Janice Cairns

Bright Spots

2009-03-20T16:12:00.002-04:00

Just a quick blog today...I'm really busy getting two of our new products ready to debut next week. Be sure to go to www.gobreeze.com next week to see what WindoGami and Breeze Lite are all about! In the meantime, I am also doing something many of us in our generation have either done or may do--I'm helping my siblings move my mother from her house to an independent living apartment. Going through all her things really brings back the memories. It also makes me want to purge my belongings! Too much stuff!!!!
Stay tuned.....

"The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves!"

2009-02-27T14:12:00.002-05:00

It's a very rainy Friday in Atlanta. It reflects the mood many small business owners feel about the "stimulus plan" which includes a new 42 percent tax rate on couples making $250,000 and more. That's just INCOME TAX folks, not including the sales tax you pay, ad valorem tax, property tax, etc. "Let's take the money from the rich folks! They deserve it!" I have sacrificed, worked hard, went into astronomical debt and have faced and fought my fears to get my business going. Many people wouldn't bother to work this hard! They will now be happy to have the government take money from the hard workers and achievers so that their lives will be easier. There will be a point where the achievers will throw up their hands and say "Why bother?" I'm busting my butt to put a flat screen tv in these underachievers' homes while I still have my 15 year-old 27" tv and a 12-year old car! Then they will close their businesses and many more people will be on the government dole. But wait! There's more! There won't be any money for the government to give these people, because all those "wealthy rich lucky people" will not be working their butts off to get it taken away from them!
There's a radio ad I have been hearing lately, and it depicts a woman remarking to her co-worker about the sack lunch he brought from home. He responds "Yeah, I'm saving $5 a day bringing my own sandwich! That's $25 a week! In a year I've saved $1200!" Well, I'd like to reveal the flip side to that story--It's of a cafe owner laying off 3 more employees. "Sorry I have to do this, but because our business is down now that Joe and all his friends are brown-bagging it--there's not enough business to pay you all" So there are more people out of work! After 9-11, we all worked hard to make sure we supported each other so that the terrorists couldn't disrupt the flow of Capitalism. Now we are all running and hiding our money because we are freaking out. We didn't need terrorists to do it--we did it all ourselves!

Februweary

2009-02-20T10:50:00.002-05:00

Even in the South, one can get the winter "blahs". I think it's worse here because we always have a week or so of upper 60's lower 70's weather, followed by what's called here a "hard freeze" (usually around the mid-20's). Which is happening this week. We have almost all of our website, gobreeze.com, finished. We have integrated our full-service window treatment site into the website, plus many add-on features. I'm trying to decide which trade show to participate in--should I do the IWCE one again to designers and workrooms, or should we go big time and do the HD show in Vegas to the designers and hospitality industry?
Meanwhile, it looks like we may expand into Canada. I have a couple of experts working on that with me and as soon as the details are out, I'll let you know!
It's been quiet around here at the shop, everyone has been on vacation this week (except for me, of course). It will be nice to have the workroom buzzing again!

To Canadia and back!

2009-02-06T13:41:00.002-05:00

I just returned from Canada (which we affectionately call 'Canadia')--actually Toronto--and I was able to meet with several people and go to the ID09 trade show (Interior Design). I was really impressed with the city and got some great contacts and ideas for a more contemporary line to be introduced probably in March. It's been a busy week, I have learned much and I have a head full of ideas not only for window treatments but other things I plan to accomplish. I am reading the book "E Myth Mastery" and it has really helped me to understand what's important and what I need to put aside in my entrepreneurial pursuits. As each day goes by, I get more and more excited about the possibilities this year!

Optimish

2009-01-30T14:03:00.002-05:00

I like that! My cold finger slipped on the key and hit the "h" instead of the "m". I think many of us are optimish! We hear bad news on the radio, we see mayhem on TV, and we read pessimism in the newspapers and magazines. But I must tell you, on behalf of all my fellow entrepreneurs, that we are all upbeat about this year. We're not exactly sure what the future is going to bring, but in spite of all we hear, we are working diligently, being creative, and looking forward to doing some good business this year.

2009-01-28T16:17:00.002-05:00

Okay okay. It's been a while and I had promised a blog every week! I'm very excited about the opportunities coming up in '09. Despite the gloomy economic news, I am optimistic!

We have a great product positioned to be a favorite. I am building great partnerships. I have great people working for me.

