Backorders

We've had quite a few backorders over the last 30 days or so.

The extent of this backorder issue is uncommon. PartyLite will occasionally run out of stock, but we manage our inventories closely, and the delay is not usually as long as the one we've been experiencing. I've made some inquiries and learned that the problem has been exacerbated by the huge amount of imports due to the high Aussie dollar. Apparently the clearance docks at customs are chock-o-block and that has been holding up our containers.

Not an excuse, but a reason I thought worth sharing.

Most of the hard work getting the backordered stock out was completed last week. You should check with your hosts and make sure they are informed and happy.

Six Ideas to Finish October Strong

You have six days to go and you want more sales this month. So how can that be done? Here are some ideas.

1. Host a home show.
2. Take the catalogue around to a few people each day and take outside orders
3. Focus on the 2 guest promotions
1. Tealights – 3 boxes for $33. Only this month.
2. Illuminescents Porcelain Fragrance Warmers– great present idea! Only $45. Only this month.
4. Call your FRANK list
5. Follow up on people who you’ve talked to or shown a catalogue to – let them know that you’re putting in an order
6. Buy $165 in tealights yourself – that’s 15 boxes of tealights and you get 15% more for free. I calculate that with your 22% commission payment, these boxes only cost you $7.83 each. Bonus and they are even cheaper. :)

You’ve got nothing to lose. No matter what your results, it will be great practice, super for networking, and could get you some great results.

Get out there!

PartyLite Reward Card

This October, PartyLite Australia introduced a Reward Card for customers. The idea is called a "bridging" promotion. Why? The promotion will help us bridge the gap that could occur between Christmas and the new catalogue launch. In other words, it will help us get sales in January.

(Another bridging promotion we will have is the discontinued stock list. When PartyLite retires fragrances and products, it gives our clients a deadline to buy. Deadlines are gold.)

So, yesterday, Leaders received the pdf version of the Reward Card brochure showing the free products people can get when they use their Reward Card. I printed the brochure in colour, lamintated page one by itself, and laminated pages 2-3 back to back, and 4-5 back to back. I took it to my show last night.

It was FANTASTIC!

Check the CBC (it's not there yet) or ask your leader for a pdf copy of the brochure so that you can use it NOW. You'll get a good copy in Reflections later, and we can buy them on Consultant orders ($2 for 5), but using it last night made all the difference.

Now that my clients can see what they could get for free, several of them are seriously thinking about booking a party in January. I always tell them that I'll do the show if they want me to do all of the work, but I give them the opportunity to collect orders, too. (Idea: write an article for/letter to your clients with ideas about how to collect $400 in orders.)

Seeing is Believing

PartyLite always gives us an opportunity to earn things for free so that we can promote our business better. This month's sales promotion, for the Espresso Twist products, is exactly that - an opportunity worth striving for. The Espresso Twist set is part of the reward program and I think it will be so impressive in real life that people will book parties. Set your goal for October to submit at least three $550 shows so you have part of that set!

Happy selling!

Frankly Speaking

Your FRANK list will eventually be the strong,
solid tree trunk as your business branches out.

Howdy! Today I had a latte appointment with a prospective new consultant and I shared with her my suggested approach for starting her business. I thought it would probably be a good thing to share with all y'all. :)

This business is not about cold calling. It is about network marketing. The first step is to network with your network. In a nutshell, your FRANK list is a VIP list. They will get your business started if you give them some information, ask them for help, and get them excited about your new business.

The FRANK List

Take the time to write out a really good list of your friends, relatives, acquaintances, neighbours, and people you know through your kids (alternatively, people you know who have kids). Don't just include women in your FRANK list, this list should include everyone.

The Phone

Call each and every person on your FRANK list to share the news about your candle business with PartyLite. Use the scripts in the Power Hour section of your consultant guide to you get started.

The Offer

Invite each and every woman on your FRANK list to host a show.

