Behind the Scenes - 12/20/24

Dear Friends,

For those who are new to our emails, I try to do an email once a week where I go into the details of what is happening behind the scenes of our small business. If you want to catch up on prior messages, check out the blog here or just jump right into the story below.

Merry Christmas to you all and to all a goodnight!

We made it. This was without a doubt the best and smoothest Christmas season we have ever had. Sales were a bit lower than our best year ever, but better than last year, and more importantly we were never more than 3 business days behind. I think for about 90% of the season we were doing things in 2 business days or less, which is better than our normal production lead time. All this culminated in a very stress free season, which was totally foreign to me.

This was mainly due to our incredible team this year. We have always worked to cultivate great teams, but I will be the first to admit that time has been an educator for me in the world of hiring. A few Christmas seasons ago we had 9 people working here, and the whole season was a nightmare. Delays, disorganization, confusion abounded and it took a real toll on the team. This year there is just 5 of us, and we were like Seal Team Six.

One side effect of this was that for the first time ever, I kept up my journaling everyday this season. Starting from October 29 until today (and I'm surely planning on keeping this up) I have written at least a page, and usually two, in my Stationery Cut. Now it may surprise you to learn, but in the past year or two, I have been a lapsed journaler. A shocking admission from a man who makes a living touting the many benefits of journaling. To tell you the truth, I had gotten out of the habit, mainly through laziness, but also because I didn't make it a regular part of my routine.

I only mention this because my Stationery Cut with Leuchtturm1917 insert was so exciting to get, that I thought "well I'll use this for awhile and see if I like it" and it's been awesome.

This journaling goes beyond just an outlet. I've spent countless hours reviewing last years data. Marketing data, supply and ordering logs, shipping records, any piece of information from last year that we had I've been analyzing. The deeper I went into the numbers the less sense I could make of it. I realized that the one thing I needed that I didn't have was a personal written account to help explain my thinking. Why did we make that change at that point? What was the main issue that we felt would be our downfall? When problem A came up, why was Solution B what we went with rather than the other options? All these questions couldn't be found in the raw numbers.

So this year, I've been keeping a meticulous document of all the various ideas, problems, solutions, concerns, successes, etc. that have been part of the season. Coincidentally, if I keep writing at the current rate I am, I will run out of this insert a day or two into the New Year. I know that this document will be important next year as I try to think back to how we did this.

By next Christmas a lot will have changed. I have a big exciting plan for us. Everything from new products (in leather and beyond) to new marketing ideas (how would you like to be able to see our product in person at your local boutique?) to new backend production tools. At that point, this moment right now will seem like a memory from a dream.

So many things in our lives are like that.

We often struggle to properly see how much we change each year. Sometimes we fall into the trap of thinking we are the same as we were yesterday and so writing about any given day is a waste. That is simply not true though. It's through writing about our day that we can suddenly begin to see just how much progress we are making. I look back and my journals from when my eldest son was born, and I can't help but smile at that poor new dad who was so nervous. My notes from the early days of the company are as precious to me as gold. How very far this adventure has taken me.

For those of you looking for a New Years Resolution, I would encourage you to try journaling. There aren't any rules as to how you do it. For me I like to write a bit about how I'm feeling, then about some things that may have happened and what they meant for me. If I have an idea for a product or process or new marketing idea I'll include that. If my children or wife do anything of note, I like to include that. One thing I find very helpful though is to always include at least one paragraph about something I'm grateful for that day. One example for me today is that we are having the Perfect Wisconsin Winter Day™ right now. Yesterday dropped 6" of powdery white snow on everything, so the trees and houses look like they are out of a picture book, but the best part is the fact that it is a perfectly blue sky day as well. Everything is very merry and bright, and it looks like this Christmas will be white.

I am also very grateful for all of you.

This whole company exists solely because people like you have chosen to support us through their purchases, reviews, and personal recommendations to friends. Thank you.

On a more housekeeping note:

We are closed Dec. 21st-Dec. 26th

I always like to close the 22nd-26th to allow the team to travel and visit their families (even if we did ship things out the 22nd or later it wouldn't likely arrive in time for Christmas), and this year the weekend will make it the 21-26th instead.

All orders placed before their respective deadlines (2-Day delivery: Wednesday Dec. 18th at 11:59pm, Next Day Air delivery: Friday Dec. 20th at 12pm) have been shipped and are in the possession of the carrier with the appropriate shipping speed selected for it to arrive on or before Dec. 24th. Unfortunately we have no control over those packages after they have been handed over to the carriers. If there are delays in delivery we are truly sorry, but are unable to do anything to help.

If an order was crafted incorrectly, or an accident was made during the ordering process (mis-spelling a name, selecting the wrong color, etc.) we will be happy to help resolve the issue upon our return on Friday Dec. 27th, but please note that we will likely have a backlog of communications to get through and appreciate your patience. We will be happy to ensure that if the item was a gift, the corrected version is sent to the person who was the intended recipient of the gift.

We will be continuing to do the limited edition launches, and I know many of you will really like the one coming out Dec. 26th at 11am central. So keep an eye out for that.

I'm not sure if there will be a Behind the Scenes email next Friday yet, but we do have an email announcing the new 2025 planners (which will be available for the Metric Cut Journal, Pocket Cut Journal, and Stationery Cut Cover) that will go out sometime next week. I'm hoping to get them live before we leave today though so if you are reading this they may be live on their respective product pages. We also always have our 5-Year Journal that works great as a planner option all the time.

Thank you all and for those who haven't yet read about the true reason for the season, here are the details straight from the source.

Merry Christmas!!

Stay tuned for more letters on Fridays in the coming weeks and be sure to go subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you like and watch the videos it helps us get promoted more by the algorithm to people who may never have heard of us.

Ever your servant,

Colin Murdy CEO/Owner

Murdy Creative Co.

Cell: 414-434-9001

MurdyCreative.Co 

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