CEO

CEO Daily Update – 6.10.2020

June 10, 2020 by Craig Haynie

TONS of Updates – Happy Hump Day, Lysol Spray, 3M N95 In Stock, Cases of Hand Sanitizer, Nitrile Gloves

Happy Wednesday! HUMP DAAAAAAYYYY (never gets old)

This is the first thing that came to mind when I started this email for some reason (my brain is random):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrHxhQPOO2c

What’s your outlook? Is it going to be a bright sunshiny day? 90% is up to you ….

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company…a church….a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past…we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude…I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you…we are in charge of our attitudes.”
― Charles Swindoll

CEO Daily Update – 6.9.2020

June 9, 2020 by Craig Haynie

Prayers for baby Jojo, the coupon rages on, a Cisco vulnerability

Happy Tuesday.

I received a reply to yesterday’s email from a customer with a request for prayer for her great niece, Jojo (Josphine). Jojo was born early at 24 weeks at only 1lb. Her and mom are not in a great condition right now and need the grace and mercy of the Lord. Would you pray for them with me? Pray that the Lord would heal them – and that the entire family be comforted by the presence of the Lord in all circumstances. We never know the will of the Father, but trust that He loves us deeply, is sad with us in our trials, and has mercy on us in our humility. Father, bring your healing to the bodies of this family, and your grace and mercy into the hearts of all involved. Amen.

Our oldest, who turns seven in just a few days, was born a month early and very small (not that small). We know first-hand how HARD it is to have a baby (in this case it was our first) in trouble, stuck in the NICU, and not be able to do anything but wait and pray. Our hearts are with this family!

Cisco announces a security flaw in NX-OS
https://www.zdnet.com/google-amp/article/cisco-warns-these-nexus-switches-have-been-hit-by-a-serious-security-flaw/

A poll of sorts:
I am curious – now that some time has passed, what is “normal” like to you now? Have you gone physically back to work? (Did you ever leave?), have you changed any habits perhaps for the better (I know people that now order groceries online that didn’t before). Have you changed jobs, moved, or made any other life changes? Has the Lord taught you anything during this time? I would love to hear from you!

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CEO Daily Update – 6.8.2020

June 8, 2020 by Craig Haynie

Pricing Feedback, the Sabbath, Todo Lists & a CEO Coupon

Howdy!

Welcome to a whole new week!

I hope you had a great weekend. I sure did. We saw lots of friends, spent time relaxing and watching some TV, hanging out by the pool with friends, and I was even able to go to a friend’s house from 4pm till Midnight on Sat and hang out, go to dinner, and watch a movie in his theater room. That may not sound like a big deal but as hard as I have been going lately it absolutely was. And I needed it! I feel more rested than I have felt in quite a while. Hopefully I am ready for what will come this week!

There’s a vendor I have been working closely with over the past few weeks that lives/works in New York and is Jewish. He is such a hustler during the week but on Friday night he disappears until Sat night. He pointed out that it’s the Sabbath which is why, and I told him I was a Christian and loved the Jewish faith; it’s the origin of Christianity after all. Jesus was a Jew. The difference between a practicing Jew and a Christian is the belief that Jesus was who he said He was – the son of God who came to bring a new covenant. But that’s another email for another day.

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CEO Daily Update – 6.5.2020

June 5, 2020 by Craig Haynie

3M N95 Masks, Disinfectant Wipes, Nitrile Gloves & Webcams

Thank the Good LORD it’s Friday!

Father in heaven, I thank you for this week. One of fruitful work, of meals with family, of television and small indulgences. Thank you for the chocolate that I have eaten too much of. Thank you for putting such small but enjoyable things on this earth (the cocoa bean), and for giving humans the ability to figure out how to make something of it. Lord I thank you for the weekend when many of us get to slow down and rest a little. Bless those that don’t get to rest, and help them find rest in You.

Please bless our country. Comfort those mourning and give courage to us all to fight for what is right, to seek to learn and to seek to understand. Give us a gentle nature toward one another, and to honor you in doing so.

In Jesus’ name I pray and ask these things. Amen.

A little Fellershipping
We have some friends coming up today to stay the night and we are all excited (they also have two small kids). We don’t get to see them as much as we used to so it is a treat when we get to spend time together. One good thing about visitors is it forces me to stop working – at least for a while. I am looking forward to that as well!

