It is one of my downfalls.....when stress hits I tend to get silent. It is a downfall in blogging, social media, and in real live relationships as well.
Needless to say, we have been a bit stressed around here.
In March we received an email from our jerky manufacturer that they would no longer be making our brand of beef jerky. We placed our last order and started saying some prayers. We contacted another meat company who used to make beef jerky but hadn't in some years. They said that they would be interested in entertaining the idea but would get back with us. (Boy am I making this very long story short!) We didn't hear from them for a week or so and we contacted them again. The guy asked if we could send him some samples of the popular brand of beef jerky. We did and didn't hear from him again. He was on vacation, out of the office, probably just avoiding our calls.
In the meantime we had to do something. We negotiated with our existing beef jerky manufacturer that we would be the ONLY people selling another brand of jerky that they have. It comes in a smaller bag, half the size of the bags that we are selling, and costs more than the bags we were selling. Not good, but we bought some and just had to deal with the cards that we had in our hand. It sold okay the next couple weekends. We were so glad that we still had our beef sticks that were selling well.
April came and at Easter we decided to head back to our old home town to celebrate the holidays with our family still living there and to get our stuff out of storage. We spent the last of our money to get there and rent a trailer to bring our stuff back. Unfortunately it was a bad move on our part. Well, honestly we aren't sure if it is a bad move or not. While we were home we went through every single box we owned. We put our hands on every single thing! We weeded out about 50% more of our stuff. Some was trash, some slated for donation, and the rest went towards a gigantic yard sale. We sold about $600 worth of stuff! Woo hoo! We thought we did pretty well. We also went through our furniture and cleaned out our storage unit that we were keeping our furniture in. We took a bunch of stuff to a new consignment shop that had just opened and was happy to receive our things.
We ended up bringing back only some things. Some basic furniture and some other items we had been missing terribly. We still have a truck load sitting back there in my stepmother's basement.
The end of April my parents moved down here to southwest Florida. Their house is in the process of being built and will look beautiful when it is done. In early May we went down to visit them. We loved the area and thought that perhaps we might want to live there too. It is a growing community and lots of new building is going on. We thought we would try to get a job there and then move.
We came back two weeks ago from our visit and immediately began putting in applications for jobs. We also didn't have any money to buy new product from our manufacturer and didn't have but $300 in product sitting on our tables. Luckily, a vendor we had been wholesaling to decided he didn't want to sell the product anymore and we were able to consign his product he had leftover back. Basically, we took it back and are selling it for him. He gets the amount he put into it and we get the profit because we did the selling work. Bonus for each of us. He gets rid of his product and we get product to sell.
We have also put our booth up for sale. We can sell the space and move to another area in the market and continue to sell our product. We are not excited about this but again, we are totally broke and need the money. We are willing to part with our best selling spot to make ends meet at home.
A week ago I got a job and began work. I am now working at a national chain store that sells craft supplies and home decor. It is part time and I have already put in 17 hours. I love it. I really do. I feel useful, valued (not that I am not valued at home or in our other business), and I love the store. I was already a customer there so I was familiar with the products, placement and the basic policies. When I applied and interviewed for the position apparently my interview went well because the manager decided to hire me for a different position I had applied for and gave me a 50 cent raise immediately! Double bonus!
And to top everything off last Wednesday we got a phone call out of the blue from the other meat manufacturer (the one we had sent the samples to and never heard back). They said they were in the development phase and about two weeks out on sending us some samples of their new jerky. WHAT??? We thought they weren't doing anything after not hearing from them for so long. So we are waiting on them to send us samples and we might be back in the jerky business after all.
So that is pretty much where we are and how we are doing. We are waiting on samples, broker than we have ever been before, late on bills, working a part time job, and putting in applications everywhere for anything.
I would love to say I am enjoying my time here in sunny Florida but right now.....not so much. We are at the end of our patience living in a 40 ft. trailer. It is still big enough for all of us but it is the little things. The water in the kitchen turns off when someone flushes the toilet. The lights go out when we overload the circuit breakers which doesn't take much to do, and everyone seems to be in each other's way.
And yes, I promise to post a bit more often.
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Monday, February 24, 2014
Look What I Found at Sam's Club! Awesome Addition to Your Food Storage
Check this out! I found this box of dried potatoes, hash brown style at our local Sam's Club this week. We bought this 2.125 lb box for $5.98. It makes 72 1/2 cup servings. It is lightweight and easy to store and pour.These Idahoan Fresh Cut Hash Browns were so easy to make too. I was a bit concerned because you have to rehydrate the potatoes prior to cooking but they soaked up the water quickly and left no mushy mess at the bottom of the bowl. I rehydrated according to the package, about 30 minutes prior to cooking and then stored the left over hydrated potatoes in the fridge for the next day. The next day they turned out as perfect as the first day.
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| rehydrated potatoes |
The first time I served these my family went nuts! They loved them. I fried them up in oil with a bit of onion (like Waffle House does). Now mine didn't come out as crispy as theirs but they were still delicious. If I had a flat top griddle like they do, mine would be as crispy as theirs.
This will become a staple product in our food storage. This with a bit of dehydrated onions and it makes a great hash brown.
I found this at Sam's Club but with a quick search on line you can also get it from Amazon and eBay or online at samsclub.com in the case (6 cartons) for $36.98.
*I was not paid to blog about this item. These words are all my own and my honest opinion. I just thought you all might want to know also!
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
What to do with your kids on a snow day???
