I'm in love...w/ a grasshopper!

So, owning my own business has been "interesting" at best. I've learned 101 ways to make a mess of everything and very little on how to be successful. People close to me continually tell me I'm doing a great job and should be pleased that in a down economy I'm still surviving...my take on this??? LOL! You call this surviving?

Either way...my doors remain open and I love the new challenges that come my way. I figure, worse case scenario?? I'll have a good laugh at this when my kids are grown and having babies of their own..remember when mom first opened Big Bob's....

We've come a long, long way since opening our doors almost four years ago...and we have a long way to go. Yet, regardless of what the President does or doesn't do for Big Bob's...we will continue to grown and become a force to be reckoned with!

At opening we hired lovely men, who had plenty of knowledge of the flooring business....and plenty of knowledge on how to take advantage of a not so knowledgeable boss! So I learned the hard way...if I'm gonna be a women in a man's world..I better understand everything from top to bottom! No excuses, no relying on men to keep me informed. So I can proudly say I can drive my forklift (and not flood the store...like the hubby did six months after opening), I can cut carpet using just my VCT grout lines (and straight) or I can place it on the cutting machine and cut it, I can measure houses, businesses, campers and cars, I can draw all things to scale, I can figure out exactly how much you will need to finish a project and exactly what you need to buy as well..supply wise...I can drive the 15 passenger Big Bob's van (well, I could until it blew up last month), I can negotiate better deals with my reps and suppliers, I can carry on intelligent conversations w/ most flooring "people". All of these things make it possible for me to run Big Bob's from top to bottom, day in and day out all on my own! However, I think the most important lesson I've learned in the past four years is how to hire (and yes sometimes fire) employees. Along with hiring goes...loving...an employee! If you love who you work with...you will love the work they do. You will see that mistakes made are just that mistakes...and you need to take the time and teach them correctly. By loving who you work with...are better able to convey a since of trust and understanding..which in return makes them want to work harder and better for you. When you love who you work with...it just makes the day better!

I've hired but not loved several people in my career as Big Bob Herself...and until recently I've not found a single one I can love. They all seem to be out for themselves, have better ideas or just plain and simple..want a pay check and not the work! I was really discouraged by the people who claimed to want/need a job..yet, when offered a job...and a fun one at that..didn't really want to work..they simply wanted a paycheck. Then along came Grasshopper...I love her! She's amazing! Not only does she want to work..but she pushes me to work! We'll be riding in the car and I'll mention some crazy idea that I'd love to someday see happen at Big Bob's...and before I know it..an email pops up with an outline of how to make that idea happen! Wow! How exciting!

Grasshopper not only likes to work..but get this...she has self-esteem! Yikes! What's Big Bob to do? She doesn't get hurt when a customer is "rude" or "standoffish" she simply digs in deeper and works harder to get them to like her! Grasshopper loves to laugh and joke...OMG! I love laughing (at myself mostly...but lately I've had great fun laughing at Grasshopper)...how can you work all day long and not laugh?

Grasshopper can't measure, add, subtract or multiply...but she can laugh, joke and make you feel like you are the most important person in her world at that moment. Customers come in and she has NO idea what she's doing...how could she...there is so much to learn in the floor covering business...the only simple thing...it goes on your floor...but she makes our customers feel right at home and if she can't come up the answer..she has no problem calling you back and giving it to you! The other day..NO LIE...a customer came in and wanted to know if he could just glue his window back in place because he didn't want to have to buy a new window. Ashley simply said..we don't sell windows here but I can make a quick call and find out for you. The man looks around and ask...you don't sell windows?? To which Grasshopper said...no but don't worry..I have a great window guy I can put you in touch with! So when Mr. Window man is ever ready for flooring hopefully he'll remember Ashley going that extra mile and come to us to buy flooring. Grasshopper can see the big picture and already knows that if you can make everyone who comes in our door feel like a best friend and help solve any of their problems...they will remember and when they are ready to buy new floors...she'll be the one they are looking for!

So...although I'm not really a bug person...I love me my Grasshopper!