Mums on the Run

Bought a used RV today and have two locations nailed down for homecoming season.  I am so excited to see this new chapter in my company begin.  Will be working on Remodeling the inside of the RV to usable store/works space over the next 6 weeks or so.  Then we will have it wrapped with company name and logo.

I am hopeful to nail down 3 more locations which is my goal for this year.  So much to do and so little time, but It will get done.  I will be posting regularly on how this new venture is going, the good, bad and ugly.

Charity Drabik
Owner
Texas Mums dba Mums on the Run

Schools need to join the 21st century

Communicating with schools and school districts is perhaps the most frustrating exercise someone can go through. In my business, I need to line up my delivery schedules based upon homecoming dates of the various schools. One would think this would be a relatively easy job. You would, however be wrong.

First instict is to go to the school's website where surely they have the schedule posted. You would be wrong. Some schools have moved into the 21st century and have nice websites where you can find information pretty easily. Of these schools, about half of them either have last year's schedule posted or do not have the schedule at all. Then there are those that have the schedule but do not indicate which game is their homecoming.

Some school districts like Dallas and Fort Worth have terrible websites where bare minimum information is posted. But at least the phone number is listed so you can call and get the information easily right? Wrong again. Do you know that it is less than a week before school starts with homecoming games beginning on September 10th for some schools and the schools cannot tell you when their homecoming date is?

Really!? With all the coordinating that has to take place to schedule the games, I cannot believe that the school's athletic directors do not have the dates of the games.

So now what to do? I guess I will rely on you to tell me when your school's homecoming is.

Spirt Braid Instructions

Hear is a simple braid to add to your homecoming mum.

Spirit Braid Instructions

Supplies for 36” Braid

2 yds #5 color 1

2 yds #5 color 2

Step 1. - Take 2 yds of color 1 and fold in half. Open up and fold down into a point (see example 1)

Step 2. – Staple the other 2 yds of ribbon (#3) underneath Ribbon 1 and over ribbon 2. See example 2.

Step 3 – Fold Ribbon 3 underneath ribbon 2 and on top of Ribbon 1. See Example 3.

Step 4 – Continue with ribbon 3 folding underneath ribbon 1 and over ribbon 2

Step 5 – Continue Steps 3 and 4 until finished. Staple or glue ribbon to keep together.

Expanding my homecoming Mum Business

It is always a difficult decision on when to expand a business. With a weak economy it is even more challenging to decide to expand, knowing that it could spell disaster. With two full years behind me in servicing Walgreens Dallas/Fort Worth area stores, There is definite room for improvement but also lots of room for profits.

I am now expanding my operation to Austin. With expanding to Austin comes the difficulty of new schools that I have no experience with and the need to rely on the Austin Area Walgreens to ensure I have the right colors. I enter this new area with some trepidation, but also look at it as a golden opportunity to fix past mistakes and have better working relationships with these stores.

This will be a challenging year, but I am looking forward to the challenge!

Student Advisory Board

Looking for students who what to drive what is "IN" for mum trinkets, ribbons and other specialty items. It is time to restock for the season and you can be a part of the fun. Interested, send email to charity@dfwmums.com

Dealing with the retail world

Boy, the retail world is much more difficult and complicated than you would imagine working with. I realize now that I need to research how the retail world works so that I can negotiate better terms for myself.

Communication is definitely key, but more importantly is that information moves down to the ones responsible. In The Walgreens family, that has proved to be very tricky indeed. It is interesting that the store employees are limited in what they can receive on the computer. They cannot go to any website so reviewing my information online is not an option. Furthermore, I do not get good response to email.

Who in the misdt of a busy season has time to call 80 stores and talk to the managers about the program? I sure don't and on a tight budget hiring someone did not look like a good idea. Now, however, I can see the benefits of having someone full-time to do the tasks I don't have time to do because it is my life blood.

We should have first week's results soon and that will help us tweak the remaining weeks.

For now it is off to managing the homecoming process. . . Oh what Fun!

Frustrations and learning curves

I have become frustrated as of late because the retailer has not met their end of the agreement. We were asked to provide 80 stores with homecoming mums, we were given a list of the stores wishing to participate in the programs and now we are getting grief from some Managers who are less than excited about putting the homecoming mums out on their floor. Part of the deal was that we would guarantee the mums provided that the manager placed information on their reader board that they have mums. You probably guessed by now, but very few of them have followed through with this either.

I try not to worry about it because there is not much I can do about it right now and I am putting my trust in God and what the outcome will be, but it is difficult. The first homecoming dates will be this Friday and this will hopefully be a good outcome on the sales.

What I have learned so far is to have a better agreement and We will be structuring the deals differently next time.