We are creating new products to be used on our curtain rod in interesting ways! We are revamping our website, www.gobreeze.com, and the changes will be able to be viewed soon. In this economy, it is those who work on positioning themselves now who will be there when everyone else is gone. I have a quote from Star Wars in my office: "Do or do not, young Jedi, there is no try." We are definitely doing!

Long time no write

2008-08-07T13:28:00.003-04:00

A lot has happened since Feb. 2007! I 'm kinda sorry I haven't kept up with this blog, but now I will try to blog weekly.
We still haven't achieved our goals, but I am not giving up! I WILL have a multi-million dollar company. It's just taking a little longer than I hoped. The housing crisis and economy this summer hasn't done any favors to the window treatment business as a whole.
We are going to work with a large national company that sells blinds and now we will supply valances to their customers. We are working with a top-notch marketing company to revamp our image and to help us get some investment dollars, because that's what we are going to need to get to the next level. At this point I have 23 licensees around the country who do in-home consultations to sell the product. I am working on support and training for them.

This past spring, we had a bit of bad luck when the tornado ripped through the Georgia World Congress Center, closing the Atlanta Home Show, our largest source of leads for spring and summer. We decided not to let it get us down, and one of our licensees had a connection with the people who run the International Window Coverings Expo, which was to be held two weeks from the Home Show. It, too, was at the GWCC, but it was a go. So we got a booth there, and exhibited.

One of the seminar speakers there, who was speaking on the Future of Window Treatments, mentioned us! She said that Velegance (Breeze's product line) was the way of the future for window treatments, and that we had the most innovative product on the whole showroom floor! Needless to say we got a lot of interest after that. Our booth was always full--but that's just par for the course. Our booth is full no matter what show we are in, because people are fascinated by our product!

Anyway, the busy season for window treatments is upon us, and with the added sales force between licensees and the national blinds company, we anticipate a great third quarter!

November through January

2007-02-12T18:15:00.000-05:00

Well--time sure does fly when you're having fun!
I am on the cusp of things really great! We will finally be in American Blinds by the end of the month, and Fabric.com will be carrying my line of patterns and curtain rods in about a month. The people at IKEA seem to be moving forward again with me--I have jumped through all the hoops and am just waiting for finalization of the packaging. I have Velegance (my private label) dealers in the Atlanta area, and they are on fire! It was very cool to be at a networking event today and have two of them there standing up and introducing themselves to the crowd (separately). I have a section in Entrepreneur.com in the "Business Opportunity" part of the web page and have already gotten interested people from other parts of the country to rep my product.

Every day I do my visualization (see "The Secret") and it really works. Things are moving because I know they already work. I can't tell you how powerful The Secret is. (www.thesecret.tv).

Kathy Keeley continues to work with me. We meet once a month and plan and she guides me on what to concentrate.

I plan to have a reseller's informational seminar this Saturday (Feb. 17th) and March 3rd. for local people who are interested in becoming a Velegance dealer. You need the code 5038 to get in. It's informational only, used as a marketing and reference tool for the dealers.

Meanwhile, I have been featured in not only Atlanta Home and Style
but also in Meet the Products. If you go to my website, gobreeze.com, you can see the segment from the Meet the Products show. It's FABULOUS! It's been a great tool for me.

Once again, the CMI M3 award has made an incredible difference in my decision making and how successful I will be! This is going to be the year!

Oct. 2006

2006-11-08T10:40:00.000-05:00

Things are going pretty well here in Atlanta. My Velegance salespeople are really starting to take off, and I feel I have got the model pretty well set for this mode of selling the product. They are having great success because people love this product and the price is right for the look of custom. I'm still limping along with my big box retailer, we should get everything tied up by the end of the month. Hopefully. I was warned these things take time, but I didn't think it would take almost a year! My sister emailed a national talk show about me and the producer called her 5 minutes later and wanted my product to be on the show in two days. So we overnighted the product to the studios in Manhattan, and then they tell me that to be patient, they are trying to find a home for my product on the show. I think I'm going to change my name to "Patient" because it seems that everyone is trying to name me that. "Just be Patient".
I have been working on "team building" lately because I realized that I have a crew working for me and since I always worked alone before or with just one person, it takes a little adjusting to having employees. I look to Margery Miller and the example she is for team building. I am also talking to another large contract workroom who can handle the unusual volume we will be having once all these deals come through and my patience has paid off. It's good to know that now at least we have OUR act together! Pricing, shipping, ordering, everything is ready to go when I get the large online window treatment retailer, the other major blinds and shades organization, and the big boxes I am either already working with or pursuing.
2007 will be the year, this I know.