Most families who live in a region where there is a possibility of snow should come to expect a day or two or more SNOW DAYS where school and offices are closed. My most unfavorite Facebook posts are those where moms complain that their "kids are home yet again from school" or "I think I will go crazy if they are home again tomorrow" sort of comments. First, I have no patience for these moms. These are YOUR kids, you shouldn't be complaining that you were blessed with whole day with your children. Second, prepare for these days. Have something up your sleeve for some fun activities that you all can do together during these days that you are snowed in. Make some memories and enjoy the time you have with your kids. They are only kids for short time. You WILL miss these days when they are no longer living in your home.
Prepared Mom Tips:
1. Scan Pinterest for fun, easy activities to do with the kids. You can do this the morning of. I mean you are already awake from the 5 am phone call notifying you school was closed. Hop on the computer right then and start planning your day while the kids are still asleep.
2. Bake something with them. Make it easy like a box cake mix and then decorate with snowflakes and celebrate the snow. Or make cookies with snowflake cookie cutters or whatever you have on hand. Better yet, just make the "drop and bake" cookies. Mixes last a long time in your pantry so stock up on a few cakes and cookies mixes when they are on sale. Nothing better than a cup of hot cocoa and a warm cookie.
3. Play board games, card games, or even I Spy with them.
4. If you can, go out and play in the snow with the kids. Build a snow man or even a snow family in your yard.
5. Hike to a local convenience store and buy some hot chocolate or hike to a friends house and visit with them for a bit.
6. Pop popcorn and have a movie marathon of everyone's favorite movies. Have them write the title on a slip of paper and then draw the strips out of a hat for fairness and random selections. If you have a sofa bed in the living room, open it up and everyone lay on the bed to watch TV.
7. Create a scavenger hunt in the house for random objects or for things you have been looking for.
8. If you want to get overly ambitious, use the snow days for a major cleaning in their rooms. Sort and organize toys, make piles for donation, and maybe even rearrange the furniture.
9. Sit together and go through old photo albums and tell stories of when the kids were really little.
10. Get out those cookbooks and cook up a great big dinner with everyone helping. Don't worry about the mess, you are making memories! Take a few pictures while you are at it.
11. Pull out old wrapping paper or butcher paper and the crayons and markers and make huge wall murals.
12. Pull a book off the shelf and read it out loud to your kids. My teens still love to be read to. I will bet that yours will too.
13. Have a family competition using your Wii, XBox, or Playstation games. Get everyone involved.
Nothing frustrates me more than a mom who says, snow days are an unplanned day "so we have nothing to do". Plan for these days. Tuck some activities in a box in your closet and pull out the "fun box" on these days. Don't be frustrated because you have to spend yet another day with your kids. Make those days fun and make some memories.
I hope these suggestions get your creative juices running and you are able to make the best of these snow days.
Prepared Mom Tips:
1. Scan Pinterest for fun, easy activities to do with the kids. You can do this the morning of. I mean you are already awake from the 5 am phone call notifying you school was closed. Hop on the computer right then and start planning your day while the kids are still asleep.
2. Bake something with them. Make it easy like a box cake mix and then decorate with snowflakes and celebrate the snow. Or make cookies with snowflake cookie cutters or whatever you have on hand. Better yet, just make the "drop and bake" cookies. Mixes last a long time in your pantry so stock up on a few cakes and cookies mixes when they are on sale. Nothing better than a cup of hot cocoa and a warm cookie.
3. Play board games, card games, or even I Spy with them.
4. If you can, go out and play in the snow with the kids. Build a snow man or even a snow family in your yard.
5. Hike to a local convenience store and buy some hot chocolate or hike to a friends house and visit with them for a bit.
6. Pop popcorn and have a movie marathon of everyone's favorite movies. Have them write the title on a slip of paper and then draw the strips out of a hat for fairness and random selections. If you have a sofa bed in the living room, open it up and everyone lay on the bed to watch TV.
7. Create a scavenger hunt in the house for random objects or for things you have been looking for.
8. If you want to get overly ambitious, use the snow days for a major cleaning in their rooms. Sort and organize toys, make piles for donation, and maybe even rearrange the furniture.
9. Sit together and go through old photo albums and tell stories of when the kids were really little.
10. Get out those cookbooks and cook up a great big dinner with everyone helping. Don't worry about the mess, you are making memories! Take a few pictures while you are at it.
11. Pull out old wrapping paper or butcher paper and the crayons and markers and make huge wall murals.
12. Pull a book off the shelf and read it out loud to your kids. My teens still love to be read to. I will bet that yours will too.
13. Have a family competition using your Wii, XBox, or Playstation games. Get everyone involved.
Nothing frustrates me more than a mom who says, snow days are an unplanned day "so we have nothing to do". Plan for these days. Tuck some activities in a box in your closet and pull out the "fun box" on these days. Don't be frustrated because you have to spend yet another day with your kids. Make those days fun and make some memories.
I hope these suggestions get your creative juices running and you are able to make the best of these snow days.
Storm Preparations - Tips from A Prepared Mom
With the recent rash of winter storms plaguing the eastern half of the United States I am blessed to now be living where these winter storms don't hit. However, upon reading my Facebook wall and newsfeed I am compelled to write this blog today.
When we were living in a place where we were crippled by any type of winter storm I learned several easy to follow rules to follow. One year we were crippled by an ice storm that took out our power. We arrived home one evening late from a dinner with family and saw our neighbors putting suitcases in their minivan and heading out. It was late and when they drove down our road they stopped and said they were going to a hotel room. The power was out in our neighborhood because of the ice storm and they said it would be 5 days before we would see power again. We, of course, didn't believe them and went inside and put an extra blanket on the bed that night. The next day we still had no power and in the end our neighbors were right. We had no power for 5 days. It was our first year living in this neighborhood. After that we worked diligently to make sure we had enough provisions, ways to cook and ways to heat our house when we had power outages.