The Referral

If they do host a show, they will effectively be referring their network (their FRANK list) to meet you in person. If they don't want to host one themselves, ask them if they know anyone who might be interested in hosting a show and ask for a personal introduction.

The No-Strings-Attached Invitation

Invite anyone who does not have a show to an open house at your home.

The open house will be a casual opportunity for your FRANK list (men and women) to see the products, look through the catalogue, smell the fragrances, and learn more about your business. Clean and declutter your house. Put out your kit in beautiful displays throughout your home. Turn out a few lights and light the candles. Turn on some nice relaxing music. Have simple refreshments. Put catalogues and fragrance samples on your dining room table and encourage people to sit and browse for a few minutes.

You have three goals for an open house:

1. Make people in your network aware of your business selling platinum quality PartyLite products.
2. Make people in your network aware of the benefits of hosting a show.
3. Give people in your network an opportunity to place an order and experience PartyLite themselves.

Ask for Advice

Ask each and every person on your FRANK list to give you a piece of advice about how to grow your new business.

Offer Platinum, Personal Service

Let each and every person on your FRANK list know that you would be happy to take their orders any time, happy to give them gift ideas for special events, happy to assist in candle requirements for special events (e.g. weddings, charity dinners, birthday parties).

Death and Taxes

Big disclaimer: I'm not a professional tax person. I use a professional accountant to file my taxes. I do not expect you to take this post as anything other than a story from Wendy. It is not advice. It's a story.

Once upon a time there was a candle lady named Wendy who lived in the land of OZ. She had an annual responsibility to pay her taxes because she made so much darn money from her candle business that the government of OZ considered her candle business to be just that... a business. She loved paying taxes, because it really made her feel like she had made it as a business person.

However, Wendy didn't want to overpay her taxes, because she (and any business) should only pay taxes on profit. Wendy's profit was the amount she got paid (the incommies) minus all the expenses she spent money on in order to make the incommies (the outgoies).

Outgoies

So, each year, Wendy thought about what outgoies took to run her business.

• The Car - Wendy owned her car, got it serviced, insured it, had roadside assistance, and put petrol into it regularly. She saved receipts for these things. One year, she showed her accountant the receipt for the car she bought and for the car she sold. She left it up to him to figure out if there was part of that big outgoie that could be subtracted from her incommies. Turned out there was, but it was too complicated for Wendy to figure out on her own.
• The Phone - Wendy paid a monthly bill for her mobile phone. She also paid a monthly bill for her home phone. She estimated that her business use of these two was 75%.
• The Product - Wendy bought display products to use at her shows, for door prizes, and for team raffles and incentives. She saved receipts for these things.
• Show Costs - every time Wendy's hosts had a $400 show, Wendy paid a $10 fee for the $50 bonus hostess voucher. She kept track of these payments on her Profit Statements.
• Training and Events - Wendy loved to go to training, Leader's Summit, and the Annual Conference. These things made her a better Consultant and a better Leader. In 2009, Wendy was part of the 101 Dalmatians (award winning costumes) at Conference and you know what? She even kept track of the $10 she paid Eliana for making the Dalmatian Suit. She kept track of all her outgoies for these - including the coffee at the airport.
• Books and CDs - Wendy invested in books and CDs to help her and her team improve in many areas (sales, leadership, network marketing, networking, etc.). She saved receipts for these things.
• Advertising - Occasionally, Wendy would seek approval from PartyLite to advertise her business in various publications and at fetes, fundraisers, and market stalls. These advertising outgoies would result in leads and, hopefully, sales. So Wendy kept her receipts for these.
• Customer Events - Wendy hosted parties at her home several times a year to give her VIP clients some VIP treatment. She bought food, drink, and used candles at these events. She kept track of these outgoies. 
• Consultant Events - As a Leader, Wendy ran Unit Meetings and New Consultant Training. She had raffles, gave away literature, and bought nibbles and drinks. 
• Bank Fees - Wendy set up a special bank account just for her business, so she kept track of all the outgoie bank fees she was charged. 
• Internet - Wendy used the Internet almost exclusively to build her business. She invested in a faster connection so that she could provide better customer service and so she could be more efficient in putting in her orders. She estimated that 90% of her time on the internet was related to business.
• Computer - Wendy provided receipts for her new laptop to her accountant. Laptops are equipment that can be claimed over a few years, not all at once, so Wendy left that up to her accountant to figure out. But Wendy also used lots of printer toner and paper, so she kept track of those outgoies.
• Networking - Wendy got out into the world to meet new people. Sometimes she attended breakfasts and lunches and meetings where there were fees. She kept track of these outgoies because each event helped her grow her business.
• Mail - Wendy and the post office were very close. She knew her postal delivery man by name and she also had a big fan base at the post office (they liked the way Wendy's deliveries made the place smell so good). She bought lots of stamps and cards and envelopes. She kept every receipt for those outgoies. (And she wasn't too happy every time the postal fees got raised). 
• Business Cards - Wendy had business cards made and she went through a lot of them. They help spread the word about her business, so she kept track of those outgoies.
• Display Bling and Giftwrapping - When Wendy wanted her display to look great, she bought some fake flowers, some placemats, and some coloured rocks. She also bought gift bags, organza bags, gift wrapping paper, and ribbon. Lots of things to advertise her shows and her business. Those outgoies were all carefully tracked.

