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OK, here we are.  The moment of the summer I’ve been waiting for.  Drum roll please… Oh just a sec.  So as not to seem like the worst, most insensitive, workaholic mother in the world, let me first say that nothing gives me greater joy, emotion or excitement than the thought of seeing my son and daughter today (yes, today!) after them being gone at camp for 7 weeks.  But it’s because of the time they spent on their “vacation” that I’m even able to make my announcement.  So back to it.  Drum roll one more time… We’ve just released our COOL FOR SCHOOL, HIP FOR HOLIDAY / AUGUST 2010-JANUARY 2011 CATALOG!!!  Items won’t be up on www.likewear.com until the end of this week, but for now, you can download the new catalog here http://www.likewear.com/LikeWear-Collection-8-hirez.pdf.  And the crowd goes wild.  Well, at least it does in the LikeWear office.

Each time we design a new Collection, it definitely gets easier.  But it continues to amaze me how many hours go into catalog layout (let alone all the creative development, art time, photography and Photoshop work that goes in before even getting to print time).  We’ve established somewhat of a “look” to our catalog pages and our graphics and clothing styles but we always try to keep it fresh and interesting.  Last week, our summer intern looked up from the catalog pages she was proofreading and asked Ken and I if we were ever afraid we’d run out of ideas.  We both answered simultaneously, “Never.”

We’re not concerned about coming up with new ideas – only with the limit on our time to make them all a reality!  Maybe it’s because we’re both somewhat “creatively obsessive” – meaning our brains never seem to shut down (and that’s an entirely different topic fit for its own post) so we’re always throwing out ideas – always.  But the key to always having new ideas is to feel confident in dreaming them up AND throwing them out there.

Was I forever this way?  Well, I think I’ve always had a creative side or streak in me that was never fully exercised until starting LikeWear.  But I was not always as self-assured (or comfortable is probably more accurate) in launching out new ideas that could potentially be denied, dismissed or laughed at.  Let’s face it, no one likes to feel rejection – even if it’s only for an idea.  Interestingly though, I’ve learned that those of us not born with the creative confidence trait can actually learn to develop it.  As you create (with whatever it is in your life that you’re doing – new recipes, interesting outfits, a unique fundraising idea) and those “creations” are positively received, that positive reinforcement seeps into your soul to make you even more confident to continue to keep trying new ideas.  And so the inspirational cycle goes…

I’ve experienced this kind of development in my own creativity and I’ve watched it firsthand with my kids over the past few years that we’ve had LikeWear.  They’ve witnessed a constant barrage of new ideas being tossed around and even more importantly, they’ve seen the open-minded way that Ken and I usually receive each other’s brainstorms (actually, Ken will say I’m not always so open as I usually already have my own distinct vision for things.  But that too is a topic for another time!).  As a result of living in this kind of environment, I’ve noticed my kids unabashedly offering up ideas, suggestions and creative solutions in ways they never have before.  I get a warm feeling inside every time I hear one of them start to say, “How about we try something like…”

So what comes first?  The ideas or the “creative comfortability”?  Fortunately I think it can and often does work both ways.  If you believe in what you do and what you create, others will see the value in it too and you’ll feel confident to continue thinking outside your box.  And if you are a good, constructive, open-minded listener you will not only help others to have the confidence to keep on keepin’ on in the creative department, but you will likely also spark additional ideas for yourself.  Kind of like creative karma.  We all have more good ideas than we think.  Throw ‘em out there!  Oh yeah, and when you’re done, don’t forget to check out LikeWear’s new catalog!

“You what?  Work with your husband?  And you work out of your house??  Are you serious?!?!” I’ve been asked these questions countless times over the past 3 ½ years since my husband, Ken, and I started LikeWear.  These questions are almost always followed (once the asker has been able to close their mouth from the incredulity of the idea) with the statement, “My husband and I could NEVER be in business together.  It just wouldn’t work.  And neither would our marriage.”

Sometimes I’m even surprised myself at how Ken and I have been able to work together and that our marriage seems to be stronger because of it.  But, it definitely hasn’t been easy.  No siree.  Managing a business with your spouse introduces all kinds of additional financial pressures and responsibilities on top of those that already exist with maintaining a household and raising children.  It takes a lot of time, money and work to get a new business going – and even more to keep it going.

