The Audacity of Going Organic - Year One

My dear friend Gary sent an email over the weekend about some group that is up in arms because Michelle Obama planted an organic garden. The problem, it seems, is that this flies in the face of established convention. I find it puzzling (and a bit sad) that a garden planted and grown without chemical fertilizers or insecticides is seen as a bad thing [click here to read more on this topic], but enough about that crazy world, let's look at the world around us....

Last year, our small team started shopOrganic. Leveraging the experience and expertise of our tiny team, we boldly launched the site on May 8, 2008. At the time we launched, we had begun to see the softening of the real estate market and we assumed that the worst of it would be falling housing prices for a bit. Little did we know at the time that the coming year would be among the worst years (financially) in decades. We didn't see the banking crisis coming, we certainly didn't see the meltdown on Wall Street coming but BAM! there they were.

There were times in the past year that we thought the economy would collapse and take our little company with it. It's been quite a challenge - both professionally and personally. Having put all our time and a lot of our money into this company, there were many sleepless nights worrying that the company would not survive the cold economic winter. We worried that those seeds planted were locked in some frozen economic tundra never to be seen again.

Like Michelle Obama, we too rolled up our sleeves on a cold spring day... and planted the seeds of a new beginning. Like Michelle Obama, we may have planted our seeds a bit too soon - the cold days of early Spring can be harsh and can delay the appearance of those vibrant green shoots that indicate that winter is over and spring is in progress.

We've hung in there this year - sometimes by the barest of margins - because we believe powerfully in what we're doing. We believe that a world in which everyone has enough clean food and clean water is just the baseline, the barest minimum of an acceptable reality for us all. As we have said from the beginning, what we want for ourselves, we want for everyone - it's pretty simple.

We started shopOrganic because we believe in organic principles of sustainability and stewardship. We wanted to create a company that reflected our values of quality, honesty, integrity, cooperation and well, fun.

We have found building relationships with the small vendors we work with to be immensely rewarding. We have gotten to know the other small (sometimes tiny) business owners that are dedicated to the same sustainable and organic principles. As we have worked with them to help them find a market for their great products, we have benefited from being able to provide our customers with a wonderful variety of amazing new, small vendor products that you can't find anyplace else. We have had a great time sampling, testing and trying out products of all kinds.

We have enjoyed getting to know our customers, exchanging emails and phone calls. Perhaps more than anything, we have enjoyed providing the best customer service you'll ever receive. It may sound a bit dopey, but it really gives us immense pleasure to know that when a customer has a problem and it's within our power to resolve it, we just do.

People are often amazed that we answer emails within an hour or two (sometimes within minutes, even at night and on weekends) with a real response. People are often amazed that we take their word for it when they report a problem and we just fix it. People are often amazed when they place an order as a gift that we print out a small gift card with their message on it and pop it in the box - without being asked. We are often amazed that these simple acts amaze people. We love to delight our customers and sometimes just getting an order shipped out the same day it is placed is enough to make someone's day.

We hit a few important milestones in this past year in terms of sales and number of customers and number of orders - but the most important milestone we hit was that we are still here. We have survived to this point and we will be around to celebrate our first anniversary.

We are seeing those tender green shoots start to push through the damp earth. We are not yet fully formed but we are full of optimism and hope for the future. We have managed, somehow, through rolling up our sleeves and working hard, to plant our own organic garden and it is starting to grow.

We have been honored to be part of this new world that is emerging and we are honored to be a part of the lives of each of our customers. We thank you for your support over the past year and we look forward to growing bigger and stronger this year with your support and our hard work.

We took a leap of faith when we planted the seeds of this business last year and we're seeing that faith (and all that hard work) start to take hold. Join us on this adventure and let's see where this next year will take us!

Stop by and see us - shop with us if you're a new customer or a returning one - and see what a difference a small committed group of people can make - join us!

www.shopOrganic.com - For The Greater Goods

Now go out there and enjoy your day!