Wendy put all of these outgoies into a spreadsheet and filed the receipts into a big envelope.

Incommies

Incommies for her PartyLite were easier for Wendy to track. Each week, PartyLite would create a report (a Profit Statement) for Wendy showing how much money she had been paid. Wendy would just put that information into her spreadsheet. She could also get year to date information off the CBC.

Other Jobs, Other Income, and Other Tax Deductible Expenses

When she used to have another job, Wendy got a Group Certificate for that job, too. She would give that to her accountant. She also had an investment property that she shared with her husband, so every year she had to bring that information to her accountant, too. Whenever she gave money to charity, she'd keep track of that. When her health fund would mail her its annual report, she'd put that into her tax file. (Wendy didn't have any income from places like Centrelink, so she wouldn't have had any idea how to account for that. Absolutely no idea. Definitely an area requiring special research!)

The Hero of the Story - The Accountant

Every year, Wendy took all of this information to her accountant and gave him a rundown of what she was giving him. He would ask questions and make sure she had included everything. He would look at her strangely when she asked if she could claim dog grooming outgoies since it made the dog more attractive and better smelling to consultants and clients. (Alas, no.)

She would pay her accountant every year (also a business-related outgoie). He would crunch all the numbers and make sure Wendy only paid the taxes she was supposed to pay.

How Wendy Saved For Her Tax Bill

Wendy actually liked to have all her tax money saved up before her tax bill would come. She hated surprises, especially when they were outgoies! So Wendy used the Stash Cash program to save money for conference AND for her tax bill. She found that by putting $50 aside from every show, at the end of every financial year, she had plenty of money for her annual conference, her taxes, and any leftovers were her self-created "refund." As a reward for being such a good saver, Wendy loved to spend her "refund" on full body massages.

Why Wendy Had to Deal with GST

In 2009, Wendy sold over $75000 worth of candles which was one criteria for her to have to register for GST (there were other criteria that might have made this happen, too). She dealt with this with her accountant and now keeps track of GST, too. (One hint: Don't register for GST unless you have to - it's an unnecessary headache. One other hint: If you do register for GST, tell PartyLite right away - it changes a few things about how you get paid.)

The End

So in the land of OZ, Consultants who ran their candle business as a business started keeping great track of their outgoies so that they could pay the right amount of tax. Not too much, not too little. They all got accountants to help them. They all started saving early for the inevitable tax bill (a sign that they were making lots of money).

And they all lived happily ever after.

Repeat big disclaimer: I'm not a professional tax person. I use a professional accountant to file my taxes. I do not expect you to take this post as anything other than a story from Wendy. It is not advice. It's a story.