The hardest part of working together inside the house has been separating work and personal life.  The lines are always blurred.  And although I think we both do a pretty good job of keeping that work vs. family line in focus, there’s always room for improvement.  The challenge comes in because there is never a natural end to the work day as most of the work is being done literally out of our house.   And as owners of a new, entrepreneurial business, there’s always more to do than the two of us can physically accomplish.  So, it’s often a conscious, planned effort to pull away and focus on our kids, our outside interests and even ourselves.

So, just how do we make it work?  What advice would I give to other couples looking to work together? 

• First and probably foremost, if you don’t have a strong relationship and/or don’t truly enjoy being with each other, don’t go into business together.  The issues and stresses of running a business together are often too much for a marriage/relationship to handle.  That said, if you do have a stable base upon which to build, the combined focus and connection you share for the business can actually increase your bond.
• Time management is critical.  But, try to be respectful of what’s important (both personally and professionally) to your spouse.  What’s significant to you may be very different than what’s significant to them.
• In addition to being committed to each other, make sure you are both equally committed to the business.  In other words, you both REALLY have to believe in it and be prepared to share the workload.  Equally.  That includes housework and homework.
• Do your best to separate business and personal life when you can.  Both are very important and need dedicated time - particularly if you have kids.  It may help to “schedule” personal time if you never seem to be able to get around to taking time off.  And definitely don’t forget those date nights!
• Remember that you are “co-workers” (at least during office hours) and it’s not always appropriate to treat each other as significant others - particularly if you have other employees working with you.  I’m referring to both PDA as well as personal jabs or insults that don’t have a place in a work context.
• When things get tough (and they will) try to remind each other of what you have been able to accomplish as opposed to all that still needs to be done.  Being supportive means being there for each other.  Everyone can’t operate at 110% all of the time, so help to gather each others “slack”.

 
Admittedly, working with your husband or wife is not a typical scenario.  And working alongside each other out of your home makes the situation even more unusual.  So, even if you follow the tips above, a shared working /home scenario is not always a smooth reality.  But I’ve never been one to shun hard work or take the easy way out.  Things that come easily aren’t as meaningful as those that require effort.  And I plan to keep reminding myself of that over every bump we hit on our uphill climb – but not, of course, during date night.

I’ve been doing a lot of interviews lately.  Most of the questions I’m asked, although very good ones, have been pretty much the same.  But this week during a Q&A with a blogger, I was asked something that no one had ever inquired about before:  “What was the best business decision you’ve made so far since starting LikeWear?”  My answer was spontaneous as we were on the phone and I was not prepped ahead of time with what I would be asked.  Without so much as a split second thought, my response was: “keeping my business run from my house.”

When my husband Ken reads this answer he will surely be shocked as I’m constantly complaining about how each day LikeWear seems to take over another square foot of our living space.  Not to mention the concerns I have over our lack of privacy with the parade of employees we have in and out of our front door each day.  And then there’s the havoc caused to my type A psyche with all the clutter, noise and general disarray as a natural result of so many operational functions operating out of my home sweet home.

But, the idea of moving the business out of our house into its own home, just doesn’t sit well with me right now.  We’ve been able to stay very lean and cost conscious because we don’t have additional overhead, maintenance and extra staffing to worry about, which an outside office would demand.  And yes, our in-house warehousing space is limited but it’s forced us to maintain modest inventory levels so we don’t end up with overruns and large quantities of unused merchandise at the end of each season.  And certainly, we have lots of people in and out of our house on a regular basis, but that has required us to only hire people we really trust and can rely on.  And last but definitely not least, as a mother, having my business run from my house has meant being able to physically be around for my kids.  LikeWear’s birth originated from my small time hobby and rather quickly became a part-time job which then blossomed into a full-time job and which has now evolved into what often feels like an all-the-time job.  But, I’m at home while I’m doing it.  Working “all the time” outside of the house is not something I’m mentally prepared to do at this stage.

So for now as I grumble about the chaos, clutter and claustrophobic working conditions, I’ll continue to remind myself that when it comes to running a business, for me, there’s no place like home.

Summer is finally here!  It’s a time to hopefully relax a bit, and even if you have a job aside from LikeWear, take a break from all the sports practices, carpooling and kid chaos so that you can recharge the “mom battery” before school starts up again.  As a mom, I feel like my “year” begins when school does.  As such, I find the summer is a perfect time to not only reflect back (usually on how fast the year went by!) but also to plan ahead for what I’d like to change or do differently – and most importantly, what I’d like to accomplish – during the upcoming school year.  And the best way to accomplish something is by setting goals.  I liken goal setting to driving to a particular destination… if you don’t know where you’re going, you probably won’t get there.  But if you do know where you want to go, it’s pretty easy to map out some directions J.

