Kim's BizBlog

In my last post, I mentioned people from around the country contacting me because they too, wanted to start a baby planning business.  

Let me share the feelings I had the first time this happened.  It was Spring 2007.  I came back from lunch to find a voice mail from a woman on the West Coast.  She says that she and a friend want to start a baby planning business and want to learn more about Peekaboo.

I nervously call her back.  Nope.  No franchise.  She just wants me to tell her how I operate my business so that they can start their own.  She proceeds to tell me that she and her friend have been trying to figure out how to structure this thing and finally decided to call the only baby planner they could find. 

After a brief conversation of me not telling her exactly what she needed, I hung up the phone to a plethora of feelings.

First, I thought, “This is great!  Other people are recognizing the value in a baby planning business.”   That excited me.

Then a wave of fear hit me because I now had someone nipping at my heels.  How would they structure their business?  What services would they provide?  What if they had thought of something I didn’t and their processes were better than mine?

I learned really quickly that competition is WONDERFUL!!  Nothing keeps you on your toes more.  I’d been rolling along for so long with no one to compete with.  The phone book didn’t even have a category for my business.  Now, the game had changed.  I was no longer playing solitaire.  Someone had decided to sit at the table with me.

Several months later, I did my usual Google search looking for competition.  It’s kind of like being on a desert island and wondering if someone else is on the island with you.  Anyhow, up popped the new baby planning company I’d been waiting for.  My hands trembled as I clicked on the link.

I read through their mission statement.  Huh?  I clicked on the services they offered.  What?  I read their bios.  Son of a *$%#@!!!   Right there in black and white one of the girls called herself, “ the visionary behind this brand new concept.” 

Immediately, I ran to my number one cheerleader, my husband.  “Baby, take a look at this.”  I was calm so not to taint his point of view.

He read the mission statement.  “That’s your mission statement,” he said.

He read through their services.  “These are exactly your services.  Even the surprise nursery,” he said.  “The package names are almost the same as yours and look, this whole paragraph was taken directly from your website.”

Needless to say he lost it when he got to the "visionary's" bio page.  After all, he’s struggled through the start up of this business, too.  He sees the tireless hours of work that goes into it and is also living on less than we’re used to in the hopes of it taking off.

The next morning I met with my attorney.  After comparing their site to mine, he confirmed that I had a case and offered to send a cease and desist; though he advised against this.  He said that all it would do is force them to shut down temporarily until they corrected their website.  To boot, it may serve as a motivation for them to come after me in future.  He suggested that I use this energy to create the best baby planning company in the new field.

Turns out he was right.  I shouldn’t have been worried about someone who had to replicate someone else’s work and call it their own.  They’re now out of business.  Even though, I was upset with the plagerism, I do wish them well.   

Six years later, the field of baby planning is starting to make a name for itself.  We have at least 3 others in the Dallas area now...all able to write their own mission statement!  So to them, I wish the best of success!

Please note the thoughts and opinions expressed in this blog are based on the experiences of the author.  The information contained in this blog is in no way meant to take the place of professional advice.  It is only meant as insight into the world of a small business owner.   As always, thank you for visiting and feel free to share your own experiences or concerns by leaving a comment

Not long ago I got into a little tiff with the owner of a consulting firm about the difficulties of pricing.  I didn't initiate the conflict...just, kind of, fell into it.  In fact, I was trying to set him up with an interesting conversation piece because I assumed he ran into this problem often as he assisted new business owners.  It went a little something like this:

Casual conversation in a group of small business owners ensues...

Consultant Dude: [to the group]”What element did you all find most difficult in starting your own business?"

Kim:  "Without a doubt, pricing..."

Consultant Dude:  "Pricing?!!  That's generally the easiest part of starting a business.  How can you say 'pricing'?"

Now, understand that I didn't throw out the answer thinking anyone would be shocked.  In the dozens of business books and thousands of internet articles that I've read, pricing your products and services is ALWAYS listed as one of the most challenging areas in defining your business.  If I wasn't armed with this knowledge I probably would have crawled under the table and cried at his tone.

Kim:  [surprised] "Yea...when I came to market, no one in the world was doing what I was doing.  I had absolutely no path to follow for pricing...neither did my market."

Consultant Dude: "It doesn't matter.  You set an hourly rate, count the hours it's going to take, bammo...pricing."

Kim: [now irritated] "It's not just about what I think I'm worth, it's about what the market will bear and with a new concept that's hard to figure out."

Consultant Dude:  "And, you've been in business how long?"

Kim: [now done with the conversation] "I was referring more to when I first started, but I still struggle with it to some extent, especially now that competitors are surfacing."

At this point, the consultant dude is looking at me like I'm a monkey in the zoo who's eating his own crap.  That's when someone else chimes in to change the subject.

I don't pretend to be an expert.  I'm just here to share my personal experience in starting a business.  And, pricing, for me, was/is incredibly difficult.

My experience is validated by the fact that I've had a dozen women across the country contact me because they were starting their own baby planning business.  They didn't have to contact me.  I tell them everything they need to know on my website, but do you know why they did?  Why they most likely put their tail between their legs and picked up the phone? One reason and one reason only.  They were trying to figure out how to price it.  It's the one thing I don't list publicly because it took me so long to figure out.  I'm even cautious when someone calling themselves a potential client inquires about pricing.  I assume it's a competitor.

I have to say, those who have called, have real juevos.  To call the creator of a concept, chit-chat for a little bit and then ask to be given the golden goose...it amazes me and, at the same time, I tip my hat a little.  Needless to say, I don't give it up.  Not that I don't wish them success.  I sincerely want every business to succeed.  It's just business.  I didn't work this hard to give it all up for nothing.

