Today I processed my second order! I processed it through the telephone order module for a neighbor friend. It was quite easy and I am glad to have practiced on a friend than a customer I didn't know. I do need to remember that not only do I need information from my customer, but that I need to provide them back information, like the amount of the invoice. I almost forgot to do that so I need to polish that a bit. I am sure it will come with practice.

Today I mailed out the first package to Kaboodle Kids first customer! It was exciting and a day I'll never forget. I even wrote a hand written note to my first customer. It seems so long ago since I left my job 3 months ago to start Kaboodle Kids. I am very proud and happy today.

Today Kaboodle Kids went live!.. accidently! And I am happy as clams it did!

I was working on the test website tweaking the category pages and metatags trying to get everything done so that I could go live soon. Periodically, I was checking emails as I was expecting a specific email to come in when I noticed an email notifying me of an order. I thought that was funny as I hadn't put through a test order so I checked the order menu in the admin panel and sure enough I had my first order of $35.00 which had gone through the credit card authorization process. I realized that I have a real order, but how did it happen? I thought I was in a test region. I realized the domain switch must have occurred and I am finding out that technically it is a live test region once the domain is pointing in the right direction... which did happen today!

So I called my first customer and congratulated her for being my first customer. She was tickled pink and what was great was that she didn't see those pages missing some text that actually stated blah blah blah (those were my reminders to put text there)! So, of course, I took out those blah blah blahs and I am still working on putting that text there. Hopefully I'll have all this completed before I send out my mass email to the 132 people on my mailing list that I hope are still interested in Kaboodle Kids, as I was led to believe.

It has been a whirlwind since I got the first shipment... stock updates, pricing, photo shoots. Lots of tedious and some exciting work. Overall, I am having a blast! Now I feel like I am ready to go live. I've felt this way for the past few days. I am waiting for my domain transfer. The waiting is killing me. I am thinking of all the if onlys as I am retracing the month long process to purchase the domain KaboodleKids.com. For a process that could have taken less than a week, it sure took way too long. This week has given me time to sit back and review the website as it stands. My father-in-law tested the site and a friend in Boston looked it over and gave me some feedback as well. There have been some great tweaking of the website this week, so I shouldn't be as perplexed as I feel. In time, the site will be up and running and I will be busy as a bee processing orders and marketing my company!

After over a week in customs, I finally picked up my first order of merchandise late yesterday! The freight time was 1 week and it takes longer in customs. The freight and customs process is quite an experience. You definitely need to find the right broker to get the job complete. I tried to find my own broker and compare prices to my suppliers recommended brokers. I found that my suppliers recommended brokers were the same price and they knew what they were talking about. Since I knew this first time would be a learning experience for me, it is worth it. Once I go through this same process with my second supplier, I'll find out which broker I like best and by consolidating to one broker, I can save on a few of the fees. I had a blast looking through all the merchandise last night. The clothes are so cute! I have no doubt the clothes will sell, I just need to market my products well.

Although I have a domain name, mykaboodlekids.com, I am looking for the best domain: kaboodlekids.com. It is currently owned by a woman named Catherine but is not being used today. I called her and left a message to see if she was going to renew the domain as it will expire in April of this year. I am hoping she'll give it to me or let me purchase it from her for like $50.00. She called today and did state that she was willing to sell it, although she is going to call me back with a price. She lead me to believe she just wanted to cover the cost of having it. Hopefully that is the case. This could be a great day!

Legal questions... who can I trust to answer my legal type questions? I asked attorneys I knew through my work and others that had connections to give me a reference of someone they know and trust. I came up empty handed. I realized I needed to find one on my own. I went to to the internet of cousre - Martindale-Hubbell as a start and the first one on the list was my own former city mayor Dan Oates. He can be found at www.pompanolaw.com - Oates & Oates, PA. What a coincidence and I had forgotten he was an attorney. So I gave him a call and spoke with Dan concerning some basic corporate stuff from occupational licenses through business continuity plans, which Dan was very helpful. I was pleasantly surprised that I wasn't paying for these basic answers. He helped me with all my questions and is researching one last area for me. I am very impressed and pleased with the service.