Do I extend my product line?

Liz
You have just been given the opportunity to extend product range by client demand.
Do it!
Test it with other clients.

You can always go back to original range but yes defiantly expand range to test market.

 

Haha, I know EXACTLY what you mean, and I'm exactly the same. Way too much procrastination, working only when I feel like it & then doing long hours to catch up.

 

Okay - a day of head scratching research to find all the ingredients and suitable moulds online (nothing in the local stores) ... hope to have some sample batches of "wine gums" out by the end of the month

 

Yay let us know how they turn out

 

... which is exactly why do many people don't succeed in business. Perseverance, stubborn doggedness and adaptability.

6 (or was it 7) batches and variations later and the wine gum recipe is still not right ... tomorrow is another day to keep experimenting.

 

Lizzie, expand you product range, BUT look very carefully at your monthly stock turns and your Sales Vs Stock reports.

Don't go nuts, but at the same time try and do, say, 1 stock turn per month.

That's always a nice thing...

 

Good advice, Ted ... don't think I've got a problem as I am frequently "running out" of stock and have to spend several days flat out making more ... like at the moment.

Part of that is procrastination - and partly because I don't like holding excess stock, being food items (even if it does have a very long shelf life) - and partly because I don't have a huge amount of storage space.

I like to keep enough on hand that if I get my usual Queensland order - plus normal orders from my local outlets - I can fill them all within the week ... but that usually entails more cooking anyhow.

Very rarely does my on-hand stock become more than a month old - shelf life of 12 months

 

Lizzie, just chucking this in to see if it cooks (and not telling you how to do your thing)... your post indicates you're not keeping enough stock.

If it rarely lasts a month, has a shelf life of 12 months, some consideration should be given more storage space.

Because you don't like holding excess stock, then dip your foot in the water and hold an extra 10 - 20% of a month's sales.

There's not a lot of things in running a business that annoy an owner/manager more than having a bunch of backorders that can't be filled due to out-of-stocks...

 

It is a balancing act ... over the last three days I've made around 1,000 products to bring stock levels up to somewhere I'm comfortable with.

My main "large" orders come from Queensland, but might be months between them. When the order arrives it's for around 400-500 in one hit ... so really a juggling act. Fortunately all my outlets know I'm a one man band so are happy to wait for the 5 business days. My only problems come when I'm running low and my container supplier runs out of stock in Melbourne! I really need to keep on top of keeping a good supply of containers.

 

Good for you, Lizzie. I'm a (very very, if not the #1) long time lurker on SS, meaning I've been round the block numerous times, and I think you should put together a "how I did it" post for this Small Business forum as it would be very helpful.

Furthermore, it would be helpful for an addendum for other posters and lurkers to be exposed to a "how I avoided stuffing it up, and made a living with a good business idea" thread.

And I'd really like to see a thread, not necessarily from Lizzie (obviously), in this SB forum with the ultimate mea culpa " How I Stuffed It Up, and Why Didnt I Listen?" as it would certainly help a heap of newbies about to take the leap.

 

hahaha - "how I did it" was by having a crack at an idea, selling "snow to the eskimos", winging the *ss of my pants, going "holy *hit" and hanging on for the ride ... in other words ... my usual modus operandi

The containers and stickers are the only things that ever hold me up, if I get caught running out, as they have to be bought in from Melbourne. The rest of the ingredients are bought very locally.

 

This is an art by itself

 

Not being a huge fan of the gummy lollies (wine gums) after many attempts and tweaks, as I reckon I can taste the gelatine ... adds almost a "musty" taste ... BUT ... the "wine" hard toffee lollies are soooooo amazing - especially the reduced wine ones (which also boils off most of the alcohol) ... will have to do a costing to see whether reducing the wine down by half is viable or whether I simply use more flavoursome wines (ie Port).