Vermont Shortbread Company

Life Lessons and Shortbread

People pleasers sometimes do not make good business people.  I mean, there's got to be a balance between pleasing your customers and killing yourself trying to make everyone happy.  Herein lies my biggest achilles heel both as an entrepreneur and as a person striving for healthy personal relationships. 

When I decided to revive Vermont Shortbread Company I did so with the commitment that there would be no more 80 hour work weeks, that I would reclaim my own Christmas joy, that I would get enough sleep and not forget to eat and laugh and that I would no longer operate out of chronic financial fear. 

Limited batches of shortbread periodically...according to what I could comfortably manage without compromising my health was the answer I came up with.  It fits in nicely with the whole Slow Food Movement too.  Perfect, right?  I think so. 

And yet...I feel  twinges of guilt.  I will feel guilt in advance  when I know I will have to tell people that I cannot fill their orders because I've reached capacity.  I feel guilt when I tell them that I already have a full time job in which I work 40+ hours a week, a teenager, a house and ongoing health issues.  I feel guilty when I tell them that no, there is no shortbread available today. 

I suspect that this is part of the master plan - what I am supposed to learn by re-doing this little business - has to do with boundaries and taking care of #1.  This is not easy.  I so want my friends and my customers to be pleased.  And it makes me feel good when they are.   

I probably could have avoided all of this discomfort by simply selling the business as originally planned, but in keeping with my personal commitment to compassionately yet assertively speak my mind, that's not a viable alternative.  Wondering what could have been would be far worse than the occasional pang of guilt I feel about possibly disappointing someone. 

No, it's time for me to get on with this.  My health and well-being depend upon it.  Do you know what happens to a lifetime of unspoken words?  They cause disease and anxiety.  I've begun to draw boundaries in my personal world about what is no longer tolerable and what I want to attract.  I'm already harvesting some fruits of those efforts and I've pissed a few people off.  And so it goes.  And so it hurts a little...but it hurts  less than if I did nothing. 

I am ready to try it in my work life too.   

I suspect this is a common theme with small business owners.  And I am thrilled I am getting a chance to work through it...with the best customers in the world.   Thanks for sticking around. 

My Declaration of Independence

With a twinge of bittersweetness, over a year of soul searching, and steadfast clarity about my purpose on this earth, I have decided to sell Vermont Shortbread Company. 

For twelve years, I have baked, marketed, delivered, packaged, promoted, mailed, taught, blogged, coached and written about shortbread - most of the time while I held down other full time jobs and single parented.  I am now married to the most compassionate man in the world and I have a job at National Life Group that provides me with the creative inspiration and intellectual stimulation I've been craving for many years. I would have never predicted these paths for myself a few years ago.  I don't remember the last time I felt so engaged, so absorbed and curious.  I want more of that. 

The truth is this: while food is still a passion for me, shortbread has taken a backseat to other more compelling dreams and goals as I approach middle age, menopause and newly awakened senses of confidence, creativity and passion that have nothing to do with running a baking business.  I want baking to become a hobby again rather than something I MUST do...something I do for fun to nurture my friends and family.

For twelve years I was passionate about this little business and built it to the best of my ability, with a lot of help and support from some creative and well-respected professionals.  Now it's time to hand over the reins to someone else; someone who can take it to a new level; someone who can give it the love and attention I can no longer provide. 

I have carefully and mindfully planned my exit strategy.  I have a vision for what I'd like the sale to look like and my intention is to approach this slowly, until that vision becomes reality...in my own time, in my way - the way I've always approached business, personal matters and work.  I do not know when this process will be complete.   

I will continue to fill shortbread orders for friends and family on a limited basis (as long as it's fun!), however, my online shopping cart will be disabled.  I will continue to blog about my experience because 1) I enjoy writing and 2) any good business plan has an exit strategy. It continues to be my goal to share my entrepreneurial insights and lessons through this blog - selling a business is part of that sharing.

I've achieved a good deal of local and internet "fame" with this business and have been most afraid of the following question:  Who am I if I'm not the owner of Vermont Shortbread Company?  In the past year, I've meditated, prayed, had panic attacks, cried, talked and written volumes in my private journal asking this question.  I believe I know.  And I believe it's time for me to make room for a new adventure in my life.  Vermont Shortbread Company has served me (and our customers) well.  Not only have I learned personal lessons, but I've received an education and credentials no grad school could ever provide.  Now it's time for me to continue my personal education and learn some new lessons. 

I love this company like a parent loves a child who has grown up and is moving out.  I will always care and now it's time to let go.  Vermont Shortbread Company will always be a part of me.               

Good Stress Bad Stress

Stress is not a four letter word.  Stress is not all bad. 

Good stress challenges me to learn.  Good stress puts me just outside my comfort zone and encourages me to take a leap of faith.  Good stress gets me up in the morning eager to figure out how to solve the logistical problems of the project at hand. 

Bad stress wakes me up at 3 a.m. in a cold sweat with my heart racing so fast I think I might die.  Bad stress makes me grumpy and restless 24/7.  Bad stress impacts my marriage and my relationships with friends.  It makes me helpless because I know I am in over my head. 

Last week, I launched an e-newsletter at my new job. Previously, the newsletter was printed weekly and distributed to about 1000 employees and retirees.  That's a lot of paper!  So, I've been on the job two months and the company has been talking about an e-newsletter for years.  This was my first big challenge in my new position.  I got great feedback and felt so energized and "in the zone" all week.  It was heady and it was stressful.  I learned so much and I earned a healthy paycheck.  Good stress?  Definitely. 

Running my business, Vermont Shortbread Company, had been causing me the other kind of stress for about the past 2 years.  Panic attacks, sleepless nights, physical manifestations of stress such as backaches, gastrointestinal weirdness, and psoriasis flareups to mention a few.  Anxiety has always been my Achilles' heel, but I've learned to manage it in the lifetime I've dealt with it.  But this anxiety was paralyzing and severely impacting my ability to function.  Bad stress. 

So, it's become clear to me that I've made the right choice in going back to conventional employment.  My good stress level is up.  Bad stress is waaaaay down. 

I've also learned that true entrepreneurs are creative folks who figure out how to handle the bad stress in unique ways, by outsourcing tasks, getting coaching or mentoring, or getting financial assistance.  They recognize a sinking ship and let it go or they recognize a sinking ship and hire deckhands.  True creative geniuses figure out ways to turn bad stress into good stress.  I hope to be included in that crowd when it comes to Vermont Shortbread Company.  But, I'm not sure how yet.  It takes money to make money.  I don't have any money right now...which is part of the bad stress for me.    

As an entrepreneur, what are your good stressors and bad stressors?  How have you turned bad stress into good stress?