At the end of the week we’ll release the final batch of new designs before Xmas. Unlike every other t-shirt store, we don’t crave draining every last order out at this time of year. Why? Because the world doesn't end in December and it's easier to stand out in January. Simple really, all these people discounting like crazy seems daft to me when there’s plenty of business to be done in the rest of the year. It’s called perspective. For years early on, I didn’t have any and followed the herd in manically pursuing Xmas business but then I realised if you take a broader perspective, there’s only so much money to go round in any one year, you can get it all in December and break your sanity or spread it out over 12 months.
It takes some courage to remain calm when everyone else is going radge. The instinct is to think you’re losing out, but in our 24 year history little has ever changed in terms of profitability. The only time it has was when we threw a lot of money at Facebook advertising, turnover doubled and we had a ‘great’ Xmas but that and the next year we halved profitability. Great numbers, less so the bottom line.
I suppose I’m old now and don’t have any ambitions left, except to just tick along. I like that. It beats having your nose to the grindstone every day. We aim to just be here for that moment when you need a Dave Cousins t-shirt or a Skip Bifferty one. Who needs to be popular? Anyway, our audience tends to be. by and large, over 55 and aren't buying Keef Hartley shirts for their kids and their kids have never heard of Keef Hartly to buy a shirt for their parents.
So Dawn will design a last tranche of shirts and then get on with decorating for the next month or more. Meanwhile, I’ll be here for you, keeping an eye on things.
Meanwhile my Breach Of Care case has been lodged in the High Court and served on the doctor who failed to spot pre-stroke TIA symptoms which I now know were really obvious. It all takes 6-18 months to reach a settlement but its being financed by a claims company and Counsel’s don’t come cheap, so they must think it has a good chance of being successful. I’m not getting my hopes up, for obvious reasons.
