#2 - Wheeling and Dealing!

I've always been a firm believer in networking. It's important to connect with people for many reasons. It's not simply what they can do for you - and of course, what you can do for them - but it's also an opportunity to share ideas and infuse fresh energy into your business. I was fortunate to connect with the CEO of Swak Designs. It was enlightening to speak with someone else in the industry who was facing the same challenges but who was also pushing through with innovation and hard work. We were immediately drawn to each other's merchandise. As difficult as it is to find stylish plus size winter coats, it's almost impossible to find cute, cocktail dresses up to a 6X. Every Spring and Summer we struggle with that obstacle. Most dress suppliers stop at a size 24 and it's painful to watch our customers forced into something less fashionable because of their dress size.

After our phone conversation, we decided to make a trade. Coats for dresses. I am very happy to say that in the next few days we'll have some wonderful, affordable cocktail dresses arriving at Maximum Woman.

#1 - Filling Up the Wagon.

We used to have a landlord named Steven. He was a very wise, shrewd self-made millionaire of Chinese descent. Every time we went head to head with him on any issue, he won. He was a tiny little man who built his Electronics business by working 18 hours a day, and then carrying huge televisions on his little frame up giant staircases after a hard day's work. He would tell us that story every time it came to discussing our financial woes. As hard as we were having it, apparently he'd had it harder - and persevered.

Cindy and I will often look at each other during rough periods and remind each other of his favourite catch phrase "you can't sell empty wagon". He'd say it as he looked around our store, shaking his head disapprovingly. He was right of course. In order to be successful in business, you need to have something people want. After 4 years in business, we're pretty sure that sexy, sleeveless, skin tight tops in junior plus sizing are NOT what our customers want... but what then? The answer came to me shortly after I began this blog. My daily reflections were interrupted by another self made Chinese man. He was a manufacturer who designed coats and was interested in breaking into the plus size market. I agreed to meet with him and he brought some of the most stylish and trendy plus size coats I'd ever seen. While the sizing wasn't ideal, and the fit would need to be perfected - the potential was immediately evident. He gave us a great deal which we would be able to pass on to our customers, and generous terms, and we agreed to work together this season and in the future.

So we filled up our wagon and we've managed to sell close to 100 coats this month. This marks the first step in my 101 step journey.

On the Brink of Destruction: Situation Critical!

The past 14 months of mind numbing pain and chaos have tested my faith and belief in my business. The Recession or is it a Depression(?) of 2008/2009 has been unrelenting and almost more than my new, young business can handle. I remember starting Maximum Woman, along with my partner Cindy 4 years ago. We were so optimistic, so excited... this was our DREAM! We were going to throw ourselves into a world of entrepreneurship and save plus size women from their worst fears. We were going to bring trendy, stylish plus size clothing into the forefront - we were going to have solutions for problems - dresses for dressless women, boots for wide calves, coats for coatless women, lingerie for women who were bountiful and who still embraced their sensuality. We had a vision and we wanted to do it all.

We learned very quickly that there were going to be obstacles. As a small, independent boutique with no cash flow, no buying power, no marketing budget and a very limited number of suppliers who were not so plus size friendly - we had a quick introduction to the reality of business. It was ok though - certainly not anything that our enthusiasm couldn't overcome. We'd be creative and we'd win our customers over with customer service. We'd go above and beyond and do everything that we could to make things work. We'd find creative ways to market out business - like going on the Dragon's Den last Spring. We'd rely on word of mouth and we'd make sure that that word of mouth was overwhelmingly positive. We'd make our own clothing line overseas and make sure that we had the styles our customers wanted, in the sizes they needed, at the price they were willing to pay. And we'd do all this with a smile on our face.

We spent the first two years of our business overcompensating for everything we wanted to do but couldn't do properly. We'd drive across the city at 11pm to bring someone a dress, we'd express items in overnight at our cost so that our customers could have a top or dress they needed for an event. We'd drive hours away, across the border to pick up shipments that wouldn't be delivered to Canada. We sent personal emails and had in-store parties in an effort to connect with our customers. And our customers were wonderful and supportive and encouraging and patient, and then more patient and more understanding... and eventually confused and then eventually frustrated and disappointed. Why are the sizes cut so small? Why are there no 4 or 5xs? Where is the career wear/ jeans/boots/Babyphat (insert need here), when were the sweaters and coats coming in... was this all we had? And we apologized and explained, and apologized some more... we apologized so much that we couldn't keep up with what apologies we'd already used. We'd be apologizing about the lack of stock and explaining the situation when our customers would chime in "new stock is coming next week"... Uh huh, and make sure and come back... please... come back:)

We turned down the Dragons last Spring for $250,000 because they wanted half of what we saw as a great, growing business. We'd had sales of almost $700,000 in 2008 and we knew the potential was limitless. Unwilling to part with 50% of our company and coming off of a very successful dress season, we decided to go it alone and continue to grow our business as we always had. We opened a new beautiful store in Woodbridge and things were great. When the Recession started in September, we weren't prepared for what that would do to us. We had no contingency plan and although we'd faced many slow periods up until that point, we hadn't foreseen an all out economic shut down. Things spiraled downwards quickly for us as we attempted to save our first store from closing, while growing this new business. By Christmas we were holding on for dear life, resigned to the fact that we'd have to walk away from Woodbridge in order to save our business.

2009 has been an entire year of struggles. We've had to deal with some hard facts. Many of our suppliers have either gone bankrupt over the year, or have had to cut out their plus size division. Other plus size suppliers cut out their larger sizing and were behind with their own production. Even if we had the money, there was nothing to buy.

We've had a particularly slow Fall season and a very slow Christmas season. There are a lot of reasons - from a non-existent marketing budget and zero advertising, to a lack of inventory. Customers have been conditioned this year to shop sales and it's hard to get a fair price on anything that hasn't made it to the Clearance rack. As well, clothing isn't something people are buying at Christmas time. Women are shopping for their families and friends, not for themselves.

We worry about the fate of our business - wrestling with the decision to close our doors, or to push through. So in my final moments I'm asking myself, have I done all I can? Have I exhausted every avenue and given 110%? I know I've spent a lot of time agonizing over this business. I've wallowed in self pity, I've complained to friends and family, and I've stared at the wall in despair but was I proactive? Did I step up like a true Entrepreneur should during trying times? I guess I could do more. No, I KNOW I could do more. And at the end of the day I want to be able to say "I am a strong, resilient woman and I have made it!" So I've started this blog - 101 ways to save Maximum Woman. 101 contributions I can make to put the life back into my business, and the passion back into my life.