When it came to our BIG hurricane, Isabel, we were prepared. We had everything we needed and didn't have to really worry about not having power for 14 days. No, we didn't leave our house during this time and we had three kids under the age of 5. We were fine because we were prepared.
In winter storms we made sure we had enough wood and propane (our two alternative sources of heat) to make it through any power outages.
I learned that the worst time to prepare for a storm is just before the storm hits. Yes, I said it! BEFORE THE STORM HITS is the worst time to prepare. Why you ask?? Easy. That is when everyone else is preparing. The stores are packed and the stores know that everyone is coming to get provisions. None of the items you need are necessarily on sale so you won't be saving any money either.
The BEST time to prepare is AFTER the storm hits. Once everything settles down and you can safely drive again restock the items you used during the storm and then you will be prepared for the next storm. Now doesn't that make sense???
If you aren't prepared prior to the storm then shop at the first mention of a "possible" storm. If it hits you are prepared and didn't have to deal with empty shelves, fighting for the last loaf of bread, or crowds of people. Then shop again after the storm and restock any provisions you used so you are ready for the next storm.
Use the following below as a guide to help prepare.
When we were living in a place where we were crippled by any type of winter storm I learned several easy to follow rules to follow. One year we were crippled by an ice storm that took out our power. We arrived home one evening late from a dinner with family and saw our neighbors putting suitcases in their minivan and heading out. It was late and when they drove down our road they stopped and said they were going to a hotel room. The power was out in our neighborhood because of the ice storm and they said it would be 5 days before we would see power again. We, of course, didn't believe them and went inside and put an extra blanket on the bed that night. The next day we still had no power and in the end our neighbors were right. We had no power for 5 days. It was our first year living in this neighborhood. After that we worked diligently to make sure we had enough provisions, ways to cook and ways to heat our house when we had power outages.
When it came to our BIG hurricane, Isabel, we were prepared. We had everything we needed and didn't have to really worry about not having power for 14 days. No, we didn't leave our house during this time and we had three kids under the age of 5. We were fine because we were prepared.
In winter storms we made sure we had enough wood and propane (our two alternative sources of heat) to make it through any power outages.
I learned that the worst time to prepare for a storm is just before the storm hits. Yes, I said it! BEFORE THE STORM HITS is the worst time to prepare. Why you ask?? Easy. That is when everyone else is preparing. The stores are packed and the stores know that everyone is coming to get provisions. None of the items you need are necessarily on sale so you won't be saving any money either.
The BEST time to prepare is AFTER the storm hits. Once everything settles down and you can safely drive again restock the items you used during the storm and then you will be prepared for the next storm. Now doesn't that make sense???
If you aren't prepared prior to the storm then shop at the first mention of a "possible" storm. If it hits you are prepared and didn't have to deal with empty shelves, fighting for the last loaf of bread, or crowds of people. Then shop again after the storm and restock any provisions you used so you are ready for the next storm.
Use the following below as a guide to help prepare.
Winter Storm Prep Checklist
To Do:- Pick up all toys and tools in the yard and straighten up the leaves and twigs that fall from the trees.
- Cover lawn furniture and the wood pile.
- Stack firewood.
- Finish winterizing the garden.
- Enough food and water storage for at least one week.
- Get generator, snow blower, snow mobile, etc. in good working order.
- Top off oil and gasoline so it is ready to use.
- Prepare for an alternative source of heat and cooking.
- Check battery supply, alternative lighting supply, emergency items.
- Top off other gasses like propane, kerosene, or any other fluids.
- Unpack winter blankets, flannel sheets, and freshen them for use.
- Unpack winter clothing such as coats, boots, gloves, hats. Try them on to make sure they fit and are wearable this season.
Monday, February 3, 2014
God is GOOD!
This past weekend we continued to have more and more "drama" at the flea. I told you the start of the weekend and on Sunday I was at the information booth chatting with our friendly "rules enforcer" Billy. He is nice enough but he is the one when there is a problem with a vendor or someone selling the same stuff too close then he gets involved. He also makes sure that all the booths that are taken are paid for and that someone isn't using an empty booth for free, etc. So he and I are chatting about stuff in general. A lady walks up and she is looking for a map and then she turns to me and asks me if I work here. I am thinking she is looking for a particular booth and I say yes. Billy says, "This is one of our vendors, how can I help?" She then says, is it okay for a vendor to cuss at a customer? Billy says, "This is a family friendly place, cussing at a customer is not allowed, no." She says, well I just heard a vendor cuss at a customer. Billy asks if she could describe the vendor, where he worked, etc. She says, "His name is Chad and he sells dips. He just told a customer that he could F---ing do whatever he wanted." I then walked away, and told Billy I would talk to him later. Ha ha.... Chad is getting in trouble!!!!
I don't know the end of that and probably won't. I do know that there are many people in the market who don't like him or have had run ins with him. The market should throw him out but in the end he will get what he deserves whatever that is.
We came out of this weekend making our average. It was rent weekend at the market and I went up to pay the rent on Sunday. Billy was at that window and I told him I wanted to pay the rent and he handed me my bill. So I hand him my cash and the lady who normally works the booth starts telling me that she was able to adjust our account and get one booth off the bill (the eggs booth) that we don't want anymore. At the same time my husband calls me and tells me NOT to pay the rent. He had already talked with the lady who works the rent window and they agreed to wait until next weekend to let her get everything straight. Well, too late. I had already given the money to Billy and he had already put it on my account. Sorry. My husband had asked my son to tell me not to worry about the rent payment that he had already taken care of it.
