because "I am the man" I ended up working from midnight to 6am...to go home, then get up and get back to the office around 9:30.

As I was walking out of the house for the 2nd time today, my wife says..."Thank you for everything that you do, we love you." My response was "I know...without knowing that, I couldn't do everything that I do." She smiled...it was a moment that I think we both knew was important.

So for everyone out there...struggling with Black Friday, the potential for struggling through to the end of the holiday rush and everything that goes along with it.

Just go be brilliant!

Holiday Madness

In many businesses...retail I'm sure of it...the "holiday" season is a make or break it time of year. Its a time of year when all customer whims are requested...and for fear of losing that 5.00 bill in their hand, we're willing to stand on our head and bark like a dog while chugging a gallon of Diet Coke.

But seriously. Its a difficult time of year because you have to be prepared for the onslaught of orders and crazy demands, but you have to stay thankful for the business, and you have to put a smile on your face and laugh through the tears.

So here i am...sitting in the warehouse. Its the wednesday before Thanksgiving (tomorrow) we've had our celebratory lunch (thank you Lucille's...food is great as usual) and we're working to get as many orders into the pipeline that is FedEX as possible.

Tomorrow will be a day of Turkey and Football for much of the country, but I know I will be back here...putting in my time to get ready for the same routine on Friday. Why not take the day off? Well, there are only so many hours in the day, and I really can't afford to waste one right now. Its all hands on deck...as you hold your stomach and wonder why you had the extra helping of stuffing.

So, for those of you who put your name on the bottom of the check every other week...I salute you. For everyone who works retail and looks every day at the sales figures to see if you can make it through next year...I sympathize with you. And for each of us who puts on our hearts and souls on the line each and every day, I join with you in a prayer of thanksgiving that we are still here, a prayer of supplication that we will be here next year, and a prayer for peace that at some point, the IRS will just leave us the heck alone. :-)

Peace out.

Hitting the ZONE

Some times things go right...not perfect mind you, but there are certainly days when you feel that things are more positive than negative. Aside from Monday, which was an absolute disaster, this week has been a better than average week.

Production is going smoothly with a higher than average turn out rate, mistakes and returns are down, and everyone is in agreement about our aims and targets.

There is money in the bank for payroll. I can't tell you the amazing power and revalation of prayer. But when you get down to the bottom of the barrel and you hit your knees...with no earthly understanding of how you are going to get through the next pay period...God reaches down and somehow says...I've got it. As such, sales ticked up almost 200% over the past week and we are paying our bills and I am sleeping easier.

As a result, I'm looking to make some changes to make us leaner and more productive...Big changes that will not impact the quality of the product, but will mitigate the effects of the California tax code.

We are working this weekend. Almost full staff tomorrow. I like being busy...Busy is good, now I just need to get my blood pressure meds refilled so I don't stroke out before we get to Christmas.

Everyone is free to wear sunscreen

Some of the best advice I've heard provided to the younger generation comes from the song "Everyone's free to wear sunscreen" by Baz Luhrman.

...Dance...
...Live...
...Work...
...Love...

Live in NYC once, but leave before it makes you hard...
Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft...

Respect your elders...
Don't expect anyone else to support you...
Don't mess too much with your hair...

Have a good Wednesday...I'm surviving.

I am Hank Rearden

Hank Rearden is the penultimate capitalist in Ayn Rand's masterwork Atlas Shrugged...

I see a political rally in my mind that does a mash up of Atlas Shrugged and Sparticus....you know that final scene where the Romans look out over the field of conquered slaves and ask. Which one of you is Sparticus? At which point, thousands of men stand up and state... "I Am Sparticus"... at which point they are all crucified and line the Appian Way leading to Rome.

"I Am Hank Rearden"...I am the optimistic capitalist who believes that I can overcome all that the looters throw at me. I am the man who "sees" that the greatest gift a man can give his neighbor is not the money from his wallet, but the effort of his own brow as an example of the capabilities of a man driven by his own engine...his own dream. Saying with each passing day..."I can do it...you can too. "

I am now blessed to share work space with just such another Hank Rearden...He is in the technology sector, and he too is the center of a self made company...It helps me to have a partner on my own journey. It reminds me that we...the self made...the struggling masses of small business people are not alone. Our struggles are common, and each day when another one falls, we mourn. Each day when another one picks up the standard...we join together en-masse to cheer them on.

Today we march...Tomorrow we vote...

Yes, we too will redefine the new rules for radicals...but that is for another day.

Don'tcha Love Tuesdays

Ok, well, I survived Monday. I picked up a quote yesterday which said. Courage does not always ROAR...some times it is the quiet voice that says "Try again tomorrow."... So true.

Its 10:30 am here...I feel like there is an up-tick today that will allow me to get through this week. I am hoping that the optimism I feel now will be contagious and keep the goblins away from the rest of the staff.

But beyond that...When was the last time you read / listened to Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged". I will start it again today. I love the audio book version. Its 80 hours of listening...but while I'm listening, I feel the blood of Hank Reardon coursing through my veins, I get perspective on the struggle, and feel the hope that at some point, those of us who are the engine of this economy will have the opportunity to come back out of the valley and into a new world.

What is it like to own a small business? Its the greatest struggle a man can engage in...

Its Monday...Bring It On!

Mondays can be so difficult. They can start off full of promise and suddenly turn south...or if you're in the weeds...they can be just a re-affirmation that you're screwed.

Heath care passed the house in the middle of the night this past weekend. What a joke. Who do you politicians think is going to pay for all this? Yeah, let me raise my hand higher.

I hit my knees and pray that we'll make it though the week. That's what Mondays teach me.

There is a God, I am not Him, and sometimes I just don't know what he has in mind for me.