When I sat down with myself this week and thought about 2011 all I could think was "Wow." The last year has been a complete blur of lotion, soap, store openings, customer faces, e-mails, phone calls and let us not forget...printing labels! We began this year with the intention of taking the first year of business slowly. Taking time to perfect our branding, recipes and store styles. Instead, we ended the year with three stores instead of one (and each one we love), fifteen employees instead of the planned two (and each one we love) and a sudden need for an overhaul of our labs, labels, recipes and spaces. We felt we needed this year because none of us had any experience in owning a retail store.
To say things spun very far away from our initial plan is putting it mildly....
What have I learned from this experience?
1. Don't be afraid to fail. The fear of failure is what personally holds me back the most. The Brown Barn Company is not the first company I've had, I've experienced failure. In looking back now I see that the lessons learned from my failed attempts were what have pulled us thru to this point. Let go of fear of failure, if you don't try you'll always wonder what could have been.
2. Build a great support system for yourself and let them know you appreciate them. Without our amazing team of employees we would not have the stores we have now or even have made it to Christmas and stayed open. Each person on our team brings their own unique skills, talents and style to the mix; making us a whole. I value each person in our company for different reasons...from Erika's previous experience in a national company to Jessica's brutal honesty to Brenda's quick hug...they are each equally important to this company and my ability to do my job.
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| My family, providing me the support to kayak a series of caves in Belize, 2009. |
3. Take time for yourself. This was the hardest lesson for me to learn and one I continue to struggle with. The whole premise of The Brown Barn Company is to take time for yourself, care for yourself, a minute alone. But I have to admit I didn't follow that and now am paying the price for it. I'm pooped out! LOL. One of my New Year's resolutions is to institute me-time and self-care firmly back into my life. I'm placing boundaries on business time vs. family time and making a point of daily down-time for myself. Otherwise I turn into a very crazy, very crabby person!
4. Admit when you're wrong and made a mistake, ask for help where needed to fix the mistake and move on. Address and fix your mistakes quickly and with firm decisiveness. I guess that says it all!
5. Communicate. Communicate every little thing to everyone. Talk, talk, talk...be honest, open and fair but also be tough when you need to be. Have a buck-stops-here attitude. You cannot control how people are going to behave or think but you can control how you behave and think and how you react. You have the choice in how you respond to people and situations. Empower yourself. When you make decisions, stick to them and be firm about it.
And what will 2012 bring to The Brown Barn Company?
1. Doing A Better Job: Because we fast-forwarded, we now have the luxury of focusing 100% of our energy on catering to our customer needs and improving what we've built in our Wisconsin stores.
2. Tools To Do A Better Job: While we will always be a hand-made company, there are devices and automation that will help us to meet consumer demands. We've purchased a bath bomb press and are quickly working to crank out enough bath bombs to get them back into the stores and to expand that area. A bottle filler and some larger soap making equipment is on the list to be purchased this year. This equipment will allow us to expand our product lines and make a much finer product out of our current offerings.
3. Expand to Colorado: It had been our initial intention to start out in Wisconsin, where our roots are, and then expand to Colorado, where my son is. As I write this I am sitting in the living room of an apartment/commercial work-space in Steamboat, Colorado. I'll be living here this year, making product and introducing The Brown Barn Bath Company to Colorado....a full year ahead of schedule. This was a difficult decision to make, leaving Alyssa (my business partner and daughter) in charge of our Wisconsin operation so she can institute her organic line and assist Jessica (our Director of Operations) in running the stores there; and leaving my husband for several months at a time so he can continue to run his business. On the flip side I get some precious time here with my twenty-two year old son as he finishes college. To me this is a precious gift.
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| My son, Tommy, at Colorado Mountain College, Steamboat. |
4. More Product, Better Product: We have already made a long list of what is to come this year, from Organics to improved Facial Care items to solid Bubble Bath to improved Lotions, we think you'll be pleased with our changes and new offerings. This is what drives Alyssa and I personally, we love to formulate!!
5. Improved Web-Site and Product Branding: This has been a real challenge area for myself. I've carved a firm block of time into my schedule each week for work in these areas. Hopefully soon you will see positive changes in our web-site. We are also working to bring a more professional image to our products and hope to have a solid brand established this year.
Are my dreams coming true? They just might be! Did this happen overnight or easily? No! High Hopes? Lofty Goals? I think so, but without our dreams, where would we be?
What are your dreams? Do you think they are unrealistic? My advice is to pick one thing you'd like to work on this year, break it down into miniscule, tiny steps and take that first awkward, tentative step forward. You won't regret it!
Here's to a wonderous 2012!
Chris Untiedt, Owner
The Brown Barn Company, LLC
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