Forcing VS Allowing: A Winning Mindset

Check it out, Paw Pets got an amazing review in Bark Magazine! I'd like to say that it was purely due to the quality of the toys but it took a lot of hard work to get this review.

Most great things require a lot of hard work but recently I've been working on "allowing" things to happen instead of "forcing" them. I am preparing to leave for a week and I have a list of more things to get done than I can possibly do. I could easily turn into a tornado flying through tasks with reckless abandon and an eye only on getting things done. But today I am staying calm, relaxed, and focused.

I try to remind myself that I am at my best when I move deliberately rather than trying to multitask a million things at once and "make" things happen. Rather, everything works better if I move in a calculated way through logical thought processes, identify the problems or solutions, think how best to begin or make changes, and then take action. Sometimes it's hard to stop the brain from running at a million miles an hour and controlling you and it's hard to relax our bodies while we move through the tasks and related stresses of the day. But it is counterproductive to panic or operate without focus. I pride myself on my ability to do many things at once and work my way through almost any situation but today I am allowing myself the space to move at a slower productive pace, knowing that everything will work out as it should.

I must also note that I am awaiting a shipment of Paw Pets from my puppet maker, Moe, so that we can distribute them to stores for their holiday purchases. I WANT to make sure that all of the stores get their Paw Pets as soon as possible for holiday sales and I WANT to get this done before I leave on my trip. But there is nothing I can do at this point to expedite the process or FORCE the Paw Pets to arrive. So instead of fighting, stressing, tensing and forcing my way through the day and through this issue, I am going to work hard all day, get done what I can get done, and allow myself the peace of knowing that the Paw Pets will arrive when they do and that they will sell like crazy as soon as they hit the stores (especially since we just got two HUGE features in the holiday issues of THE BARK, pictured above, and Animal Wellness Magazine)!

Layers of Brand Identification and Equity

Crocobob is one of our first two Paw Pets, which you probably already know but a re-introduction is always better than none at all. We created cartoons in order to increase the level of product identification for children and adults who care that Paw Pets are more than just a toy. But what is that really worth? How does one judge the value of having a cartoon, or company that goes beyond the obvious to create layers of brand equity? It's tough because you can't track sales or quantify results... so what do you do?

I'm sitting in a coffee shop working on Advanced Financial Management (a class for my MBA) and I can't help but think about my real company and if I'll actually use the formulas... I am now memorizing how to find over and under-applied overhead costs, overhead rates, weighted average process costing method and direct material and labor variances etc. and I CAN actually see the real world connection to my business.

These are things I WILL be calculating when my business grows, these are things I could be quantifying but will not. Why you ask? My answer is clear and it's because I am in charge of marketing and sales. Once we have figured out that our margin is good enough to keep us in business then making predictions as a young company isn't worth the time; things just change too quickly. Please don't tell my partner I said this because he lives for these things and is constantly reminding me that we aren't out of the red yet. We've been in business just over a year so this situation is not only common but if your business is doing well you are probably deeper in debt because you have placed re-orders and are spending on advertising etc. for the next big push.

Although it's difficult to see the value of "qualifyable" things, such as a logo or name and the associations attached to them, they are the soul of your business. If a company goes public you can immediately see what this soul is worth because the value of the company must now be judged as a whole, not just as a reflection or balance of assets, sales and the quantifiable. Think of Coca Cola and ask yourself if you think that their logo is worth more than all of their other assets? (I would argue it is, and so much so that it's actually a silly question)

Crocobob now has a story, written by a high school student in a contest that I set up. Her whole family went out and bought a Crocobob and so did her friends and their friends. Now, Crocobob isn't just a toy named after my business partner (which is already one layer beyond just being a product) he is a vegetarian crocodile that hangs out with a dancing pink hippo and a lost purple shark. This identity came from a young mind and now when she, her family, her friends or anyone who knows the story sees that little green toy, they will be filled with excitement and have a story to tell their friends and others that I will soon call "customers".

So always make sure that your are weighing in more than just the quantifiable and constantly think about the intangible aspects of business. If you are a chart person, make a 3 dimensional chart with 3 axis and plot points for your sales and growth but also plot the value of your brand equity, relationships and the rest of the intangibles that make businesses successful.