Because of the rent confusion, we ended up not having enough money to make an order from the factory this week. We woke up this morning knowing that we couldn't make an order and that we would have to wait another week before we could. We hoped that there wouldn't be anything on the inventory list and we wouldn't feel bad about not being able to make an order. However, we got a phone call about 10 am. It was a guy who wanted to buy beef jerky wholesale from us. He wants to sell it at his flea market that he owns about 25 miles away. He said he got a bag from a guy selling it at his market and wants to start selling it when the guy leaves.
So we discussed it and decided to wholesale to him. We also knew that he would help us make an order this week. So we call him back and tell him we will sell to him. Now we just need to wait for the inventory list to come out by email. The inventory sheet comes out and there are some great flavors on there that we are desperate for. So we go ahead and place the order adding the new guy's order too. Thank GOD we had his order because otherwise we wouldn't be able to pay for the order. Nor would we have been able to make an order at all for us. We make about $3 a bag selling it wholesale. So we are making a bit of money on his order too. This is what we used to pay for part of our order.
God is so perfect and has perfect timing for everything. We are so thankful.
We met up with the guy, today and he tasted some of the flavors that he would be getting from us. We hit it off right from the beginning. He is from our home state and he reminds me a lot of my uncle. We talked for a long time and he told us to put our label on the jerky that we put on it for us to sell. He said he would be happy to promote our website. He also asked if he could sell our product at local festivals and at the speedway during their events and such. UH YEAH!! We have wanted to sell ours there but the fees to get a booth is high and we don't have enough manpower to do that. So by him doing it then our product gets into more hands and it will promote our website!! :D We love that idea. We don't have to pay the fees, he will and we won't have to man the booth, he will.
So now we are in the wholesale business and we are still promoting our website too. What wonderful blessings.
I don't know the end of that and probably won't. I do know that there are many people in the market who don't like him or have had run ins with him. The market should throw him out but in the end he will get what he deserves whatever that is.
We came out of this weekend making our average. It was rent weekend at the market and I went up to pay the rent on Sunday. Billy was at that window and I told him I wanted to pay the rent and he handed me my bill. So I hand him my cash and the lady who normally works the booth starts telling me that she was able to adjust our account and get one booth off the bill (the eggs booth) that we don't want anymore. At the same time my husband calls me and tells me NOT to pay the rent. He had already talked with the lady who works the rent window and they agreed to wait until next weekend to let her get everything straight. Well, too late. I had already given the money to Billy and he had already put it on my account. Sorry. My husband had asked my son to tell me not to worry about the rent payment that he had already taken care of it.
Because of the rent confusion, we ended up not having enough money to make an order from the factory this week. We woke up this morning knowing that we couldn't make an order and that we would have to wait another week before we could. We hoped that there wouldn't be anything on the inventory list and we wouldn't feel bad about not being able to make an order. However, we got a phone call about 10 am. It was a guy who wanted to buy beef jerky wholesale from us. He wants to sell it at his flea market that he owns about 25 miles away. He said he got a bag from a guy selling it at his market and wants to start selling it when the guy leaves.
So we discussed it and decided to wholesale to him. We also knew that he would help us make an order this week. So we call him back and tell him we will sell to him. Now we just need to wait for the inventory list to come out by email. The inventory sheet comes out and there are some great flavors on there that we are desperate for. So we go ahead and place the order adding the new guy's order too. Thank GOD we had his order because otherwise we wouldn't be able to pay for the order. Nor would we have been able to make an order at all for us. We make about $3 a bag selling it wholesale. So we are making a bit of money on his order too. This is what we used to pay for part of our order.
God is so perfect and has perfect timing for everything. We are so thankful.
We met up with the guy, today and he tasted some of the flavors that he would be getting from us. We hit it off right from the beginning. He is from our home state and he reminds me a lot of my uncle. We talked for a long time and he told us to put our label on the jerky that we put on it for us to sell. He said he would be happy to promote our website. He also asked if he could sell our product at local festivals and at the speedway during their events and such. UH YEAH!! We have wanted to sell ours there but the fees to get a booth is high and we don't have enough manpower to do that. So by him doing it then our product gets into more hands and it will promote our website!! :D We love that idea. We don't have to pay the fees, he will and we won't have to man the booth, he will.
So now we are in the wholesale business and we are still promoting our website too. What wonderful blessings.
Friday, January 31, 2014
More Flea Market Follies
Oh my goodness, I feel like I have walked back into middle school with the drama that has been happening in the past couple weeks.
So where did we leave off???? We were doing well. Having a hard time getting product from the manufacturer since Christmas and our biggest worry was do we have enough product to last the whole weekend???
Then two weekends ago a woman about 10 booths up from us on Aisle C decided to get her hands on our product and start selling it in the market. She had the same price point as us and has about 5 different flavors. She already had a table where she was selling scarves and candles. She moved the scarves to the middle and started selling beef jerky. It was a strange sight to see scarves and beef jerky on the same table but it was more shocking to see how many other vendors came up to us "excited" to tell us that she was selling the exact same product as us. We have an exclusive agreement with the manufacturer to not sell product to any person in about a 50 mile radius of us. But they can't do anything to keep other people from getting their hands on the product and selling it in the same place as us. So now we have competition. We didn't see any drop in our sales on that aisle even though she was there, which was interesting. We think she sold a few but can't be sure exactly how much she sold. Later in the weekend we found out that she had moved the scarves off the table completely and was using the table completely for jerky. Then on Sunday of that weekend she brought in a second table and made the table twice as wide in her space to display her jerky. Again, while we were angry that someone would come in and sell the same product there wasn't much we could do. We contacted the manufacturer on Monday and let our rep know that someone else was selling the jerky in our area and he basically told us that he would talk to the other distributor in the Orlando area who knew people in our market and we had heard that was where she got it from, but other than that there wasn't much he could do. Fine. So now we have competition.