Stock Status
Hey take a look at the video of me on the safety supplies page! (What’s in stock blue button) People ask all the time about stock quantities so we did a video to talk about it. You’ll see a WHOLE lot of face masks! https://www.cablesandkits.com/c/safety-supplies

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CEO Daily Update – 6.4.2020

June 4, 2020 by Craig Haynie

Referrals, Price Gouging, Nitrile Gloves, Clorox Wipes, & N95 Masks

Happy Thursday!

WHAT – A – DAY. We have a monthly Sales and Marketing meeting that goes all day. It was a tiring meeting when we used to do it in person, but now that it is all video it’s even more exhausting. Over 8 hours on video with several other leaders discussing our product lines, and our sales and marketing efforts. I love the meeting, but after 3 hours sleep the night before it was tough. But it is so great to take the time to work ON the business and not just IN it. I encourage you to find the areas of your business that need you to step out/away/back and give it some thought and consideration. If you don’t have some sort of plan, any move is the right move.

Price Gouging – We launched Clorox wipes yesterday and today I received 5-6 emails accusing us of price gouging. Ouch! That’s a first. I tried to explain in yesterday’s email but here goes again … These wipes are “normally” $5-8 per canister in stores. Normally. Like when they have them and the world is not buying every one they can find and picking the shelves clean. Things are not “normal” right now. We are not a Clorox “partner”, and even if we were we would not be getting any inventory, or would be getting very little. The only option we have to buy and sell these wipes is when some enterprising entrepreneur calls us up and says “I own 20,000 of these. I want X dollars. Do you want them?”. I either say yes, and have them available for you at a higher price, or I say no, and don’t. Just because the price is high does not mean we are price gouging. It means that our cost is sky high which is driving up the price. Let me be clear, we are going to make money on every item we sell or we are not going to sell it (donations aside). So we bought some at a high cost, marked them up a reasonable percentage (that is LESS than our standard margin on technology items), and offered them. Just because that price is higher than usual doesn’t mean that we are price gouging. Please hear me! I am absolutely here to serve you.

All that being said, due to the volume of sales today I was able to increase our order quantity significantly and get the cost down, and in turn, get the price down. We want to make money doing business (else why would we do it), but we are going to try to save you money at the same time! In general, if our cost goes down, the price follows. If you have ANY questions, please reach out to me!

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CEO Daily Update – 6.3.2020

June 3, 2020 by Craig Haynie

Clorox Wipes, N95 Masks, New Floor Dispensers, and Business/COVID Updates

Happy Wednesday!

It was a big day yesterday! Lots of product updates (above), and lots of interesting and enlightening conversations (below).

First, about the product updates – As you will see above, we are launching Clorox sanitizing wipes, N95 masks, and Floor Stand Sanitizer dispensers all in the same day. Wheew!! I want to explain a little about how “this works” when it comes to things like Clorox wipes and N95 masks. There is no reliable supply chain for these things right now. I describe what it’s like out there as the Wild Wild West. Market price is literally defined by what someone is willing to sell something for, and what someone else is willing to pay. There are no rules, and you act fast or you miss the opportunity. On certain items like hand sanitizer dispensers or bottle pumps, I get those manufactured and we have some control. With things like Clorox wipes or N95 masks, it is a no holds barred sourcing showdown. I have been offered pallets of gloves before, and took 8 minutes to make up my mind, and by the time I did they were SOLD. It was a LOT of gloves. I was sick. So, things like Clorox wipes or N95 masks are like that. Someone offers them to me, and I either grab them or I don’t.

I am going to explain what you will see on the site for those items. For the Clorox wipes in the bag, the “on order” qty is on the way to us. Every time someone enters an order, that qty goes down. So in general, what you see on order should be available for you to buy. For the Clorox wipes in the canister, I have committed to about 2000 canisters, but there are a total of roughly 20,000 available. What you see on the site is the amount remaining from the 20,000 available. As soon as I send this email and orders start coming in I will gauge how many to buy and lock the PO in. So, that is why I am saying ORDER FAST if you want them. For the N95 masks it’s similar. We have a vendor that has them available and I have written a PO for the full qty and will edit it as necessary once we see the demand.

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