With this in mind, I encourage all of you to join me over the next few weeks to set some goals for your LikeWear business.  Whether it’s to save enough money to pay for camp tuition for next summer, earn enough to cover a car payment each month, add 3 members to your team, use social media to drive sales to your web site, etc., I’d like to map out a plan with you to make it happen.  Communication, in any business, is so important.  We are in touch with many of you but  I’d like to be in touch with MOST of you regularly.  No pressure, of course, but over the next few weeks, Ken and I would like to try to help you turn your goals into an achievable action plan.  In other words, you tell us “what” you want to accomplish and we’ll help you to figure out “how”.  We’ve got a lot of learning as to what works best and we have some VERY exciting stuff coming for Back-To-School.

And, don’t ever feel that what you’d like to accomplish is not doable – with the right planning, it is.  I recently watched the remake of Alice in Wonderland with my kids (ya know the bizarre one with Johnny Depp) and I immediately identified with a particular line the Red Queen says to Alice: “Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”.  I’ve seen the original animated version no less than 200 times as it was one of Samantha’s favorite movies when she was a toddler, but never even “heard” the line before.  I guess that’s because when she was a toddler it was hard for me to think about anything clearly before breakfast, let alone something seemingly out of reach!  But now, after starting LikeWear (a seemingly impossible business idea) and seeing exactly how many women have been positively affected and motivated by it (a still shocking number to me that grows each month), I have been forever changed to continue to not only dream up the impossible but continue to make those dreams a reality – and try to help other women to do the same.

I invite you all to join me in doing some thinking, financial planning and/or soul-searching so that when we talk we can best strategize to help you make your dreams a reality.  I look forward to talking with each of you soon (and in the meantime, don’t hesitate to call me first!).

I’m a pleaser by nature (ya know, first child and all). I try to avoid conflict until a confrontation is absolutely necessary. And, I don’t like saying no to people. But I have aged to the realization that in the real world (business world included) you can’t expect to make everyone happy, say yes all the time or always avoid confrontation. My skin has definitely thickened over the past year… but sometimes it can still be hard to stand up and stand out. But if you do what is honest and right, I believe you’ll always end up a winner.

There’s been a lot of buzz lately on the direct sales industry as a haven for those seeking employment in these trying economic times. Makes sense. Be it full or part-time, the direct sales industry is unique in that it is always hiring. There is also unlimited upside earning potential and little or no chance of being downsized. But, like any job, the key to success is doing something you enjoy. So, the tricky part is figuring out which direct sales company is the best fit. Of course most of this is based on what the company is selling. If you don’t believe in the product, everything else doesn’t really matter. To me, the best way to determine if you are a good representative candidate is to ask yourself, “Would I want to buy that product if someone else was showing it to me?” If the answer is yes then that is a company worth looking into. You want to feel like you have found something worth sharing, not just selling.

Of course there are other factors to consider when choosing which direct sales company is the right one for you – initial investment, personal sales volume minimums, e-commerce options, compensation plan specifics, corporate mission/culture/personality and market saturation. Established “big name” direct sales companies equate to tradition, history, evolved policy, procedure and hopefully security. So, the more representatives a company has signed, the better off you are, right? Maybe.

Companies with hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of independent sales representatives like Tupperware, Avon, Mary Kay and Pampered Chef are very well known and they make a great product, but…their markets are becoming increasingly saturated. It might be difficult to book parties, obtain referrals or generate significant sales because interested customers may already have a rep they purchase from or are already familiar with these products and services. I want to be clear in that I do not in any way want to give the impression that it is fruitless to investigate joining companies like Avon and Tupperware. I am suggesting however that there may be greater opportunity and potential for impact with a newer organization.

I realize I’m not the most objective observer on this topic given that I am CEO and co-founder of a relatively new direct sales company that sells merchandise no one else in the industry offers. I also realize that as a young business that is still in a soft launch phase, LikeWear doesn’t have much history or experience to draw from. We haven’t instituted our multi-level compensation plan and we’re selling something new that most consumers are not familiar with. But, largely due to that originality, we’ve attracted the attention of Tootsie Roll Industries, General Mills and Honda with whom we currently have licensing deals. And we continue to get noticed by other companies interested in promoting their brands in the fun, innovative and timely way that LikeWear offers. I mean who better to market their brands than moms with kids?