Last weekend she continued to sell but again there wasn't much change in our numbers so she wasn't affecting us much. We have already established a clientele and they were still buying from us. Also last weekend we bought a new booth. It is on the produce aisle. This is a highly sought after aisle and it is the only aisle that they sell produce. Everyone goes there to get their produce so you get a highly visible spot for the locals and regulars to the market. Many people shop on produce and don't go to any other aisle. We rocked on that aisle, however, the market management decided that we can't sell eggs without a license from the Florida Dept of Agriculture. However, when we contacted the FDA they said that we didn't need a license from them and that our vendor's license was enough. The market didn't believe us and they asked us not to sell the eggs until we had documentation or a license. So we shut down eggs completely. It was becoming too hard anyway with having to keep them cool and we weren't selling enough each weekend to warrant much more effort on our part.
Then today we find out that a booth just two booths away (we are supposed to have a 5 booth buffer) is selling the exact same jerky as us. They also sell honeys, jams, and salsas. They do a nice business with their honeys, etc. So why they want to sell jerky, I don't know. But I went over to "check things out". I go up and the guy asks if he can help me. I say I am looking for a strawberry jam and I was also interested in his jerky. His wife pops around from the back of the booth, recognizes me and immediately goes up to her husband close up and tells him something. I know she is telling him that I am the lady with the jerky on the other booth. Good he needs to know. Yes, I am going to confront him. I am also going to be nice and I also want to get rid of all the extra eggs we have that we can't sell any longer. So I ask his wife "how did you like the eggs you bought from us last week?" Nervously, she answers, "they were good." So I tell her, "I am glad. We have a bunch of extra eggs and I would like go give you a dozen eggs completely for free. No strings attached. I ask for nothing in return." I tell her to come see me on aisle A later and I will give them to her. Her husband then says, "you are the one with the jerky, right?" "Yes I am." He then goes on to say, with a guilty tone in his voice. "please know that us bringing jerky to our booth was already in the making before you came on our aisle. We were already in the process of getting it and we don't want you to think that we were trying to be vindictive in any way towards you all." :? yeah right. But I say, "I am sure you weren't. We moved to this aisle just last week and I am sure we cause quite a stir around here. We are just a family trying to make a living here at the market. This is our only income and our only job. There is enough business in this market for everyone." We go on to talk about strawberry jam and I tell him that I usually make ours but we are living in a trailer right now and I have 6 inches of space and not enough room to do any kind of canning or I would make my own (total truth). We talk a few more minutes about that and he comes back to the jerky. He says that the other jerky guy in the market got it for him and that he really wanted us to know that it was not vindictive at all. I tell him that I am sure he wasn't doing that and again reassure him that we are good honest folks just trying to make a living and that we have specific principles that we live by and one is that we aren't going to try to hurt his honey business and that we respect the rules of the market and respect other vendors and their products. These are our values and it is surprising to us that others think that if they bring in the same exact product that they will do well with it in the same space as another vendor who already had it first. When that happens the vendor is only hurting not only the original vendor's business but their own at the same time. They can't expect to have the same success with the exact same product as what they witnessed the first vendor have. We choose not to do that to our neighbors but can't control the actions of others. So then I tell him I will be back later in the weekend to buy the jam as I don't have the cash right now. I start to walk away and he says, "please let your husband know that we weren't trying to undermine him or his business." I told him, "I will tell him but it would be good in you told him yourself as well." He says, "well, I am not able to get away from my booth much to do that." :? Whatever, dude, you have a wife who can watch your stand while you go over and introduce yourself to my husband and try to grovel your way through this.
I did notice that he sounded like he had gotten caught and that he sounded like he was feeling guilty about what he had done. I also noticed that many vendors don't have the guts to confront one another with a problem or issue like I am willing to do. I also noticed that he had taken his six bags of jerky off his booth by the end of the day. Hmm....... My husband said that he didn't come over and talk to him at all and that it didn't appear that he had samples of his jerky out or that he didn't appear to sell any.
Now, over on aisle C my son said he didn't notice anyone walking by with bags of jerky that they had bought from the other lady on his aisle. But as we were packing up on that aisle this afternoon I heard the lady who sells jerky tell someone else that she wanted the table and something else moved to aisle F. The guy said he would do it. So I wonder if she is going to move her jerky business to another aisle this weekend or next. I would be in full support of that. I think Aisle F would be a great spot to have jerky. But we don't have the man power to man a booth over there.
Back when we started with the jerky, there was another guy in the market selling it. He was selling it on aisle B. We moved to another aisle and began selling it. There is enough business in this market for the both of us. But not on the same aisle. I still stand by that. We knew the other guy already had a following and that people came to find him on aisle B. We didn't want to take that away from him. We didn't want to confuse his customers by having a booth on the same aisle as him. That wouldn't make good business sense nor would it make a good business practice. We would hurt his business as well as ours and look stupid in opening up a booth on the same aisle. So we opened on another aisle. We would establish our own customers and be at another location in the market. The only people we would confuse are the visitors/tourists but they wouldn't really be confused as they wouldn't know of the other guy. Any of his regulars would know where to find him. Period. We weren't hurting his business. But to think that by bringing in a product on the same aisle as us would be suicide for them. What makes people think that this is a smart move? Basically, they aren't thinking.