July, August and September 2006

2006-10-05T08:59:00.000-04:00

Okay, my bad. I haven't blogged in a while. I will be more diligent in the future. I think I've thought more about this because I haven't blogged than I would if I had just blogged when I should have!

I've had lots of ups and downs this summer. One thing I finally learned (it took three times!) is when someone takes the presentation process away from me, I usually don't close the deal. It happened originally with a large curtain rod company when I wasn't allowed to do a presentation to the large retail company they were interested in doing a joint venture with my product. Then it happened when I was talking to another large curtain rod company who had everything in place to joint venture with my product and it would have been a perfect vehicle for all of their fabrics and marketing campaigns. I wasn't allowed to go demo my product to anybody, instead they had their ATTORNEYS look at my PATENT and make a decision based on that. HOW OBTUSE!!!! Now, this is the third time this has happened. I was working with a well-known designer (well, actually his CEO and director of Licensing) to partner not only with him but with a large fabric and craft chain to have my product in their stores. Again, it would have been a perfect match, and I was anxious to make this work. I wasn't allowed to go demo my product to the decision maker at the chain and the whole thing fell through again. I guess I've learned my lesson.

Things have stalled with IKEA because I have to have my curtain rod tested for RoHS compliance, which means there is no cadmium, cadmium compounds, lead or lead compounds in my product. I have found a facility here near me that can do the testing, but although I have contacted IKEA several times about it, they can't seem to find the time to respond to me. So I am stuck in limbo until we can get this resolved. When I was a child and got frustrated, my mother said I used to bang my head against the wall. Well, I feel I am banging my head against the wall and that's about the response I am getting, a headache.

My designer partnership program, however, is going well. Because this is such a great product, my designers are finding great success selling my product under my private label, Velegance. I have 4 people sewing in my workroom (I was ramping up for the IKEA Atlanta pilot project) and my workroom manager has been training them how to sew all the window treatments. One of my designers is moving to Rhode Island and I have one in Fort Lauderdale. I also have a client who lives in Indiana who is such a raving fan of the product and is also a designer who wants to join the program and start selling Velegance there! So I am very excited about this and I plan to make it work all over the US. This model works!

I passed my year anniversary of winning the M3 with Count Me In. It has been a great year! I'd like at this time to thank Kathy Keeley for hanging in there for the whole year, with mentoring and coaching and helping me with my numbers and my budget and generally being there for me. We have developed a great friendship and will be in contact forever, I'm sure. I also extend prayers to her husband, Stan, who is battling a serious illness right now. Hang in there!

Due to circumstances I won't be able to attend the Count Me In event in New York. I have been to every other event and I am sad I can't make it to this one--but I wish all the contestants good luck and I hope to see everyone again next year.

One thing I throw out there to anyone who is reading this. I saw the movie "The Secret" (www.thesecret.tv) and it has changed my whole way of thinking about things. In fact, it has probably changed my life! (and Dr. Dimartini is featured on it!) You can watch it on line for $5 and apply that money to the purchase of the DVD. I recommend it. Next month I will talk about the Be, Do, Have equation.

June 2006

2006-07-03T15:10:00.000-04:00

I sit here gasping for some clean air here in Hot'lanta. The smog level is code red-- unhealthy for anyone to do anything outside. So there is no reason to go out, and I can stay in and work all day without feeling guilty!

June was the month for some changes. I put my coach on hiatus. Russ is an amazing coach, and I will ever be grateful to him for all he did for me. I found I was getting lazy, relying on him to push me when I needed to push myself. I still have Kathy Keeley as my mentor, and she has been incredibly helpful in getting me finished on all the paperwork I have to do to get these large retailers. At some point I will bring Russ back to help me facilitate the growth and synergy of my company when it is big. Now that I know I don't have him to fall back on, all the excuses come directly back to me. This will be interesting.

So mainly I have been doing paperwork, tedious, tedious paperwork to input all the information on every window treatment in any possible fabric and color combination that can be thought of. I finally smartened up and got Tami, my manager, to do some of it, with me checking it at the end. Duh! We are in the final stages of input with IKEA, and soon we will get our supplier number. We are still getting everything together for another big online retailer, and the proposal is in for a large blinds company whose independent reps would carry our product.

I am still in talks with the big name designer--I should be talking again to his CEO next week--I'll let you know how that's going.

