Page 59 - The Magic of Tiny Business

Part II  Let Your “Why” Speak

Day in 1990 (the original event took place in 1970) was
going to be a huge street fair and celebration along Sixth
Avenue in midtown. It wasn’t a stretch to see that we
needed to be there. All I needed to do was send in an
application, get a vendor permit, and pay a small fee.

I decided that Earth Day would serve as the real test
to premier our ECOBAGS brand: a table filled with reus-
able bags for sale at an event dedicated to saving the earth
from pollution. We air-freighted an order from overseas,
guessing on quantity. We were cautious—we knew we
couldn’t eat bags if Earth Day was a bomb for any rea-
son—but optimistic. We took that proverbial (but man-
ageable) leap of faith.

Within four hours we were sold out and had collected
thousands of dollars in cash. My husband, my parents,
and I were all behind the table talking about what inspired
us to start this venture, selling product hand over fist! The
Earth Day event revealed the nerve we wanted to tap into.

The Earth Day success garnered us a mention in a
sizeable article in Newsday. We got our first taste of media
exposure and mail orders began flooding in. (It was 1990,
remember?) Luckily, we had a hallway long enough to
warehouse and distribute orders from. The business was
our new roommate!

Our shipping service, the US Post Office, was a few
blocks away. The postal workers would only sell lick-on
stamps and the lines wrapped around the block. Imagine

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