As for us, we will defend our product and our brand. We will guide people to us and give them the facts. 1. We are the ONLY manufacturer authorized dealer of this product in this area. 2. We don't know where they are getting their product from. 3. If our customers have any issue with the product we have direct contact with the factory, they don't. We can call the factory directly and get resolution. They can't.
Oh the honey lady never came this afternoon for her free eggs.
So where did we leave off???? We were doing well. Having a hard time getting product from the manufacturer since Christmas and our biggest worry was do we have enough product to last the whole weekend???
Then two weekends ago a woman about 10 booths up from us on Aisle C decided to get her hands on our product and start selling it in the market. She had the same price point as us and has about 5 different flavors. She already had a table where she was selling scarves and candles. She moved the scarves to the middle and started selling beef jerky. It was a strange sight to see scarves and beef jerky on the same table but it was more shocking to see how many other vendors came up to us "excited" to tell us that she was selling the exact same product as us. We have an exclusive agreement with the manufacturer to not sell product to any person in about a 50 mile radius of us. But they can't do anything to keep other people from getting their hands on the product and selling it in the same place as us. So now we have competition. We didn't see any drop in our sales on that aisle even though she was there, which was interesting. We think she sold a few but can't be sure exactly how much she sold. Later in the weekend we found out that she had moved the scarves off the table completely and was using the table completely for jerky. Then on Sunday of that weekend she brought in a second table and made the table twice as wide in her space to display her jerky. Again, while we were angry that someone would come in and sell the same product there wasn't much we could do. We contacted the manufacturer on Monday and let our rep know that someone else was selling the jerky in our area and he basically told us that he would talk to the other distributor in the Orlando area who knew people in our market and we had heard that was where she got it from, but other than that there wasn't much he could do. Fine. So now we have competition.
Last weekend she continued to sell but again there wasn't much change in our numbers so she wasn't affecting us much. We have already established a clientele and they were still buying from us. Also last weekend we bought a new booth. It is on the produce aisle. This is a highly sought after aisle and it is the only aisle that they sell produce. Everyone goes there to get their produce so you get a highly visible spot for the locals and regulars to the market. Many people shop on produce and don't go to any other aisle. We rocked on that aisle, however, the market management decided that we can't sell eggs without a license from the Florida Dept of Agriculture. However, when we contacted the FDA they said that we didn't need a license from them and that our vendor's license was enough. The market didn't believe us and they asked us not to sell the eggs until we had documentation or a license. So we shut down eggs completely. It was becoming too hard anyway with having to keep them cool and we weren't selling enough each weekend to warrant much more effort on our part.
Then today we find out that a booth just two booths away (we are supposed to have a 5 booth buffer) is selling the exact same jerky as us. They also sell honeys, jams, and salsas. They do a nice business with their honeys, etc. So why they want to sell jerky, I don't know. But I went over to "check things out". I go up and the guy asks if he can help me. I say I am looking for a strawberry jam and I was also interested in his jerky. His wife pops around from the back of the booth, recognizes me and immediately goes up to her husband close up and tells him something. I know she is telling him that I am the lady with the jerky on the other booth. Good he needs to know. Yes, I am going to confront him. I am also going to be nice and I also want to get rid of all the extra eggs we have that we can't sell any longer. So I ask his wife "how did you like the eggs you bought from us last week?" Nervously, she answers, "they were good." So I tell her, "I am glad. We have a bunch of extra eggs and I would like go give you a dozen eggs completely for free. No strings attached. I ask for nothing in return." I tell her to come see me on aisle A later and I will give them to her. Her husband then says, "you are the one with the jerky, right?" "Yes I am." He then goes on to say, with a guilty tone in his voice. "please know that us bringing jerky to our booth was already in the making before you came on our aisle. We were already in the process of getting it and we don't want you to think that we were trying to be vindictive in any way towards you all." :? yeah right. But I say, "I am sure you weren't. We moved to this aisle just last week and I am sure we cause quite a stir around here. We are just a family trying to make a living here at the market. This is our only income and our only job. There is enough business in this market for everyone." We go on to talk about strawberry jam and I tell him that I usually make ours but we are living in a trailer right now and I have 6 inches of space and not enough room to do any kind of canning or I would make my own (total truth). We talk a few more minutes about that and he comes back to the jerky. He says that the other jerky guy in the market got it for him and that he really wanted us to know that it was not vindictive at all. I tell him that I am sure he wasn't doing that and again reassure him that we are good honest folks just trying to make a living and that we have specific principles that we live by and one is that we aren't going to try to hurt his honey business and that we respect the rules of the market and respect other vendors and their products. These are our values and it is surprising to us that others think that if they bring in the same exact product that they will do well with it in the same space as another vendor who already had it first. When that happens the vendor is only hurting not only the original vendor's business but their own at the same time. They can't expect to have the same success with the exact same product as what they witnessed the first vendor have. We choose not to do that to our neighbors but can't control the actions of others. So then I tell him I will be back later in the weekend to buy the jam as I don't have the cash right now. I start to walk away and he says, "please let your husband know that we weren't trying to undermine him or his business." I told him, "I will tell him but it would be good in you told him yourself as well." He says, "well, I am not able to get away from my booth much to do that." :? Whatever, dude, you have a wife who can watch your stand while you go over and introduce yourself to my husband and try to grovel your way through this.
