Part 2: Shopping carts, hard lessons and future goals

Let's talk specifically about your product fulfillment process. What issues did you address to make sure that you were going to be able to accomplish that requirement of online business successfully?
For the first year, we did not have a shopping cart. The site was mainly informational. The shopping cart was a big cash outlay but was well worth it. We check our orders daily, print them out and then fill them in-house. We manually run the credit cards. Until the volume increases, we don't need the extra expense of the automatic credit card fulfillment.

Can you tell us about outsourcing your packaging process and the solution you came up with and its added benefit to the Boulder community?
I knew that I needed help with various aspects of the business, right from the start. I tried to outsource lots of the jobs. So, in looking for packaging personnel, I tried several groups; disabled folks, packaging services and then I came across the productive day program at the Boulder County Jail.

I realize that jail labor has some controversy around it. I believe strongly in the program here in Boulder. Inmates get a chance to earn money for restitution and family support at a fair hourly wage. Most of all, they get to learn to work, learn production skills, be a team member or leader and be productive each day.

Last year, I took my commitment to Productive Day one step further. I now volunteer several times per month to teach Life Skills to the women in Jail. I teach women a course about self-reliance and taking responsibility for one's own life. We talk about family values, raising children and turning your life around. I also offer employment to women who have worked in the Productive Day industries when released from jail.

What is your advice to an entrepreneur who has a successful product and would like to take the leap online? Do you have any "hard" lessons learned or wisdom for them?
Be prepared to add a new department to your office and look for an additional employee to manage it. I believe that going online requires diligent attention, updating and lots of work. Try to find someone who is local. I made a mistake by going with a guy in Florida and I never really felt like we had a relationship. There's something about looking someone in the eye and being able to go to their office. In the end, the Florida guy did some crummy things to me and now his phone number is changed and he never responds to an email.

What's in store for Cowgirl Enterprises' online site in the next year?
I am hiring yet another web master. This person is local and will spend time updating the site more regularly with photos, stories, etc. and submitting our site to search engines. I tell my staff this little equation often: If 1000 people ordered US$50 worth of product that's US$50,000.00. That's nothing, and our goal is to triple that this year. We are still pretty small and we are putting more attention to making that happen times four.

I believe you will do it! We'll come back next year and let our readers see for themselves how you've grown!