Today marks the first day of spring, and for some, the beginning of the dreaded lovebug season. If you live in the South, especially near the Gulf of Mexico, you already know about lovebugs. If not, you’re about to find out.
Twice a year, these small flying insects take to the air by the thousands. On city streets they’re bad enough. But on country roads or near wetlands, watch out. They decorate your car in alarming numbers, and you can’t leave them there very long because they have super-special bonding powers that can etch your paint. No kidding. And as you emerge from your car or house, they float around you, lightly settling wherever they please. I’m an expert at swishing them away.
All this is annoying, but that’s not the worst of it. They have the most embarrassing lives possible. Obviously, they take to flight to find a mate, and once they’ve found one, they “connect” (to put it delicately), and they stay connected while they fly around. I’m a big believer in privacy, and to me this is asking a lot of any living creature.
Even though I’m sure they could care less, when I see them floating around stuck together, I feel sorry for them. I know I’m anthropomorphizing. They’re part of the ecosystem and all but still . . . So a few days ago when I saw some on my way to my car in the Stuller parking lot, I asked myself if I could find some jewelry-related insights in their brief lives, something that mighty possibly redeem their very public pairings.
This exercise proved interesting and productive, and I want to share my thoughts with you.
- Invite customer participation and “pair” them with your store through by meeting their expectations for customization. Flexible 3C designs and CounterSketch® certainly fit that bill.
- Embrace your future, or fast moving change will “etch” your bottom line. Our Bridge® Event, Bench Jeweler Workshop, Transform Tour, and other Stuller events will help you stay ahead of the game with relevant classes and lots of networking opportunities.
- “Attach” yourself to really productive inventory. Invest in prototype and live selling systems that let you offer your customers a wide range of new and best-selling product for a smaller investment.
- “Connect” to our ecommerce powerhouse through Stuller Showcase, a free service that transforms Stuller.com into your own website, with your brand, retail pricing based on your markups, and your own unique URL. We constantly update it with new product so your customers will see something fresh each time they visit your Stuller Showcase site.
- Choose your partner well; don’t “couple” yourself to unproductive, excess metal or loose diamonds. Our Clean Scrap program turns both into positive cash flow that you can use to buy fresh inventory.
Who could’ve guessed these pesky little critters knew so much about the jewelry business? I think the next time they appear, which will be any moment now, I’ll have a little more respect for them.
Ever learned any business lessons from Mother Nature? Share them with us in the comments section.