I did notice that he sounded like he had gotten caught and that he sounded like he was feeling guilty about what he had done. I also noticed that many vendors don't have the guts to confront one another with a problem or issue like I am willing to do. I also noticed that he had taken his six bags of jerky off his booth by the end of the day. Hmm....... My husband said that he didn't come over and talk to him at all and that it didn't appear that he had samples of his jerky out or that he didn't appear to sell any.
Now, over on aisle C my son said he didn't notice anyone walking by with bags of jerky that they had bought from the other lady on his aisle. But as we were packing up on that aisle this afternoon I heard the lady who sells jerky tell someone else that she wanted the table and something else moved to aisle F. The guy said he would do it. So I wonder if she is going to move her jerky business to another aisle this weekend or next. I would be in full support of that. I think Aisle F would be a great spot to have jerky. But we don't have the man power to man a booth over there.
Back when we started with the jerky, there was another guy in the market selling it. He was selling it on aisle B. We moved to another aisle and began selling it. There is enough business in this market for the both of us. But not on the same aisle. I still stand by that. We knew the other guy already had a following and that people came to find him on aisle B. We didn't want to take that away from him. We didn't want to confuse his customers by having a booth on the same aisle as him. That wouldn't make good business sense nor would it make a good business practice. We would hurt his business as well as ours and look stupid in opening up a booth on the same aisle. So we opened on another aisle. We would establish our own customers and be at another location in the market. The only people we would confuse are the visitors/tourists but they wouldn't really be confused as they wouldn't know of the other guy. Any of his regulars would know where to find him. Period. We weren't hurting his business. But to think that by bringing in a product on the same aisle as us would be suicide for them. What makes people think that this is a smart move? Basically, they aren't thinking.
As for us, we will defend our product and our brand. We will guide people to us and give them the facts. 1. We are the ONLY manufacturer authorized dealer of this product in this area. 2. We don't know where they are getting their product from. 3. If our customers have any issue with the product we have direct contact with the factory, they don't. We can call the factory directly and get resolution. They can't.
Oh the honey lady never came this afternoon for her free eggs.
Sunday, January 19, 2014
New Happenings at the Flea
This weekend has been interesting!
First this past Tuesday we met with a local baker and agreed to try her breads in our shop. We tried to make it easy on her and told her to give us a variety of breads and some cinnamon buns. Period. She could pick the breads and she could piggyback on what she was already making for her own booth in other markets this weekend. We just asked her to make us some too. That is it. Easy. Nothing special for us. We would pick it up and pay her on Friday morning at her market that both she and my husband go to. Easy Peasy.
Friday comes and I am feeling better (had a stomach bug on Wednesday and Thurs). My husband goes off to the market first and my son and I follow to pick up the bread about two hours later. We get the bread, take it to our market and open up for the day. Friday morning at the market my husband was at was super slow, and it was also slow at our market. One vendor bought some of the artisan bread that we got from the baker and went off. He came back about five minutes later and brought me back the bread. He had begun to eat it and noticed that the center wasn't done. It was raw dough. He was super nice about the whole situation and I gave him his money back and I took the bread back. I also checked the other breads that were artisan style and they were all raw in the center too. My husband had already left the market he was at so he called the baker and told her. She was mortified and said she would fix it. That morning when we picked the bread up she had said she was up all night baking our bread and it was a long night. She hadn't slept yet. I told her to go to sleep and not worry about replacing any bread with us this weekend. She agreed to back us muffins next weekend in exchange for the bread that we had to throw out. We offered to save it for her to pick up but she told us to throw it out.
On the way from the first market my husband was at he stopped by our "secret place" to pick up some Nature's Own, Wonder Whitewheat, and Merita breads to sell for the weekend. He got a nice variety. We didn't sell any of her cinnamon buns on Friday or today. I take that back. We sold one to a vendor. But we didn't sell any of her other breads. We did sell some of our Nature's Own, Wonder Whitewheat, etc. yesterday and today. This may be the way we go at this point.
New news!!!! Someone else is selling the same product as us in the market this weekend. This lady, Bobby, has two tables in the center of the aisle about 8 spaces down from us on Aisle C. We suspect she got it from the original guy who was selling it in the market when we started selling jewelry next to him. It is just speculation but we will find out soon, I guess. When we contacted the manufacturer of beef jerky the rep told us that we would have exclusive territorial rights. He would not sell to anyone in the area of us. While we can't control who brings it into the market we can control how they get it. They would have to drive to pick up the product from another distributor or have it shipped to an address over 75 miles away from here. OR they can buy from us if we agree.
While she didn't really hurt our sales yesterday on Aisle C we think our sales today over there were hurt by her. We hardly sold a thing. There were people who walked by our booth and said "we already sampled on the table back there" pointing to her table down the aisle. We didn't see but one person carrying a bag they bought from her but we can't be sure how many walked the other way and not by us after they bought. Also we had our son over on that aisle manning our booth as I had to stay home most of the day with a sick child. Our sales could have been off with him being over there all day long too.
Tomorrow, my husband will man the booth on Aisle C. He will get a better feel for what is going on over there and she will have to compete with a grown man, not a kid for sales. My husband is a great sales man too.
On Monday we will contact the manufacturer and let them be aware that someone else has encroached on our territory. We aren't sure what they will do if anything but we hope they may have some ideas for us. In the meantime, my husband will talk to Bobby and tell her that we will be contacting the manufacturer about this and let her know that they will follow up on it. We will also let her know that we are the ones that she should be talking to if she wants to purchase at wholesale the product to sell and we can discuss that with her if she is interested in continuing to sell it. We will also let her know that we don't have any "beef" with her but with the person she is getting the product from.
