Renegade Conservatory Guy

I’ve decided to set myself a personal challenge - to sell 5,000 uPVC window, door and conservatory frames per month by November. Not only do I need my company - Conservatory Outlet - to sell 5000 frames in November, we’ve also got to make and deliver them!

So, why set myself such a challenge?

Well, back in January 2006, we took on a Head of Production, Mick Giscombe, to ensure that our factory runs smoothly and to give us the capacity to expand. He’s done a fantastic job, and I don’t need to worry about factory issues anymore. If you remember, I recently showed you a video with Mick in action.

The problem is that Mick is putting me under serious pressure to sell more.

He used to work at Coldseal and managed the factory during that company’s phenominal growth in the 1990’s. It’s not that we’ve been standing still. Far from it. Since he started we have grown from around 2,000 frames per month to around 3000 frames per month. Year to date we’re around 15% up on last year, which isn’t bad considering the state of the marketplace.

But Mick still wants more. Lot’s more!!

The graph below shows the amount of frames we have been making so far this year. You can see that from April to July we have been averaging around 3000 frames per month.

To get to 5000 frames per month within 3 months is going to be a real challenge. In fact you could say it’s virtually impossible!

So, to ensure I am fully motivated to achieve this target I have decided I need a major incentive. Obviously, if we sell 60% more frames than we do currently then we’ll make more money. That should be enough of an incentive. But I’ve had that incentive all year and we’re not selling 5000 frames per month - no where near.

I need to know that if I don’t get us to 5,000 frames per month, then something really bad will happen to me. So I have decided on 3 really bad things that could happen to me, and I want you to vote on which humiliating forfeit you would like to see most.

1. Mick Giscombe will beat me up!

As Mick is the one who is challenging me to sell more frames, then it is only fair that he should have the opportunity to beat me up if I don’t achieve the target. So, I will have to spend 3 minutes with Mick in a boxing ring.

In his spare time Mick enjoys kick boxing - he likes to hurt people. He also quite big. In comparison I am relatively skinny, unfit, and don’t like hurting people. I have never punched anyone in my life before, so spending 3 minutes in the boxing ring with Mick Giscombe is certainly not my idea of fun!

2. Dressing up as a butterfly for a day at work.

I’m not someone who enjoys fancy dress. I don’t think I’m an attention seeker, and prefer to keep a low profile wherever possible (other than having this blog).

So to dress up as a butterfly, and spend a whole day at work with my staff and work colleagues poking fun at me, is not my idea of fun. In fact, this would be extremely humiliating for me, so please do not vote for this.

By the way, a butterfly is on our Conservatory Outlet logo which is where I got the idea from.

3. Stand at the side of a road with an ‘I’m a Failure’ sign

Our showroom in Wakefield is next to the very busy Denby Dale Rd, a main arterial road feeding traffic to the centre of Wakefield. In the morning this dual carriageway gets very busy during rush hour.

So if I fail my challenge, then I could stand at the side of this busy road during the morning rush hour with a sign stating that ‘I am a failure’.

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In the right hand column you will see a section where you can vote for which one of these bad things you would like to see me do - should I fail my challenge.

Please note, you can only vote once. People will be able to vote right up until the end of November and at the end of November, the one with the most votes will be the winner (unless, of course, I sell 5000 frames in November).

Over the next four months I will keep you updated with my progress towards achieving this target, and I will share with you my tactics for bringing in more window and conservatory business.

This is deadly serious - if Conservatory Outlet does not manufacture 5,000 frames in November of this year, then I will have to undertake one of these humiliating forfeits.

Unless of course nobody bothers voting.