Jim, did you find a good light switch picture yet? Hey, I just posted this in the vendors forum too. Colleen is having a sale. Read about it here............ http://www.straightrazorplace.com/forums/vendors-corner/5474-colleens-soap-127.html#post295561
Got my wife's presents done. We're going light this year but I got her a Wii Fit and a Garmin Nuvi 260w. Daughter is almost done. Her big present is an 16Gb Ipod Nano that I got mostly with reward points. I told them I only wanted Wii Guitar Hero World Tour Double Pack. (2 Guitars)
Almost an hour past when I normally get here. I usually show at 7. No one is here and I can get things done. My alarm she did not sound. Didn't make it until 10 to 8. Oops.
I just like being here alone. I'm usually the first person here and get a full 1/2hr to myself before anyone else shows. I ran a shop would se me in by 10-11am and out by 2-3am. Almost every day. I can't do that anymore, though. I think it would kill me.
I also like the alone time. I get bombarded with questions from 8-5 everyday. Some legit, but most of the time it is stuff that could be solved without my involvement. I have a couple of guys that just can't make decisions--good or bad.
Hey! Those guys work here, too. I also have a 'chatter' who stands in my office door and talks. Ignoring doesn't seem to help. Maybe I'll have to start throwing things.
I have one of those too. I also have a gal that is my shipper/receiver. Once she gets done with that she likes to chat the sales guys up. Everyday I have to tell her do something. I have 120 acres of cars, there is plenty to do but she doesn't get the message.
I eliminated the shipping/rec'ing position a few months back. Either I do it or one of the other guys does it. We basically all share duties around here. Cutting as many costs as I can and having a shipping guy that was also a second 'driver' was a giant waste. I also had to move a guy to Saturday only yesterday. That sucked, but it was better than laying him off completely. Times are tough kids, and the money just isn't flowing like it used to.
I am fortunate here in Wyoming. We really haven't seen the recession here yet. Another bonus is that this business is somewhat recession proof. We all use to do our own packing but we got so big and busy in the last 3 years we had to hire someone because the majority of my sales are over the phone or internet.
It isn't that we're NOT busy. We just aren't AS busy. Plus I'm fighting some issues that other managers have caused so I'm here to cut as many costs as possible. Simply the way business is. Dealerships will continue to slow down for a while before it all sorts itself out. Fortunately Subaru is the only manufacturer to post increases over the last year. I ran almost every aspect of a $2M+ operation (this is strictly internet sales dollars) myself for several years. If there is a way to cut costs I'll figure it out. I was also responsible for the walk-in and race end of things as well. Me and two guys running it all. Totally possible. If I have to it will end up like that here. Though I'm avoiding that as far as I can.
We don't currently do much shipping at all. Most of the stuff I ship (Isuzu) drop ships whatever I want so I take that off my hands. When I had the race shop I was shipping millions worldwide.
Did we bore you guys and gals with all of our work talk? Okay we won't talk about work anymore, back to the regular scheduled programming.