With so many women looking in and being directed towards the direct selling industry nowadays, we hope to continue to attract women looking to be founding members of an inventive company offering a unique career opportunity in an industry being heralded as the right place to be. So if you are considering direct sales as a career option, I suggest you ask yourself, “Do you want to be one of many… or the first of many?”

I’m a “soft salesperson”. I don’t like to be too pushy, suggestive or aggressive in my selling style. I don’t believe those tactics help you to have higher sales, but they absolutely can turn people off and may in fact even prevent sales from happening in the first place!

That said, I still try to stress to our rep force that you want yourself (and your LikeWear business) to be top of mind to your contacts and customers - but not in their face. You want to be thought of - certainly while you are having a house party or are participating in a local vendor event - but also when someone needs a gift or is ready to do some seasonal shopping for their children. A very effective - and subtle - way to continually stay top of mind and promote your business is to “advertise” in an email signature.

All of our independent sales reps have their own web sites/stores so I suggest creating a signature for emails that includes a live link to their store address (this also goes for communication coming from mobile devices like Blackberry, iPhone, etc.).

I think many of our reps are surprised by how many people click on their links just out of curiosity. Think about how many emails you send out in a week, in a day, in an hour! Even if your email communication is not business related, with every note sent, you can brand your business and provide an easy and subtle opportunity to convert someone into a customer.

April is a great time for house parties. The month is the official start to the new season. It’s when people do spring cleaning – especially in their kids’ closets. It’s the time to retire the stained, ripped and outgrown clothes from the winter to make way for new ones. There are end of the year teacher gifts to purchase, mothers to shop for in preparation for their upcoming day of honor and camp trunks to start packing. In other words, it’s shopping season!

We like to think of LikeWear as not your typical direct sales company as we differ in many ways from most of the companies in the industry. However, there is one very important concept that all direct sales companies share: house parties. The more sales events that a rep has/attends, the bigger their network becomes and the greater the potential for more sales events, more parties and more sales, etc., etc, etc.

In fact, so many LikeWear independent sales reps are hosting or organizing house parties this month that I thought it was important to reiterate our Hostess Rewards Program and guidelines in this week’s Monday Morning Message, excerpted below:

LikeWear funds the Hostess Program for Catalog reps. We do not provide hostess benefits for Cash & Carry sales events (due to their higher discounted “wholesale” price), however, we strongly recommend that C&C reps follow these same guidelines.

House parties are a primary way to grow your business and you want to encourage people (friends, relatives, neighbors, customers, etc.) to want to host them for you. When people host sales events for you, they are doing you a huge favor and helping you to promote your business and generate sales. As such, they deserve something special for their efforts! Everyone likes to get discounts and credits on their purchases – even if they are your sister or your best friend!! In fact, you should explain what a hostess earns to any interested customers (or even with a flyer or table display card) in an effort to line up additional home sales events. The more sales events you have/attend, the bigger your network becomes and the greater your potential for more sales events, more parties and more sales, etc., etc.

The LikeWear Hostess Rewards Program is :

• One half-priced item – party hostesses are entitled to one half-priced item as a “thank you” gift (this should be the most expensive item that the hostess is purchasing that day)
o This discount is applied to full price items only
• Hostess Credit - $5 credit for every $100 spent at the party
o This is calculated once the party is over and all sales for the event have been totaled (i.e., a sales event that generates $1,238.00 will earn the host/hostess a $60 credit)
o Purchases made by the hostess do not count toward total party sales
o This credit is to be used towards the hostess’ purchases that day (this credit is not transferrable nor can it be held over and used towards a future purchase)
o This credit cannot be applied to their half-priced item
• Free Shipping on all hostess orders (we waive the $3 flat rate house party shipping fee)
• Exclusive Access to Sales, Specials and Discounts – although we have not implemented this part yet, we fully intend to in the near future!

As mentioned, the hostess credit and half-priced item are funded by LikeWear if you are a Catalog rep. It is very important to properly note the house party identifier on all orders originating from the same party so that we can calculate total party sales (and the accompanying hostess credit) properly. Similarly, please make sure to indicate which order from the party is that of your hostess so that we can also apply the half-priced item discount as well as the earned hostess credit.

As a Cash & Carry rep, the hostess credit and half-priced item are funded by you and should be treated as a cost of doing business – a very important and worthwhile cost. Keep in mind that as a Cash & Carry rep, these hostess rewards are just guidelines. You are permitted to alter them as you wish but know that the above is what we recommend.

