My Tale of Woe

I figure if I'm going to crow about the windfalls it's only fair I let you in on the pitfalls as well. On Friday, while enjoying the first hours of a family vacation, I noticed that I had missed a phone call and there was a message waiting for me. Turns out one of the shop owners that had placed an order with Boston Baked Beads last month at the Boston Gift Show had a change of heart and decided to cancel their order. I returned the call immediately and the owner confessed that although she was in love my work she just wasn't sure her clientele had the pocketbook for it. For the record, I honestly don't believe she was hinting for me to reduce her cost - which I wouldn't offer any way. I do think she got caught up in the excitement of an interesting new find and lost touch of her target market's budget. My work is meticulously crafted and unique and priced accordingly. Truly a cottage industry, my business is all about creating hand crafted wearable works of art in small lots using original designs exclusive to Boston Baked Beads. And that kind of work takes time, expertise, skills and creativity. My prices are determined by a formula that considers my production material, construction time, overhead, packaging and more. Although this situation was disappointing it wasn't the end of the world. I'll learn from it and move on. I'm not even mad at this vendor (can't say I felt the same way Friday) - I'd like to think in the future we'll find a fit together. Like my good friend Irene says "and so a new chapter in business begins"!