Never a Dull Moment

Today was another exciting one in the office. I have been working on a project for a client who will potentially be purchasing 6,000 customized things from me. These things have been narrowed down to an iPod armband (the things you buy retail for $20, actually cost under $2 from China), a pretty nice sling backpack, and a nice nylon frisbee. The suppliers of the backpack got me a sample to send the client last week, however the other two suppliers dropped the ball (one claims that FedEx somehow left without the package...) last Friday. This meant trying to track everybody down to come up with a solution that would deliver the products to the client for their 10 A.M. meeting tomorrow morning. It looks like all has been coordinated such that the client will be receiving packages tomorrow in PA from Southern California, Kansas City, and Miami. Sounds like a logistical miracle...thank God for next day delivery.

Another similar recent near disaster occurred last week. I had sourced some custom book lights for a customer for a promotion they were executing on the 23rd of this month. These, water bottles, and customized backpacks were all meant to be in PA for the event. Unfortunately after going through the motions of getting set up with the supplier, placing the order, having it rushed, etc., I was informed that they someone apparently got an order in just in front of me and they were out of inventory. This left me scrambling to find another supplier of the same book light so that I could deliver to the client what I had promised. Seeing as this was the first project I had done, and as it was for our biggest client, I kind of did not want to go back and see if they could wait/settle for some other product. Luckily I was able to track down another supplier who could take care of me and saved the day.

It will be an exciting next few days to see which of these suppliers actually come through, and which make me look like a complete idiot. If all works out, it will truly be a miracle and a great accomplishment for me (figuring out how to source all of this stuff was a several week process that has culminated in this litmus test).

No bike ride today. Legs pretty tired from yesterday, but mostly I just ran out of day light.