I have several new designers sign up for my partnership program. They are very excited about the product and anxious to sell. They have scheduled Design Home Shows to jump start their selling.

I did an interview with Joan Durand on her radio show, "Startups with Joan Durand", on the Martha Stewart Channel on Sirus 112 last week. It will air on July 22nd at 7 pm. It went very well. I also did a local radio show, "The Mike Sformo Show", earlier this month. I seem to interview very well, according to everybody. That's good.

This has all been made possible through the Count Me In program. Ever since I won, I have been able to make inroads where I normally would have had no way to make contact. Winning this contest has made me become the CEO I needed to be.

Till next month--Cheers.

May 2006

2006-06-14T15:46:00.000-04:00

I had a great time in San Francisco! It was good to see the CMI people, and I'm sorry to see that Nell had a broken foot! She got around great, though. I enjoyed seeing the other award recipients again and getting updated on what's happening with everyone. The San Francisco award recipients seem like a great bunch and will be an asset to our group.

Jim and I stayed in San Francisco a few days extra and got some R&R. More like exercise and R. We walked uphill both ways everywhere we went, but it was great! I really had a great time--the whole time!

I was on a local AM station (860) this past Monday--an entrepreneurial show hosted by Mike Sformo (www.sformo.us). We had a great time and he was impressed with me and the whole Count Me In program. I am going to be on the "Startups with Joan Durand" show on the Martha Stewart channel on the Sirus radio network. I'm not sure of the airdate, but we tape the show on June 28th.

I was in my alumni (Kennesaw State University) magazine last month; it was a two-page spread with good pictures. An alumna does good. I am an "Outstanding Owl"!

I am still in talks with a famous designer, whom I met at the Office Depot Success Seminar for Women in Ft. Lauderdale this spring. His CEO is going to present my product idea to one of their vendors, and if they are interested (I don't know why not), we will make a presentation.

I sent a proposal to a major independent blinds retailer, who is also interested. I am in the process of talking over the details with the vendor alliance person.

We are still in negotiations with another major store chain. At first, we were going to launch nationwide, but my corporate contact suggested we start a pilot program in Atlanta because it would be easier to get it out there and then launch to all the
stores from that program. Because the initial run went from 10,000 pieces to 500 pieces, we could not find a contract workroom to do this at a good price point, if at all. So we will have to make the first run in-house, which is more expensive.
We may have to cut our margins to nothing to get this started, but we've got great support both in the corporate office and locally here in Atlanta.

Another major blinds online retailer is ready for us. We are working on filling out the laborious Excel sheets with all the information needed to process the orders.

I have engaged a firm to work out the process and system requirements needed on our side to make sure all orders are handled in the most expeditious manner.

I am still doing direct sales, for cash flow, through leads from holding Breeze Decorating home shows. That's still going well. It get tiring, though, on top of everything else!

I am in the process of working with my design partners to get them familiar enough with our product that they can sell it
as easy as they sell their other products.

My mentor, Kathy Keeley, is still right there with me, helping me out with my numbers and giving me advice and inspiration when I need it. She just finished a $32 billion budget for a major port authority, then she turns around and helps me with my budget! She's a great sounding board and someone I know is thinking of me and how I can better myself and my business.

April 2006

2006-05-09T16:48:00.000-04:00

Things are really getting busy down here at Breeze Central! At the end of March I met with other CMI M3 winners in Fort Lauderdale for the Office Depot Success Seminar for Women. We all helped spread the word about the great program offered by CMI. The contributions through the silent auction really helped the cause, too. I had the opportunity to meet Christopher Lowell, and partly because of my status as a M3 winner, we are talking with his CEO about how we can work together!
I went straight from there to Tampa where I went to a trade show, and also made some important connections there. I talked to a major blind and shade retailer about their independent reps carrying my product, and we are in negotiations. When I got back to Ga, there was no time to be wasted, as I was launching my private label, Velegance®, along with the designer partnership program. It all happened on a dark and stormy night, but we had a good crowd, and several designers signed up for the partnership. We will continue to have the seminars for designers on a monthly basis, targeting different areas of Atlanta and then working out to other areas of the US.
We went to American Blinds in Detroit Michigan, the largest online retailer of window treatments in the country, and solidified the deal to be put on their website as a vendor. On the way to the hotel room from that meeting, I got a call from Joan Durand from Martha Stewart Media. I will be interviewed on June 28th for her show, "Start ups with Joan Durand", with a broadcast date later. We are working with IKEA to get the pricing for our product, with a debut date sometime in late Summer/ early Fall.

