Investing In This New World

I've been thinking lately about investing. Just a few years ago, when the stock market was hot, people were tossing money in without much thought or care. Unless you made really bad investments, you mostly saw your funds increase over time. Then along came the sub-prime mortgage mess, credit card debt and the economy cycled downward. Gone were the days of free money and ever increasing bank balances. As the stock markets headed lower and lower day after day, a lot of people began to re-evaluate their view toward investing. I know I did. I started looking at the world around me and saw, more clearly than ever before, that there are many different forms of investing - many of which are far less visible to us than picking the latest hot stock. There's a reckoning happening - big banks, big institutions, big anything - are all being challenged right now. Perhaps our 'bigger is better' mentality is fading away. Here's what I've discovered.

When we started shopOrganic back in early 2008, we were headed into a weakening housing market. At the time, we had no idea what the impact would be. Late in 2008 and early 2009, we saw markets tumble all around us. It impacted everyone we knew - and still we needed to build our business.

Like most start ups, we were tight on funds and we still needed to do things every business needs to do. So, we talked with folks - our suppliers and vendors, in particular. We simply asked, is there anything you can do to help us out? We were surprised and delighted by the response. We found almost everyone was willing to pitch in just a little bit to help. We shaved some costs off here, got a few extra free services there, extended small credit terms (even net 7 instead of COD make a difference) - and before we knew it, we were well on our way. No one went to extremes, but every little bit helped. It's like the coin tray or jar or drawer most of us have at home. You drop your spare change in there and suddenly you have a few hundred dollars. Each person that helped us dropped a few coins in our jar, enabling us to continue to build our business.

But it wasn't a one-way street. We also worked to help our suppliers and vendors where we could a well - a shout out here, a recommendation there. And as I thought about how this had all come about, it dawned on me that this may well be the roots of a new economy. (Of course, it hasn't removed our need to raise capital, but it sure has helped us significantly extend our runway!) Bigger isn't always better. We've been working with a lot of small companies who in turn have helped us out and we've all benefited. Just like sustainable, organic farming, a network of small producers may well be the most sustainable and beneficial economic model moving forward. It feels a bit like back to the future but maybe that's the best place to be.

With that, I'd like to take a moment to give a shout out to those who have helped us along the way. We're still growing, we're still looking for investment capital, we're still growing, and we're still here. Many heartfelt thanks to everyone who's helped us get to where we are. We are incredibly optimistic about the future and look forward to expanding on this new economic model. If you'd like to join in the fun, contact us and we'll be happy to chat with you!

Thanks go out to:

Kris Nicola at Intelligent Design
TCR Solutions and Chris Compton
Login and all the geeky tech guys over there
Donna Oakley at GSL Fine Lithographers
TLC Communications
Dave Blanchette at Bourn Partners for helping us find an amazing location
Dave Blanchette for introducing us to Mike Jaglois of Arlyss, Jaglois, Lynch
Arlyss, Jaglois, Lynch, marketing firm extraordinare, and in particular Mike Jaglois and Shelly Lynch
Eric Layland (Confluence Digital)
Russell Parker, Sally Gatchel, Curt Mullen and all the great folks at Nature's Best
Cyndi Dain, accountant and trusted advisor
Deanna Conn, Jacque Westling, Quarles & Brady
Monique at Tucson Container/Kino Packaging
Susan Quinn (and Chico)
Gary Frost
Linda Fredin
Sallie Mansbacher
Jackie Brown & Rosie (of Border and Black fame)

A thousand thank you's!