Just read my May update.
I’m not sure blogs are supposed to work this way, but reading it was a nice little pep talk from my May self to my July self.
Where did that sweet May Jean go?
Don’t get me wrong – still expanding, still excited, but as I predicted back in May, the actual process of expanding is a lot of work and reality has set in that deciding to do something is one thing, but doing it is another.
In the two months since I last posted we’ve decided to:
– Open our first new store in the downtown once we land on a nice, busy, action packed spot in the PATH
– Renovate the entire Victoria street store to turn it into a commissary to serve the needs of 2 new stores
– Launch the sales of protein fortified cupcakes online and in the stores (frozen)
– Invest for the first time in a serious marketing/brand awareness campaign
So all that is good. The frustrating part is that sometimes it seems that the people we pay, or want to pay, to help us (advisors, suppliers, prospective advisors, prospective landlords) don’t have the same sense of pace that we do.
When can we do this?
When can we get that done?
How’s this coming along?
Argh.
Andrew tells me that Canada has a “productivity problem”. Is this what he means? If my business was in, say, New York would things move faster?
The head of catering at Prairie Girl is more Type A and organized than I am so when customers call, email or order online at PGB, there is no need for them to follow up. This makes me more puzzled why – as a customer/client- I often need to be a nag.
So the bottom line summary of our expansion is that it is “coming along”. Maybe when the fall hits, it will come along a little faster.
