TO NSS OR NOT


I have been reading a lot of blog spots about the upcoming National Stationery Show and I thought I would share my thoughts on why I'm not attending this year. This is a picture of me at the NSS last year, which was my first year attending. You can read my post show thoughts about last year's show here. First off, I just got back from an exhausting week of partying and hanging out with family so I know there is no way I would be able to muster up the energy to go to NYC this weekend, but aside from that, there are some very concrete reasons I am not in attendance this year:
  1. I invested a sizable (for my little comany) amount of money in attending the show and traveling to NYC last year
  2. I did not make this money back. It is hard to put a value on contacts and networking, but I think that I can honestly say after a year, my investment was not returned
  3. I am investing my money else ware this year: my invitation line & advertising
  4. I thought long and hard about myself and my company last year. I thought about my personal strengths which translate into my company's strengths since I'm the only one here most of the time. I decided to play to my strengths for a year and see if that yielded a better return.
  5. I realized that my greatest strength is my one on one relationship with customers. I am very good at customer service and moreover, I love that part of the job.
  6. I really dislike dealing with stores. I really dislike having to call them and beg them to pay me. I know that it may sound self indulgent to say that, but having your own business is a very self indulgent thing to do anyways. That is why I started my own business, so that I could do what I want the way I want most of the time.
So, in a nutshell, I decided to play to my strengths this year and deal with my end customer one on one and see if this is the road my business should take. I think that going to the NSS last year was invaluable and so much fun, but I think it was a bit premature for me. I will get into wholesale more actively one day, but probably only after I can hire someone to manage it for me.

6 comments:

  1. southern dazeMay 14, 2009 at 12:33 PM

    Kudos to you for making a hard decision and I wish you the best of luck. After working with you one-on-one on several occasions I can say, without a doubt, that you will be successful! Your customer service is fantastic and I do believe it will be what takes you to the top :-)

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  2. marziMay 14, 2009 at 4:16 PM

    very nice post. looking forward to seeing what this year brings for you!

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  3. patricia zapataMay 14, 2009 at 4:39 PM

    Great post. I think that I would probably feel the same way if I were you. You're smart to focus on your strengths and following your gut. Good for you!

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  4. AnonymousMay 18, 2009 at 9:14 AM

    Great topic! Now that I know how you feel about NSS, how do you feel about an online showcase like Trunkt? Do you think it's worth the time and expense to get involved in?

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  5. Inkspot WorkshopMay 20, 2009 at 2:09 PM

    Your reasoning for not participating in the NSS makes complete sense to me. In fact, I'm starting to think shopping at brick and mortar stores is fastly becoming a thing of the past for items such as gifts and stationery. I would rather have the whole world as my customer, compared to the few people that might trickle into a store. I also feel the same way about craft fairs, although I love shopping at those:)

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  6. beautyparlerMay 26, 2009 at 6:43 PM

    Great post! Allow networking and marketing at those events are valuable I agree that financially for a small business that's money that can be used elsewhere. And your right good customer service spreads & I can say that you rock:) Goodluck & all the best!

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