PIck ME!!! Pick ME!!!

The baby clothing biz is a competitive market to get into. There is a new "ultra-hip" line of baby products introduced every hour. That sort of challenge has made me really question what I want to accomplish from this endeavor.
I'd be lying if I said I didn't care about Focoloco being popular among today's parents. It's a residual sickness carried over from those painful years in junior high when all you wanted was to be liked by everyone...and all anyone wanted to do was be horribly mean and cruel to each other.
Sure, popularity as a brand has a lot to do with financial success, but there is a small part of it that is deeply rooted in seeking the approval of the "cool" parents, magazines and boutiques. I've tried to shake it, but it just won't go away.

This need for approval gives me very little satisfaction though. It made me wonder, "What does success mean to me and to this business? What would give me the most satisfaction?"
Popularity is NOT the answer.
So here it is, my vision for Focoloco.
I want the company to be dynamic. Always looking for new ways to improve our products…new designs, new colors, new collaborations.
I want to make the effort to support other cool small business through link exchanges, product reviews and (hopefully in the next few months) creating gift boxes that feature the products of other incredible artists and crafters.
I want to work on finding great organizations to donate some company profits to on a yearly basis.
I want to explore new ways for the company to be a kinder, gentler comany to the environment.
I know we are small, but every little bit counts. Our products are not a necessity. No child *needs* a closet full of clothing and accessories. So I feel like we have a responsibility to find ways to lessen our impact of the environment through our choice of resources, materials, business practices and our choices in the other companies we choose to support and endorse.
I will accomplish all these goals. They are fairly simple and I've seen so many other wonderful business succeed in them.
Sometimes it's slow going.
I am still a full-time mama...there are many days that the mundane details of life take priorty. Laundry, dishes, groceries.
There is also my fabulous son. There are many many hours spent playing with him instead of working, BUT those are hours I gladly give to him. Spending time with him is the reason I do this business in the first place.

Here are a few of the changes Focoloco has made in 2006 to work towards these goals:

1. We have introduced a large selection of American Apparel's Sustainable Editon into our product line. These garments are made with 100% organically grown cotton. We'd love to use this line for ALL of our products, but AA has not yet begun production of long sleeved baby garments and bibs in a Sustainable Line. We do use AA for all our products though. 100% sweat-shop free! How cool is that?

2. We have ditched the plastic boxes we were using for our gift packs. When gift packs reappear on the site they will be packaged in simple, recyclable corrugated cardboard boxes decorated with our funky new custom stamp...and instead of tissue paper filler, we'll be using more colorful shredded confetti created by recycling our old magazines.

3. We don't heavily package our products. We hope that our products are unique and funky enough that they don't require gimmicky packaging to sell them.

4. All of our printed information(brochures, line sheets, labels) are now printed on 100% post-consumer recycled papers.

There is still a lot of room for improvement, but I'll continue to implement more and more eco-friendly practices as time goes on. These are the kinds of projects that truly give me satisfaction as a business owner…and as a mother.

For great shopping that helps support other wonderful small businesses check out Focoloco’s link page