New concept or not, I still contend, pricing is one of the hardest things to do in a business.  Take a simple item like a t-shirt.  A store prices it at $24.99 and sells 10 a day.  They mark it down to $19.99 and sell 15 a day.  $14.99 and they sell 20 a day.  Then the store has to decide, "Do we sell less for more?  or, more for less?"  What's going to be most profitable with the least amount of energy expended? Same store marks shirts down to $4.99 and the customer is saying, "Is there something wrong with this shirt? No one wants it?  Why's it so cheap?"  It's a balancing act.

My Dad often reminds me of a story about Arnold Swartzenager.  I assume it's true.  When Swartzenager first came to this country, he and some friends started a brick masonry company.  They were barely getting by charging what they thought was a fair fee.  Finally, they switched tactics.  They changed the name of their company to something fancy and raised their prices by six fold.  Suddenly, they were getting more work and making better money.  Sometimes, it's all about perception. 

There are so many moving factors in pricing.  Ask anyone who's struggling to make it in the current economy. I really don't have anything helpful to share about pricing because I'm still trying to figure it out myself.  All I know to do is give my clients the best possible experience so that they walk away saying, "It was worth it."  

Please note the thoughts and opinions expressed in this blog are based on the experiences of the author.  The information contained in this blog is in no way meant to take the place of professional advice.  It is only meant as insight into the world of a small business owner.   As always, thank you for visiting and feel free to share your own experiences or conerns by leaving a comment

The Red Hot Chili Peppers song, "Give it Away" could have been an anthem for my business when I first started.  Lately, the tune has made a re-entry into my brain & business.

I started laying the foundation for my baby planning business in 2004, during a pretty strong economy.  It was in 2006, during a really strong economy, that I finally made the full-time leap into baby planning.  Most of 2007 proved to be bang-up as well.

Something you should know is that I'm surrounded by economic & financial gurus.  All of whom told me, "You're starting a business in the worst possible time."  But did I listen?  What could they be talking about?  The market was booming.  The unemployment rate was super low (which, I quickly found out is not a plus for a new business).  As I walked away, I could faintly hear them say, "We're slated for a recession end of 2007."  Recession Shmession! Bring on the new biz. 

Here's what happened.  In order for a new concept to work, you have to prove out and perfect that concept.   To do this, I had to give quite a bit away and/or work for peanuts.  I hustled taking on any work I could get in order to perfect the Peekaboo process and build a strong portfolio.  It paid off!  Not only did I build a great portfolio and process, I received valuable feedback.

By the middle of 2007, I was able to establish my value and build a semi-appropriate pricing model.  After 3 years of building the business, I was finally starting to see the potential for a return on my investment. 

Now, I was leery of what was to come because the market in the fall of '07 was at the highest it had been in history.  Un-employment was at the lowest it had been in decades.  From my experience, what goes up must come down.  But, my calendar was booked through the spring of 2008 so, I decided to start looking for potential employees.  [Insert screeching brake noise here]. 

Almost immediately after I held a recruiting meeting for new talent, the talk of "Depression" was haphazardly thrown about.  I say haphazardly because my experience as a small business owner is that small business owners have a finger right on the pulse of the American consumer.  Every time a politician got up to talk about how dire our situation was, I received a cancellation.  I started talking to my other vendors and they were experiencing the same phenomenon.  This was before the market & employment really started to tank.  And, to say that I'm furious with politicians who create more of a crisis than exists for political gain, is an understatement.  But, let's move on.

The rest of 2008 was a volleying match.  I followed restaurant trends.  All of the middle priced restaurants were starting to go under.  Fast food and high end restaurants were still above water.  Because my services are too time extensive to cater to the lower wage earners, I focused high.  Suddenly, the more expensive restaurants started sinking.  I was still targeting the correct market; it just meant that the majority of my market's pocket books had closed!  If they weren't willing to shell out a descent amount for a nice dinner, they weren't about to hire me for an over-the-top baby experience.

2009 started different than any other year.  Most years, I'm optimistic and excited.  This year I was pissed and in defense mode.  I've worked hard to build a great concept and I wasn't going to let it slip through the market's fingers. 

When a market turns, the natural reaction in business is to re-evaluate your profit centers and try to create new ones.  Instead of selling convenient packages, I started piecing out my services, selling ala carte.  This meant working harder for less.

In addition, I realized it is a good time to build up my brand.  To do this, I decided to launch a revolutionary new marketing concept.  One that will be fully unveiled soon!  The kicker is...the combination of the weak economy and my new marketing has got me right back where I started,  "Giving it Away." 

Bottom Line: There are economists who spend their whole lives evaluating our economy and tracking, pretty accurately, when we will climb and when we will fall.  If I had listened to those around me, I would have started my business in an economy like the current one with low rent, available labor and a great idea.  Then, as the economy climbs back, I'm positioned for a longer period of success and will hopefully be stronger when the next dip occurs. As it is, I started in a sprint, got to cruise in good economy mode for a couple of months and then was forced right back into the sprint of survival.  A person fresh into the race could really give business owners like me a run for their money.

Best of luck!

Please note the thoughts and opinions expressed in this blog are based on the experiences of the author.  The information contained in this blog is in no way meant to take the place of professional advice.  It is only meant as insight into the world of a small business owner.   As always, thank you for visiting and feel free to share your own experiences or conerns by leaving a comment