Happy anniversary, Chocolate Milk
By Lina Perez and Victoria Vasile, Chocolate Milk, Miami -- Kids Today, 5/1/2007 12:00:00 AM
May 2, 2007, marked our second anniversary and not a day goes by that we are not grateful and celebrate our blessings. All too aware of how things can change in the blink of an eye — even if you've planned everything down to the last infinite detail. I am sure even the best of business plans probably don't include instructions on what to do if "life happens." During these last two years, there must be at least a million and one things we learned and we are sure that there are still a million and one to go.
In this article we would like to share some of our most valuable lessons.
One of the most important lessons learned is "Thou shalt not whine." There is way too much kvetching, groaning and moaning going on. We like to call that "Stinkin-Thinkin." That excessive internal and external chatter caused when faced with the physical symptom commonly known as fear. This fear can stop you from taking any risks in business, financial decisions and even breathing — and we certainly need our breath to be able to continue in this venture.
The second lesson has to deal with money. Halfway between the first year and the second year, we figured out that we have to spend a lot of money in this business. If you want to make money, a shoestring budget won't quite cut it. I am sure we are not alone when we say we still have to figure out what it is that people seem to want and tweaking costs money.
We've definitely learned to appreciate time as our third lesson. It seems there used to be so much more of it before, in another life. Did we really have 9-5 jobs with benefits and 401(k)s and overtime and vacations? Now, we wake up to Chocolate Milk with our coffee and this is a benefit; we have Chocolate Milk with our dinner discussing the upcoming trade shows and these seriously are vacations. The clock strikes 1:00 a.m. and we still are banging away at the keys for this article.
This year we've begun to question what our next step is. What is our mission really? Both Victoria and I have longed to make Chocolate Milk's purpose about giving back/passing it forward not only to our local charities but to the earth and our ever challenged human race. So, this year we'd like to find and develop strong ties with groups and or associations that do just this and perhaps start to make a difference in someone's life, even if it's a small one. We would love to hear from anyone involved in great humanitarian projects, especially those involved with children.
Neither Victoria nor I have any biological children. Oh sure, we have nieces and nephews, godchildren and even children in the neighborhood that we volunteer to co-parent when needed—we know "it takes a village." But, when we decided to open a children's store, we didn't think much of it. Nor did we think about how many different types of children and parents we'd encounter on a daily basis, which probably makes for a great article at a later date.
What we have learned is that all things at a baby's reach must find a home on much higher ground. Items that are breakable or expensive are placed much farther back on the shelves and almost hidden from a 2-year-olds little eyes and little hands. Wow... how do full-time moms do it with three and four and yes, even six children?
We love our store, but we looked around and noticed we certainly have a lot more pink in there than we ever thought we would. We thought we would definitely be a lot edgier and much funkier; we had to figure out how cool can we be and still pay the rent. Pink sells. Pink wins. No whining.
Mostly we've learned the value of having a dream; a dream that has us on the ever-constant forward movement. Big houses, luxury cars and gold watches are nice but they're not really dreams. Our dream has awakened our passion and allowed us to set challenging goals. Goals are like a trail of little gold nuggets that lead right to the gold mine. You set them, reach for them, accomplish them and the next thing you know, you are standing at the entrance to a literal gold mine ready to move to a new, unimaginable level.
Anthony Robbins says, "There are no lazy men; there are simply men whose dreams do not inspire them".
Being an entrepreneur means being a leader; a leader in your business and a leader in your community. Once you begin to apply this philosophy to your life, you'll find that you can do a lot more than buy that cool car, big house or gold watch.
We are super excited about what the next year of business will bring. You know what they say — "what does not kill you will make you stronger."
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