Hi Everyone,
Greg and I just returned home from the IAAPA show. The show was basically the end of a year long plan to make some big changes in our lives.
About this time last year we took a long hard look at where things were going and neither of us was real happy with what we were doing. I'm not going to get into all the details yet but to make a long story short, we had 3 divisions of PartyZone Entertainment and we expanded all of them too fast. WAY too fast! Actually, any one expansion might have put some extra stress on us....but all three was just way too much to manage. Unfortuately rapid growth doesn't always make you money...if you do it wrong, the bigger you get....the more money you can lose.
So, last November, we re-evaluated the business and our priorities. Then we put a plan in place to get the things back in our lives that we looked forward to when we got married.
The margins are so low on sales that I put new sales completely on the back burner. And we stopped game manufacturing completely. Then we spent the year cutting expenses and making changes to turn things around for the rental company. It took us about 10 months to get things back on track which really is amazing but we had a lot of guidance from other friends who had gone though the same thing. Are we out of debt yet? Nope! But we're on our way and our primary goal is to get completely out of debt this next year.
The final part of our life priorities was to spend more time traveling together. Once we got the rental company turned around we started putting it into a package to offer for sale. We actually closed on a partnership right before the show. Our new partners have already taken over the running of the company. We'll still be involved for a couple of years but eventually they'll be buying us out completely. The last few days in Florida have been a blast. We spent a lot of time introducing one of our partners to our friends and seeing IAAPA through his eyes was a blast!
Remember your first time at IAAPA? Everyone does...and if you haven't visited a show yet, I highly recommend it. I don't believe there is any other industry where business owners share the good and the bad as much as they do in this type of business. Chris probably learned more about the event business in 4 days than he could have on his own in months.
This was only the 3rd time in 16 years that we haven't had a booth....the show is SO much more fun when you're not really working :).
One of the things that was so flattering to me was all the people who asked why they haven't gotten a newsletter. WOW! I didn't realize anyone would really notice. You know, it's hard to write an upbeat newsletter when you're stressed about money. It's also hard to admit that you make mistakes. But, if you're ever in the position of wondering "where the money went this year" please know you're not alone. When I started opening up and telling people what we were going through I was swamped with people telling me they've experienced the same thing at one point or other in the growth of their business.
Watch for my next newsletter. I'm in the process of putting together a package that tells a lot more of what we did to turn things around...AND the things I should have done to avoid getting in the spot in the first place. Hopefully it can help others avoid the same pitfalls.
In the meantime....about the show! Thankfully it's finally back in Orlando again! The weather was wonderful, the hotels were great and it's SO much easier to get around in Orlando. It was a decent sized show although I didn't see a lot of new and unique items. Inflatables keep getting cheaper and cheaper each year though. In fact, we bought an obstacle course with a rockclimb slide for less than we were selling the obstacle course two years ago. There were a lot of stock sales with some great prices. I truly believe that if you're going to buy at the show, stock is the way to go. The plan to buy and get your stuff shipped in March hasn't worked well for a lot of us. It just never shows up on time. The majority of companies showing this year had stock available to ship.
Here are some items left over from the show that still have fantastic pricing. There are still a couple of each left but once they're gone, pricing goes right back up to the regular price.
Save an EXTRA $50.00 on this unit if you purchase today!
Save an EXTRA $50.00 on this unit if you purchase today!
Save an EXTRA $100.00 on this unit if you purchase today!
The above unit prices are based on cash discount pricing and do not include blowers or freight. If you'd like to purchase using credit card via paypal , just let me know what you want via email and I'll send you over an invoice. I'll need your shipping address with a phone number.
All three of the above items are great rental pieces. I really don't think you can have enough water slides...even in a shorter season like we have in the midwest. Some insurance companies don't allow pools so make that call before you make your purchase. I talked to a friend that has over 30 slides at the show and he still needs more. That ought to tell you how popular they are.
OK....That's it for now! I have 10 days of work to catch up. Have a great day...and don't forget to watch for Part 2 of this newsletter.
Cheryl
Partyzone Entertainment
www.partyzone-sales.com
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