1 post from 2006

As I was setting up the blog, I wanted to use the tagline "it's not easy being green," since I'm trying to make my business environmentally friendly in as many ways as possible. But sadly, lots of people have already used that line, including some SUV ad campaign. So I'll continue thinking of a tagline. In any case, my business is Grow, an online kids' clothing company which is now eight years old. I am now 40 years old. I started Grow when I was 32, and if it had become successful quickly I could have gotten tapped for one of those "40 under 40" lists. Now I'm going to have to be on a "50 under 50" list, or, even worse, I could be featured in one of those "there's always Grandma Moses" articles about people succeeding at something when they're in their waning years.

My 40th birthday was one week ago. I did not accomplish my goal of having a mountain house by the time I reached 40. I could have bought a mountain house with the money we've invested in Grow. I am currently working toward opening Grow's first retail store, on South Pearl street in Denver. The space was really awful when I signed the lease, and we've been working for the last month to improve it. I'll post before and during photos of the store. Or, as Gus would say, "a so-far image."

I'm still trying to get the financing in place for the store, and for the new products we're going to offer. I am supposed to be getting an advance on a royalty for a product which is just now hitting stores, but so far the actual check has not arrived. The bank account is very low. Every day I check the mail.

For the last two years, I've been designing products on spec, and Basic Comfort has been pitching them. I thought that the royalties would be providing a decent cash flow by this time, but they're pretty spotty still. Everything seems to take longer than expected. We have a number of nice products out in the marketplace, though, and hopefully they will continue to build momentum.