A New Dawn, But Not Quite A New Day…

Hey folks. 

Today I’m excited to share that I've been working on some fantastic new products that I think you're going to love. But before we dive into that, I want to pull back the curtain and be radically transparent about the challenges I’ve faced in business lately, and how these are impacting upon the rollout of the roadmap. Lastly – and perhaps most importantly – I want to hear your thoughts on what you want to see most, and ti hear any advice you may have.

As many small business owners know, the journey in business is rarely simple, the road rarely smooth. Right now, Jerry Lane Photography is facing some cash flow challenges. Quite frankly, bar around Christmas time and when the calendars launch JLP generally faces cash flow issues. While historically I have managed to get by, with rent costs and so many other expenses coupled with the rising cost of materials, things aren’t so smooth right now. All of which means that I'm not able to launch new products – such as tray frames and new greeting cards – just yet, and the amounts of stocks I’ll have at Ballybunion markets on Saturday mornings will be limited in the initial few weeks of the peak summer season. I can, however, take orders on the day and get prints made up, of course. 

Markets haven’t been cash flow positive this year, at all, in fact I’m running at about 15% of what I sold last year for July, year-on-year, and 46% of revenue for the year when compared to last year. This paired with the above increased material costs, increased costs of living, and more financial challenges paint a fairly bleak picture overall, but I’m not stopping and I will be pushing on with bringing new items to markets and online. 

I’m looking at new options for revenue generation, new ways of financing the large initial costs of so many items, and I’m open to hearing your suggestions for what you’d like to see more of and what ideas you have for products I should bring to market?

I'm incredibly grateful for your continued support. It means the world to me. And I promise, as soon as I'm able to launch these new products, you'll be the first to know. If you’ve ever thought about buying a print from me and are waiting to click buy, shoot me a message with what you’re going for and I’ll help answer any questions you have.

Thanks for being part of this journey.

Jerry