First things first. Does anybody have some money that they're not using any more? If you do, mail it to Downeast Cider House. If you've ever been 23 years old with no assets, no credit history, no true source of income, and asked a bank for a handsome loan for a specialized piece of hard cider packaging equipment you know how we feel. If you haven't, don't try. There is no professionalism. The bank will actually laugh in your face. This is a small sample of our ongoing battle to package our cider for off-premise purchase. It's okay though, we'll prevail.
In general, everything has been going great. We've been experiencing steady growth, enough to give us what I'm going to call "good" problems. When we were first starting, someone told us that the biggest surprise they had faced was the amount of kegs they needed, and the cost of those kegs. That was not a lie. We bought the amount of kegs we thought would cover about 25 accounts, which was in the ballpark of 100 kegs. It takes about four kegs to supply one account because an account might get low on a keg, order another, and have two in transit. For whatever reason this math cannot be relied upon. We couldn't fully fill our last order, so we bought a slew of new kegs. We also ran out of tap handles, and ordered a bunch of those. We are now praying that those orders come in before we are faced with any scenario in which an account would be left high and dry. It's good that we're looking at demand outpacing supply instead of the other way around, but it's still disappointing that after all the warnings we still left ourselves short. In a perfect world we'd have heaps of money that we could sink into kegs and cans and all that good stuff, while still bathing in working capital. In reality it's become a matter of weighing the various options, making an educated decision, and hoping that if something goes wrong we can work our way out of trouble.
(This next paragraph contains personal reflections and possible life lessons, if that isn't your style, feel free to skip it)
I am coming to find that there are two main tasks that go into starting a business: working and making decisions. The working part is easy. When you are creating a business that you care about, and have a passion for, it is easy to work for it. When I used to write philosophy papers in college, all I cared about was getting them done and getting a good grade. That kind of work is excruciating. Working on something you are excited about isn't really work at all. The hard part of the job is making decisions. Every day we are faced with an endless list of decisions, many of which involve the balance of spending money and being prepared (but under-capitalized) versus saving money and risking a setback. We can only hope that we make enough good decisions to keep moving forward. Like someone told us (I believe it was Tom First, co-founder of Nantucket Nectars), starting a business is like climbing a mountain. You work and work and work and come to a fork in the trail. If you make the wrong decision, you could end up off the path, with your only option being to fight off the thicket and make your way back to the beaten path. Sometimes you think you're at the top of the mountain, but as you crest the peak you realize it's only a foothill and there's actually a long way to go. Other times you think you're stagnant and you look back and say wow, I've actually come pretty far. That person also said that as long as you keep fighting, anyone can make it to the top of the mountain as long as they keep trudging along, some just do it quicker than others. That's certainly a metaphor that I like to think of whenever we face any kind of discouragement. It also seems like that's a pretty good way to live your life no matter what you do. I just thought I should share it.
I'll end this by saying that all this cider stuff is well and good, but if the Patriots don't win the superbowl it won't matter. I just don't know how I'll go on living. When Lee Evans was holding the football in the endzone, which, if the clock in my head is correct, was for about 35 minutes, I believe I had my first mild heart attack. There is no way that I won't die on the spot if I see that goofy creature Eli wearing a superbowl hat and t-shirt. Words cannot describe how upset I'll be, so I won't try. Lets leave it there.
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