Can I mention Christmas yet?

1st September today and I spent a good part of my day planning the Christmas line for 2008! Man I can’t believe we didn’t even have a summer (weather wise) and here I am now on the first of September thinking about making Christmas tree candles, getting a cinnamon headache and trying to get in front for the Christmas scented votive candles in bulk! I’ve got the seasonal shop page already designed for the website – I have some bits and pieces I need to make tomorrow and photograph asap … but it’s all good right now!

The weather has changed too. The evenings are starting to get dark by 8pm … it’s coming!

Orders have picked up again … cash flow is … well, it’s flowing! OMG FINALLY it is flowing! I checked the bank account today and the first customer payment that I processed a week ago has actually been paid into the account within the seven days that NetBanx promised!! I’m in a MUCH better position than I was a week ago … and by this time next week it should be even better too!! By the time the real run up to Christmas gets here … fingers crossed that … well, just fingers crossed! LOL

Middle Man Bollocks

I could run my business a LOT easier if it wasn’t for the middle men I have no choice but to use.

My phone and Internet went down at work recently. What could I do? Absolutely nothing!! We were out of touch with the outside world for several days and had to use my mobile number to call their “free phone” number … which isn’t actually free if you don’t have a frigging working phone line … and then rely on the person on the end of the phone to actually do what they had promised to do… which … 99% of the time (in my experience) they don’t!

I used to have quite a senior role in customer services for a utility company before I started my own business. I know what these people are thinking when they get a really stressy pissy person on the phone, so I always try to be as polite as possible because it isn’t THEIR fault that they work for a company who doesn’t manage to actually provide the service you are paying them for (well ok it is – they could get another job! LOL). Trouble is, when you are polite and nice … you are also easy to ignore. On the flip side if you then GET pissy with them … ooopsie look you got cut off.

I have been trying to set up a new merchant account for the last 4 weeks. It was supposed to take a week. Meanwhile customers are placing orders but I actually have no way of processing their credit cards until the new merchant account is in place. The whole idea of switching merchant is for cash flow reasons … ie I have NO CASH FLOW right now. My old merchant account took 28 days to pay the funds into my account … the new company will be just 7 days so it will make an enormous difference to the company accounts, but damnit it is taking TOO long to set up. I have been promised faithfully that I am on the “integration list” for Monday morning … I’d better be or I’m gonna be firing rockets under people’s asses!

How can I run a business without any cash flow whatsoever? I still have invoices coming in that I need to pay and no way of paying them until I can process my own incoming payments! Thing is … I’ve been a huge believer of “if you want it done properly, do it yourself” for so long … and that combined with my serious lack of patience … well GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR is the result when it’s something I can’t do without a middle man!