Kathy Keeley continues to do a superb job of mentoring. She, along with my coach, Russ Hall, have been helping me to build on the foundation that has been layed to make sure I take advantage of every opportunity to the best of my abilities. Their wisdom and guidance is incredible.

I had an article published in my alma mater's alumni magazine, Kennesaw State University, where I got my Bachelor's and Master's degrees. They are the KSU Owls, and I am an "Outstanding Owl"! Whoo-hoo! As more people come to know who I am and become more familiar with my product, the selling cycles become much easier. Word of mouth and web site orders are more plentiful. With the Designer partnership program in place, I will now be able to replicate my efforts and mentor a whole different group of professionals who can make great money selling a product that is unique and is "common sense in a patent"!

February/ March 2006

2006-03-20T15:38:00.000-05:00

These past two months have been pretty hectic. I started the Breeze Demonstration Show program, basically home parties a la Pampered Chef. The first one was a huge learning curve, but I had a lot of support with a few of the people who attended and gave me some pointers (people who I asked specifically to come and critique). The next few shows went much smoother, and I am pleased to say these shows a duplicatable! That's very important to be able to "franchise" out this particular concept. We worked on systems and scripts and it's really turned out well.
I have also met with the General Manager of the Atlanta IKEA to work on the pilot program for the chain. We are still working out the logistics (style of window treatment, fabric selection, etc.) and we hope to have our product in IKEA by July. It all takes time.
We set the date for the reseller seminar. April 20th will be the date we unveil the private label program for designers and other resellers. This is such a great product to have on hand to enhance their sales. The private labling will help keep people from trying to shop the Breeze website instead of going through them.

Kathy Keeley has been great supporting me and helping me with all the difficult decisions. She has been with me when I meet with IKEA, and has helped with other parts of the business, too. She's run numbers for us to make sure we're not going to lose money when we sell to whomever we sell. I feel very priveleged to have her on my team.

The Make Mine a Million program has continued to be the catalyst for everything that I have been able to accomplish this year. It's been the "foot in the door" with the local press, from local newspapers to my alma mater's alumni magazine. My marketing person is starting to pitch several magazines to do articles about me, and we've had some interest. Winning this contest has helped me to really know my product is worthwhile to have on the market and that I will succeed.

January 2006

2006-02-03T15:48:00.000-05:00

We charged into the new year and hit the road running! I have been working on refining the direct sales script, tweaking the process to work on how to better serve the clients in a seamless manner. One client in particular had just gone through a nasty divorce and was physically tired and psychically wounded. She was so excited to be able to have beautiful window treatments to add to the decorating she was doing to her new home. We also started working on getting story lines and scripts together to do some filming, both for DVD's, for the website, and for future advertisements. On the 31st, I met with the new product development person for IKEA. We are going to start the program for IKEA as a pilot in Atlanta. I will be working closely with the General Manager to set up the program. Then when we have it working well, the Breeze line will be put in all the North American stores.

Just as a good coach will push you to become stronger and better, I am being pushed. Russ is helping me to do things I either don't want to do or never thought I could do--but need to do if I want the company to grow. He helps me stay humble, because he won't take any of my excuses why I can't do it. I will never have a "yes man" with my coach. Kathy has been wonderful mentoring me and also helping me to grow just by her example. She accompanied me on my meeting with IKEA and we were able to get much done and many questions answered. She is invaluable.

I have so much more confidence every day as my business grows. I have become the person I always admired. It's the coolest feeling I know.

December 2005

2006-01-24T09:14:00.000-05:00

I love New York! I had a great time meeting the other CMI winners, meeting and rekindling relationships with the great people at Count Me In and American Express. The CMI/AMEX/SBTV televised New York Finals was a great learning experience not only to see how the NY finalists performed under pressure but to see how truly special this experience really is. Interacting with the other national winners really hit home for me that I really am going to be BIG. (speaking of big--it didn't look like I put on those 15 pounds people say you do when you are on TV)
Being with Nell and Kathy and everyone else involved--this time not so much of a whirlwind because I didn't have to worry about winning--was wonderful. I see how hard Nell works to make all this happen.
I don't know about you, but somehow December 15th is the "turn your workbrain off" day for the rest of the holidays. I couldn't get anyone to do anything after that date. I wonder if others have that same problem? So I did what I could.