Crisis Averted

This past week in Minnesota at the Minneapolis Gift Show, I think I may have narrowly avoided a major disaster. One that may have sent this company reeling in the wrong direction like a comet knocked off its cosmic course. As anyone running a business could attest to, your mind never shuts off. Ever. You’re always thinking of what needs to be done, and what things could be done better. Should we be doing more of this? Less of that? How can we increase revenue but drive down expenses? Can I afford underwear this week? You also get lots of suggestions from people. Mostly well-meaning, and some are are even usable. I usually try and wait ’till I hear something three times from three different people before I take much stock in it, especially if it involves great expense or a major redirection of the business. I have always marketed Kim & Jason toward “grown-ups” rather than kids. Last week I had a conversation with a fellow a few years older than me with a pretty strong marketing background, and he strongly recommended I switch gears and focus exclusively on the children’s market. Granted, we have had people see our stuff and immediately think it’s for kids. It’s not that it’s NOT for kids, but that’s not necessarily the intended audience. And someday, I think it would be cool to do a children’s book or two. Someday. But sales have been slower than I’d like, so I started to really consider the suggestion. Maybe we really are missing the boat here. Should we ditch everything we’ve done and move in this whole new direction? I pondered it for several days over the course of the show. When I looked at a future that consisted of publishing children’s books, children’s videos, and children’s toys, I couldn’t get myself very fired up about it. Maybe it was visions of Barney and The Wiggles clouding my view, but the passion was just not there. Finally, on the last day of the show, it hit me. I remembered why I started this in the first place… “I tell you the truth, anyone who does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Those words were spoken by Jesus, and they’ve stuck with me ever since I read them years ago. He’s saying that the kids are fine, but us “grown-ups” are the ones with some fixing to do. And the reason I am so passionate about Kim & Jason is because I get to encourage people to return to childhood, to a life of simple faith, and to a world where anything is possible. As those words flittered back into my mind yet again, I knew we were on the right track. Things may not be going according to MY plan, but I know I am aligned with His. And that was all I needed to know. We’ve got some adjusting to do to our marketing message, but overall, we’re on the right track and have a lot of great things happening. And so, after that moment of temporary doubt, confusion, and uncertainty, I guess I’ll go back to doing some more thinking. Again. As if I had ever stopped.