Sunday, June 3, 2012

Good enough?

Early on, I heard someone say, "If you aren't moving forward, you're dying."

I pretty much accepted that as a business principle. It seemed to be true. Every time I would try to curtail my building inventory, it would seem like sales would fall. So I just took it as a basic necessity that I constantly build my store.

If you've seen my store lately, you know I didn't skimp on the inventory. Over the last few years, I've tried to find clever ways to fit more inventory into the store. I looked for product that would pay for itself in the space allocated. If the product could be adequately displayed in a smaller space, it got precedent over product that took up more space.

Carrying new books has been a learning experience. In some ways, it's been great that I have a choice of only the best books. Because of my limited space, I didn't even try to carry the wide range of new releases. Instead, I would cherry pick the entire history of books. Classics, books with cult followings, books I loved, books people I knew loved, books that caught my attention for one reason or another.

Truth is, even just cherry picking, there are more good books available than I can possibly carry.
This has also become true of the graphic novels. It is no longer possible to carry every good graphic novel, much less every graphic novel.

Since I have reached a kind of space limit, I'm now constantly trying to improve the mix. If I have 100 books, and 50% are great, and 25% are pretty good, and 25% are decent -- my goal is to slowly turn all 100 books into the "great" category.

Same with all my other product.

But this is more of a incremental process -- a learning process about what sells, what is a great read, what's new , and so on.

It has been a process of learning which products mix well together, which products have a decent profit margin, which can be displayed, which turn over, which I like having around and talking about.

This process probably won't change. But for the first time, I don't have any BIG changes in the planning stages.

Just the incremental improvements of what I have.

Kind of leaves me with a different feeling, like somehow I'm not doing enough. It was kind of funny to read the two comments I got yesterday.

"Up 20% for 11 months straight is a dead cat bounce? You're a tough man to please." ANON.

Yeah, I can see how that looks. But I simply can't say anything aloud that would possibly make me think things are safe. Things are never safe, I can never take increases for granted, I can't hardly see them as increases at all. That way lies madness.

The other comment was from H.Bruce:

"Trouble with having nothing I have to do, is I don't do anything." (Me.)


H. Bruce: "Why is that a problem?

"I loaf and invite my soul / I lean and loaf at my ease, observing a spear of summer grass." -- Walt Whitman

It isn't a sin to do nothing once in a while. In fact it's good for you. You need to shake off that bullshit Calvinist/Puritan ethic."


Yeah, well. I blame my Mum. It can't be a nice day outside with me sitting on the couch reading without hearing in me head. "You should go outside. DO something!" I don't know if I'll ever escape that.


Like I said, I don't think you can ever say to yourself, "Good Enough." Beyond that, though, you have to pick a level of effort that makes sense, emotionally, physically, spiritually, financially, and mentally. And that is going to be an ongoing process.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've had to train many people in my life to understand that reading IS "doing something."

Jim

H. Bruce Miller said...

"Yeah, well. I blame my Mum."

You're a big boy now. Time to tell your internal Mum to shut up.

H. Bruce Miller said...

"Like I said, I don't think you can ever say to yourself, 'Good Enough.'"

That attitude is the formula for lifelong dissatisfaction and unhappiness. I believed in it a long time myself until I finally said, "F##k it, it's good enough and I'm good enough."

RDC said...

HBM

On the other hand, not having that drive may be way you are stuck in a town that you are always complaining about.

Anonymous said...

RDC:

My thoughts, too. Apparently Central Oregon isn't "good enuf."

Jim

H. Bruce Miller said...

RDC: We are leaving this town in January, hopefully for good. Plan is to spend January through April in Phoenix, put our house on the market in the spring, have it sold and be into a new place in Arizona or New Mexico before next winter. If the house doesn't sell by next winter we'll rent it and buy a place in AZ or NM with cash, paying ourselves back later when the house does sell.

The reason we've stayed in Bend this long is that we've been waiting for my wife to retire. That is happening at the end of September.

Any further questions?

RDC said...

So your approach has just had 5-6 years of unhappiness and dissatisfaction instead of lifelong.

RDC said...

Good luck. Though I expect that by about August of next year a search of the Internet will yield that where ever you settle is too hot, too Republican or some other topic of complaint.

Carl said...

RDC-a powerful comment, "Good luck. Though I expect that by about August of next year a search of the Internet will yield that where ever you settle is too hot, too Republican or some other topic of complaint."

Bruce would probably find Tucson politically more to his liking than Phoenix.But both places are hotter than shit in the summer.Consistently 105+ is not my idea of nirvana. And in Tucson, he will have to maintain the Bouncing Betties installed to keep the illegals from using his property as Via Norte.

Anonymous said...

I'm sure HBM will be living in a gated community and NEVER see a 'mexican'.

Anonymous said...

Well, as Mike Ness says:

Wherever I go I just find myself there/
You can run all your life and not go anywhere...

Jim

H. Bruce Miller said...

RDC: I understand that no place is perfect. But after more than 26 years in Bend (a) I am bored with this town and (b) my wife and I both are tired of the endless winters. It's not unusual for people to move to warmer climates when they get older.

Albuquerque is looking better than Arizona right now. Not as hot in the summer and not as many gun-toting right-wing crazies. (NM is a blue state, though not by very much.) And the NM scenery is incredible; I'm looking forward to getting into photography in a big way.

H. Bruce Miller said...

"I'm sure HBM will be living in a gated community and NEVER see a 'mexican'."

I'm sure you'll never grow a pair of cojones big enough to put your name on your posts.

H. Bruce Miller said...

"Wherever I go I just find myself there/
You can run all your life and not go anywhere..."

Having spent more than 26 years in the same small town, I have not exactly been "running all my life."

We were watching "Game of Thrones" last night, and at one point Theon Greyjoy described Winterfell (ancestral home of the Starks) as a "frozen pile of shit." I immediately thought: "Ah -- Bend!"

It sure will be nice to live in a place where I can go outdoors in June without putting a parka on.

H. Bruce Miller said...

"Apparently Central Oregon isn't "good enuf."

It's good enough for those who think it's good enough. It no longer meets our needs, that's all.

Carl said...

Bruce- How do you know who and how many are gun carrying right-wing crazies in AZ or NM? Unless they are open carry, those of us who are concealed carry are unknown. Surprise is always the best ally in a potential fight.

Anonymous said...

We were watching "Game of Thrones" last night, and at one point Theon Greyjoy described Winterfell (ancestral home of the Starks) as a "frozen pile of shit." I immediately thought: "Ah -- Bend!"


And look where all his whinging and complaining got Theon.

Jim

RDC said...

HBM,

Now that statement makes sense and is quite reasonable.

If you are looking at New Mexico you might want to look a bit North of Albuquerque and look at Santa Fe. Much better crime stats. Though it is a smaller community and does have some of the same features Bend does (smaller city, touristy (though also has the National Lab as a prime employer).