By
Administrator on January 3rd, 2010
Posted in Organic Gardening, small business advice | No Comments »
I have previously published a few posts about business and have also mentioned the Aerogrow products. This post is a combination and continuation of both.
Although my previous posts and experiences with the Aerogarden company and products have been positive, my last few encounters with this company have been anything BUT!
It appears to me that this company has grown too big, too fast. This should be a cautionary tale for anyone who is currently in business or plans to start a business. Customer service is key! No matter how many times you hear this, please take it as your mantra.
This past Christmas, my husband and I decided to buy Aerogardens for two of my brothers and sister-in-laws. The company was offering a reduced price on the second Aerogarden ordered and that put the gifts in our budget range. I ordered two of their 3-pod gardens and some pump filters for my own units on December 6th, 2009. Although the confirmation e-mail did state that another e-mail would be sent when the items shipped, I got on with my rather busy life and forgot about this. As the days ticked by and everything else I’d ordered had long since arrived, I began to worry about these gifts and decided to call their Customer Service number. When I finally reached someone there — lo and behold, I was told that unfortunately all of their 3-pod gardens were back-ordered! Somehow they failed to e-mail or otherwise alert me about this problem. In order to soothe my ruffled feathers, they said that they would upgrade my order to the 6-pod gardens at the original sale price of the smaller units. The service rep assured me that these units were in stock and would be “shipped right out.” “Will they get here in time for Christmas?”, I asked. “Ummm, no, not unless you choose express shipping at an additional $40.00.”, I was told (even though they were at this same time sending out e-mails and fliers promising FREE upgraded shipping and “guaranteed delivery” for Christmas. I know because my husband was bombarded with their promotional e-mails.) I grumpily agreed to the extra charges, even though this put us over budget. What else could I do at that point? December 21st dawned and we still had not received our shipment, nor had I even had an e-mail from the company. I called once again and was told that they still hadn’t managed to get my Aerogardens out of the warehouse and onto the shipping dock. What??!! I stated that it now made no sense for me to be paying an extra charge for express shipping as they definitely would not arrive in time anyway. They said they would take that charge off of my credit card and that they would include a free seed kit for each of the units as an apology. I should look for my Aerogardens shortly after Christmas. Well, I’m still looking! I finally received an e-mail that the free seed kits had shipped. Whoopee — just what are my relatives supposed to do with them since there’s still no sign of the Aerogardens themselves?
Inevitably some other company is going to come up with clones of these products and accessories and you know what? I’ll be the first in line to buy them as long as their customer service is even halfway decent!
By
Administrator on October 18th, 2009
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Yeah, I’m being cynical, of course. Have to say though that it does look kinda weird to see those big, fat flakes coming down with a tree in the background that has just started to change color.
At least it won’t likely amount to anything as it doesn’t seem to be sticking to the ground. It’s obvious that we’re right on the snow/rain line as this snow is plummeting rather than floating down and it could change back to raindrops at any minute.
Autumn is just about my favorite time of year — guess it should be as I live in New England and it’s by far the prettiest time of the year here.
The colors are so vibrant that they easily lend themselves to design work as well. Just take a look at the Autumn and Thanksgiving gift baskets on my website and you’ll see what I mean.
I sure hope this isn’t a sign of an early and hard Winter. I’m sure not ready nor I suspect are the birds and little beasts that share our yard. (Our youngest cat is more than ready for the influx of field mice looking for a warm Winter home though. Since we won’t let her outside, she has to wait for the prey to come to her.)
By
Administrator on September 13th, 2009
Posted in small business advice | No Comments »
Quite a few people who have lost their jobs in the economic down-turn have decided that this is the time to start a new business. If you are one of these people, there are a couple of things that you can do before you even choose a business name that will be of great benefit to you.
First of all, check to see whether your community (or the closest larger town or city) has a S.C.O.R.E. chapter. The letters stand for Service Corps of Retired Executives and they offer advice and mentoring to entrepreneurs (and would-be entrepreneurs) free of charge.
Since it is now possible for many new businesses to develop entirely on-line, many of the traditional start-up costs can be by-passed, but it is still a good idea to put safeguards into place before you begin. You might want to consult a lawyer about the pros and cons of business structure. If you own real estate, have various investments, etc., it might be best for you to choose a corporate structure. On the other hand, for those who are young and just starting out, sole proprietorship might be the best solution.
Once you are on your way, you are going to need to spread the word about your new business. Speaking from over twenty-five years of experience as a small business owner, I strongly recommend that you get involved in networking, both on and off-line! I only wish that I had investigated BNI (Business Networking International) early in my career rather than at this late date.
Congratulations on your new business venture! I wish you much success.
By
Administrator on August 2nd, 2009
Posted in about gifts and giving | No Comments »
Some mornings when I look in the mirror, I’m not so sure that “time” has been all that kind a friend. Even so, the gift of some of your time can often be the best gift you could ever give.
Do you have an elderly relative, neighbor, or friend who is becoming increasingly isolated because he or she is not as mobile as in former years? You’d be amazed at how much good the gift of a short visit can do.