In concluding this Monday Morning Message, remember: the more hostesses you have, the more rewarding your business will be! Don’t forget to mention the Hostess Rewards Program during any sales events you have – your best potential host is a happy current customer!!!

It has evolved and developed over the past few months. So many have awaited its arrival. It is a composite of blood sweat and tears - a piece of me and a piece of Ken. We even had what seemed like Braxton Hicks contractions over the past few weeks – ya know like a false start that faked everyone out. I am talking about the release of our Collection 5 Spring/Summer ’09 catalog!

Well, to be more accurate, it’s actually in “sell sheets” format – a layout, if you will, from which the official catalog will be printed. We’ve released it to our independent sales rep force for their use to sell-in the line to boutique retail stores and to generate some buzz (and even pre-orders) from customers. The additional sets of eyes (besides just Ken and I’s!) have proven to be helpful in catching any typos or errors before the official catalog is printed. Amazingly, you can get a little fuzzy on the details when you’re doing this kind of work at 3am!!

This is the 5th time we’ve done this - catalogs anyway (I’m not including the birth of our 3 children in this count!) - and I must say it does not get any easier. Given that neither Ken nor I have any real background in catalog production, we’ve both certainly learned a tremendous amount (and if I do say so myself, improved the final result an even more tremendous amount) since Collection 1. That said, there are so many bumps along the way… blurry photography – go back and reshoot, too many pink tank tops – go back and redesign, not enough options for boys – research and find new blank garments (and ones that meet all our strict criteria!), licensors have changes to the creative – rework designs, resubmit and “re-wait” for approval. The entire process is 2 steps forward, 5 steps back. It is so difficult not to lose your footing along the way. Especially when there are so many other things to work on simultaneously… web site construction and launch, new Consumer Product Safety Commission guidelines that directly impact our business, implementing a new accounting program, updating and modifying our GuideBook, staying in touch and motivating our sales force, attracting new independent sales representatives, etc. But, all those other things really mean nothing if there is no product to show and sell, so completion of the catalog had to resurface as our top priority.

We’ve now entered the post birth groggy phase where all you can do is stare in awe with bleary, exhausted love-struck eyes at what has been created. A little dramatic? Perhaps. But it’s hard for us not to be excited about LikeWear’s Collection 5. You can download a copy of it here. It’ll also be up on the website soon. Oh yeah, and please let us know if you find any typos!

I’m incredibly proud (and often awestruck) that we’ve been able to say we are going to make things happen and then watch those said things actually become a reality. Like finding a bookkeeper, deciding on a company to manufacture private labels and another to sew them in, reconfiguring our warehouse space, obtaining new licensors, advertising for and adding to our independent representative sales force, designing and producing new creative concepts, art files and heat transfer images etc., etc. All of these accomplishments are the result of hard work, deep concentration, intense strategizing, a fair amount of stress and more than a few arguments!

Our most recent milestone has been the launch of our revised website. The new site not only has e-commerce functionality (which it did not have before), but it also allows for personalized “web stores” for each of our reps. Aside from a minor advisory role, I must say that I had very little to do with the website’s creation. The whole enchilada was a “Ken thing”. He worked tirelessly (okay that’s not completely true given that most of the website work occurred between 1 and 3am) to ensure that it would all be in place and ready in time for the upcoming season.

I mentioned that I had very little to do with the site’s actual construction, but I must also confess that I did not allow myself to get too excited about the whole website thing because I just couldn’t fathom how we were going to get everything in place and running within the timeframe we had hoped. I am so excited (okay beaming a bit) to be able to finally have this very timely and important selling and advertising method in place. I think it will exponentially increase the income potential of our reps and hopefully enable us to be found by what I hope are a jazillion online shoppers through web and google-type searches.

And, perhaps most relevant to what I’m doing literally right now, we have changed hosts and moved “Blog What You Like” to www.likewear.com/blog. Just like blogspot (former host), there is a way to subscribe to the feed (if you so desire). Not that there was anything wrong with blogspot… we just needed to keep everything under one roof - so to speak.

With all that said, we will continue to set goals. A part of me knows that we can’t always make it all happen (despite all of our best efforts) and even if we do make it happen it won’t always be on time. I also know that Ken and I have set our bar pretty high. We like that high bar – it keeps us moving forward. We just have to remember to keep looking back at the same time to be aware and proud of the work that has already been done. At the moment, it’s marveling at www.likewear.com - shop on.