Your Monday/Tuesday is my Saturday/Sunday…

I have a small pro-shop where I try to keep a small base of customers supplied with only the best paintball products I can find. I can't afford to stock everything paintball (there are many products that I refuse to stock). Sometimes I have to remind customers that I don't have the FORD/VOLVO item they want because I'm a CHEVY/TOYOTA dealer. I would like to be able to please everyone but when it comes to stocking my shelves I have a budget (and morals) to stick to and I try to spread it out to include a little bit of something for everyone.

I got an e-mail from one of my suppliers today telling me I have to spend a $1000 on their new product kit before I will be allowed to sell their new product. I got a little grumpy.

It's not the thousand dollars. I spend that each week on product anyway. But to be TOLD where and how I must spend my money for the PRIVILEGE of selling a particular brand really put a twist in my knickers. I fired off my own e-mail which was answered by a phone call from the supplier that I cut short because I wasn't in the mood to be "stroked"!

I can be pretty stubborn. I continue to miss out on a lot of profit by refusing to sell the ION. I refuse to work (without pay) as an ION maintenance tech - having to fix and then fix and then fix again their cheaply designed product. Somewhere I got the idea that suppliers work for me. As long as I'm paying my own salary I will not be told where I have to direct my hard earned pro-shop budget.

Don't look for any Kingman VS products on my pro-shop wall anytime soon.