If it is the original guy then my husband is going to go to his flea market where he has bragged that he makes all this money and will tell him that we are willing to set up a booth there and sell our product at wholesale cost to the public for as long as he wants to continue to supply Bobby or anyone else in our area with product. Basically, my husband will attempt to make a "gentleman's agreement" with him (Roger) to stay out of our market and we will stay out of his. Hopefully this will work. Crossing our fingers.
I have other news too. We think we may have a lead on a booth on the produce aisle. This will be HUGE for us!!! This aisle is always busy and our eggs belong on this aisle. We would sell both eggs and jerky in the booth. It is a center booth and it is smallish but it will work. We hope to talk to the person renting the booth right now and will know what we can do soon.
Haven't heard anything about the house yet. Hoping to know something tomorrow or Monday on that.
I had no idea that we would be involved in such "drama" by moving down here and just trying to make a living here, eek out a livelihood, and raise a family. Ha!
First this past Tuesday we met with a local baker and agreed to try her breads in our shop. We tried to make it easy on her and told her to give us a variety of breads and some cinnamon buns. Period. She could pick the breads and she could piggyback on what she was already making for her own booth in other markets this weekend. We just asked her to make us some too. That is it. Easy. Nothing special for us. We would pick it up and pay her on Friday morning at her market that both she and my husband go to. Easy Peasy.
Friday comes and I am feeling better (had a stomach bug on Wednesday and Thurs). My husband goes off to the market first and my son and I follow to pick up the bread about two hours later. We get the bread, take it to our market and open up for the day. Friday morning at the market my husband was at was super slow, and it was also slow at our market. One vendor bought some of the artisan bread that we got from the baker and went off. He came back about five minutes later and brought me back the bread. He had begun to eat it and noticed that the center wasn't done. It was raw dough. He was super nice about the whole situation and I gave him his money back and I took the bread back. I also checked the other breads that were artisan style and they were all raw in the center too. My husband had already left the market he was at so he called the baker and told her. She was mortified and said she would fix it. That morning when we picked the bread up she had said she was up all night baking our bread and it was a long night. She hadn't slept yet. I told her to go to sleep and not worry about replacing any bread with us this weekend. She agreed to back us muffins next weekend in exchange for the bread that we had to throw out. We offered to save it for her to pick up but she told us to throw it out.
On the way from the first market my husband was at he stopped by our "secret place" to pick up some Nature's Own, Wonder Whitewheat, and Merita breads to sell for the weekend. He got a nice variety. We didn't sell any of her cinnamon buns on Friday or today. I take that back. We sold one to a vendor. But we didn't sell any of her other breads. We did sell some of our Nature's Own, Wonder Whitewheat, etc. yesterday and today. This may be the way we go at this point.
New news!!!! Someone else is selling the same product as us in the market this weekend. This lady, Bobby, has two tables in the center of the aisle about 8 spaces down from us on Aisle C. We suspect she got it from the original guy who was selling it in the market when we started selling jewelry next to him. It is just speculation but we will find out soon, I guess. When we contacted the manufacturer of beef jerky the rep told us that we would have exclusive territorial rights. He would not sell to anyone in the area of us. While we can't control who brings it into the market we can control how they get it. They would have to drive to pick up the product from another distributor or have it shipped to an address over 75 miles away from here. OR they can buy from us if we agree.
While she didn't really hurt our sales yesterday on Aisle C we think our sales today over there were hurt by her. We hardly sold a thing. There were people who walked by our booth and said "we already sampled on the table back there" pointing to her table down the aisle. We didn't see but one person carrying a bag they bought from her but we can't be sure how many walked the other way and not by us after they bought. Also we had our son over on that aisle manning our booth as I had to stay home most of the day with a sick child. Our sales could have been off with him being over there all day long too.
Tomorrow, my husband will man the booth on Aisle C. He will get a better feel for what is going on over there and she will have to compete with a grown man, not a kid for sales. My husband is a great sales man too.
On Monday we will contact the manufacturer and let them be aware that someone else has encroached on our territory. We aren't sure what they will do if anything but we hope they may have some ideas for us. In the meantime, my husband will talk to Bobby and tell her that we will be contacting the manufacturer about this and let her know that they will follow up on it. We will also let her know that we are the ones that she should be talking to if she wants to purchase at wholesale the product to sell and we can discuss that with her if she is interested in continuing to sell it. We will also let her know that we don't have any "beef" with her but with the person she is getting the product from. If it is the original guy then my husband is going to go to his flea market where he has bragged that he makes all this money and will tell him that we are willing to set up a booth there and sell our product at wholesale cost to the public for as long as he wants to continue to supply Bobby or anyone else in our area with product. Basically, my husband will attempt to make a "gentleman's agreement" with him (Roger) to stay out of our market and we will stay out of his. Hopefully this will work. Crossing our fingers.
I have other news too. We think we may have a lead on a booth on the produce aisle. This will be HUGE for us!!! This aisle is always busy and our eggs belong on this aisle. We would sell both eggs and jerky in the booth. It is a center booth and it is smallish but it will work. We hope to talk to the person renting the booth right now and will know what we can do soon.
Haven't heard anything about the house yet. Hoping to know something tomorrow or Monday on that.
I had no idea that we would be involved in such "drama" by moving down here and just trying to make a living here, eek out a livelihood, and raise a family. Ha!
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