Even if you live in the same household, it’s important to take the time to be involved. My mother lives with us and is still, thankfully, very active. It never occurred to me to try to consult with her when she was making decisions about her estate planning. I figured it was her business and that she was capable of handling it on her own. Perhaps if I’d offered to go over her plans before she signed anything, she would not have fallen for a totally inappropriate instrument from a so-called “financial planner”. We are now in the process of dealing with lawyers in an attempt to do some damage control.
If you or a loved one is a “senior”, please remember that just because someone speaks at your Senior Center or does advertising that targets your group doesn’t mean that they are on your side. Unfortunately there are many out there that will target you (or them) because this group tends to be more vulnerable than most younger people.
By
Administrator on July 12th, 2009
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Here in the Northeast we’ve had more of a Monsoon Season than a Spring or Summer this year. Last weekend when we finally had a sunny break, I managed to get out in the yard to look after my very diminished veggie garden, pick some wild black raspberries, etc. As I went about my business, I became aware of some of the typical sounds of Summer — a woodpecker busily drumming nearby, lots of very loud baby birds of several species, all yelling for their dinners, and a hawk way up in a tree, steadily announcing its presence.
The last one made me stop and think a bit as I couldn’t see the bird and had no idea whether it was an adult that already had a full stomach and was calling to its mate, or a young bird that had yet to figure out the connection between the noise it was making and a sudden scarcity of prey. One year we were treated to the sight of a juvenile hawk that had the bright idea “I bet if I just sit there right under that birdfeeder, dinner will come right to me — lots less work on my part!” It took him or her quite awhile to abandon that “bird-brained” idea. It’s a humbling thought though to consider how many of us, myself included, have the same difficulty giving up on a favored idea or course of action that simply does not work!
By
Administrator on June 1st, 2009
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Any of you who have taken a look at our silverandstone website can see that as our business and products increased, pages were added like the extra rooms built onto old farmhouses. At this point we felt that it would be helpful to our customers to separate the gift baskets from the jewelry and candles and give them their own website. We are pleased to announce the launch of our newest website Better Gifts and Gift Baskets.
The first few pages are now up and we intend to continue transferring pages and adding new items in the months ahead.
By
Administrator on May 19th, 2009
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Last year my eggplant crop was considerably better than usual — which meant that I either had to convince my husband that we should go on an eggplant diet, or I had to find a way to preserve some for later use.
I had previously made a ratatouille and frozen that successfully, but wanted to see if I could freeze the eggplant on its own. I was pretty sure that freezing it “as is” would result in an inedible mess. I prepared the sliced eggplant as I usually would (ie. salting and draining under weights in the refrigerator. I then dipped it into an egg batter and fried it. The fried slices were put onto cookie sheets in single layers and frozen. Once frozen, they were put into freezer bags.
I decided to use a bag of them to make Eggplant Parmesan last night and they worked just fine — with one slight exception. For some reason, the dish tasted quite salty. Guess I should have rinsed the salt off before freezing the eggplant, but since I’ve never done that when making the same dish with fresh eggplant, I can’t quite figure out what the difference could be. At any rate, this does seem to be a good way to save your harvest for future use.
By
Administrator on April 19th, 2009
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Although the official calendar date for the beginning of Spring has come and gone some time ago, it’s finally starting to look like Spring outside my window. The narcissus and forsythia are in bloom and the yard is slowly turning from brown to green.
As we all shed the last of a long and difficult Winter season, I’m hoping that most of us will take advantage of this traditional season of renewal and re-birth to re-energize ourselves and turn this year into a much better one than the last.
Our business, like just about all the retail outfits in this country, suffered through a terrible Christmas season, but we’re still here. It seems that there is a glimmer of light at the end of this tunnel and we intend to make our way out into the sunshine.
By
Administrator on February 26th, 2009
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If you choose to open a “brick and mortar” business, your rent will likely be one of your most substantial operating costs. Because of this, I would advise you to buy property rather than renting if at all possible. Although credit is tight at the moment, you will probably never again find such a combination of low mortgage rates and discounted property prices as the current ones.
Over the years, I have easily spent more than enough in rent to cover the purchase of commercial property. Hindsight is always 20/20 of course. Even if your business doesn’t pan out, you will at least be building up equity and could probably rent the property out to another business. I can tell you first hand that being a landlord with residential property is a complete nightmare, but commercial leases are written to favor the landlord rather than the tenant.
By
Administrator on February 7th, 2009
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It probably doesn’t sound like a good idea to many people, but statistics show that businesses started during economic down times proved more likely to stay in business than those started when the economy was good.
Obviously during a recession, there’s a lot less latitude when it comes to things like inventory control and overall costs of doing business. It may also mean that our hypothetical business owner will have to get a lot more creative when trying to spread the word about his or her new venture. For instance, getting a local paper to print a press release or cover an event will bring it to the attention of local subscribers without the cost of buying ads.
In the online world, participation in forums and social media can provide a great deal of traffic for your website without the cost of “pay per click” advertising.
Even if you have a substantial budget at your disposal, it’s a good idea to try some alternate methods along with the more traditional forms of advertising.