Our dedicated Thursday featured contributor, Ken even took time out while on a trip to Mexico to give us our weekly dose of insight into the world that is Twig Footwear. I chose this topic for Ken because it is something I am learning all about myself and I wanted to see how much I would relate. Well, I am essentially in business on for myself for same reason he is! I work harder now than I ever have in my life….ever, but it is worth it because I can be me and like you will read in Ken’s article , I can make decisions based on my own moral compass…fortunately I have one. J

Being My Own Boss

What a wonderful topic for this week’s article!  

I begin this topic by saying that I absolutely LOVE being my own boss.    However, the reasons are not necessarily common among my fellow entrepreneurs or business owners.   The foundation of my answer has to do with issues that had arisen in the earlier part of my career.

The short answer to the topic is that I love being my own boss because I can make decisions based on my morals and values.   It is really one of the underlying reasons I wanted to be in business for myself.   At this point in my career, I have somewhat “outgrown” the shoe business and feel as if I need to be my own boss.   Let me explain.

During one season whilst at my first company, we had a great looking shoe that booked in very, very well.   Within a week of delivering the shoe, I started to get calls that the shoe fit far too wide.   The style was being picked up, but it just did not sell due to poor fit.   I got multiple return requests.   I spoke to my regional who gave me the stock Regional Manager answer “Tell the customer to mark it down and we will look at it at the end of the season”.   I spent a day  fitting the shoe myself and realized that the complaints were totally legitimate.   I wrote up a report and sent it to the office.   There was no response.   After three weeks, the office was inundated with return requests.   The owner of the company finally acquiesced but only on the condition that the retailer take twice as many of the “new and improved” style.   My customers were not happy about this but they agreed.   What happened next really helped me in forming my value system.   The company shipped twice as many of…….THE ORIGNAL STYLE!   The shoe had not been redone.   You can only imagine the phone calls I received.   You can also imagine what next seasons bookings looked like. 

Being your own boss means you can make decisions based on your own moral compass.  

I have an account in the South that had only been open a year or so when I met the owner.   When I went to her store, I was taken aback by the amount of inventory she had.   As is frequently the case, a rep with horrible commission breath met her before she opened and sold her entirely too much.   I call this the “chum in the water effect…a rep smells an inexperienced buyer with money like a shark smells blood”.   This account was trying desperately to dig out from her pile of invoices.   I spent quite a bit of time with her teaching her what an open to buy was as well as working on product assortment.   She ordered the grand sum of 42 pairs from me.   If I worked for someone else, I may have to explain myself.   But I don’t!   When it came time to pay, this woman was still struggling.   I asked her if she was on credit hold with many of her other vendors.   She told me she was.   I then told her “This is the only time you will ever hear a rep say this…pay them first”.   She could not believe it.   $1100 was not going to sink me, and I knew she needed other vendors product to stay in business.   Eventually, I got paid.   I know that if I worked for another company, I could get fired for doing what I did.  

Being your own boss gives one pause to really examine their own abilities and values.   I firmly believe that we as an industry tend to focus too much on only next seasons results.   This in turn causes one to make short sighted decisions.   Being your own boss means you can do the right thing.   I can stick to my values and not have to explain my rationale to anyone.  As the commercial says…”Priceless”! 

-Ken

www.twigfootwear.com