Posts Tagged ‘Eagles’

Official Dog Blog – Entry 2 of The Split

Thursday, December 10th, 2009

I appreciate your interest in my story.

All involved with The Official Vick Dog Chew Toy at this stage thought that we were all working in lock step. Everyone, including our Manufacturer and myself, thought that the goal was clear. This is where we messed up.

Earlier in my blog entries you will remember the fund holding plan that was developed. You will also remember in that entry that trust was something that we thought was formed. It was at this time that funds were due to our new manufacturer in order to pay for cast costs, mold cost, initial product development, shipping and handling fees. The money was available through the initial orders received. That money was locked in a Paypal account in the name of the rogue employee.

That was the big mistake that presented itself at this point.

By denying that individual the right to produce a product that fell short of the product originally advertised, by denying that individual the right to sell cheaply made products that garnished our logo, by denying that individual the right to pursue another manufacturer and intentionally disrespect and compromise the relationship we had built with the company that provided us critical mold time and guaranteed the safety of our product, I unintentionally drove a divide with the person that held the account that held all our funds.

My integrity, the values I had developed regarding The Official Vick Dog Chew Toy and the operational mission we had all agreed to in regards to how we would operate as a company was all the reasons why we lost the rogue partner and subsequently lost all the funds.

Losing the funds of those that paid for our product was concerning, disappointing, and extremely disturbing to me. The reasons why we lost the rogue partner from our organization and partnership was not.

What comes next is extremely interesting.

I appreciate your interest in my story.

Next Step – The Official Story of the Official Dog – The Split!

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009

I appreciate your interest in my story.

To recap: The last few entries were titled, “Wait or Compromise”. The entries detail the challenges I faced with a rogue partner; one that wanted to jeopardize the future of the Official Vick Dog Chew Toy by selling toys and products that did not represent our original offer and did not meet our quality standards.

The next series of entries are titled, “The Split”. I hope you enjoy and appreciate your interest.

At this point in the venture there was no way that I was going to allow the follow two things to happen:

1) Production of an Official Vick Dog Chew Toy that differed in any way from the original product that was offered and ordered by thousands.
2) The intentional disrespect of a manufacturer that extended valuable mold time and guaranteed, in writing, the safety of our product.

The rogue partner did not see things my way. Just as a side note, I am not a control freak. It is fine with me if others do not see things as I do. Where I do draw the line is when other decisions jeopardize my integrity and my word. This is when things get complicated. Efforts by others that intentionally alter the product we originally advertised and promised to consumers, and products that utilize those funds that were never advertised and are very poorly made were two efforts that I simply would not allow.

That case was presented to the rogue employee. At first, he utilized his own funding to try and produce the products, using our website as a catalyst of interest. We immediately found that there was no interest and purchasers simply wanted the product we initially advertised. I immediately concluded that all focus should be on production efforts related to The Official Vick Dog Chew Toy. Not so for the rogue employee. He was pursuing other manufacturers and doing so without appropriate consent.

Here is the situation: wait for a safe product to be manufactured, communicate to all buyers regarding expected delivery dates, proactively offer and fulfill all refund requests from those that choose not to wait, and utilize all funds as originally intended for the production of a guaranteed safe toy that meets the product specifications originally advertised.

Simple, right? Not so. This is where, “The Split”, begins.

I appreciate your interest in my story.

The Official Vick Dog Chew Toy Goes Public

Monday, August 31st, 2009

Within one hour of publishing www.vickdogchewtoy.com our website had 100 visitors. We all gasped at the number and laughing at the fact that people were finding it. It didn’t stop at a hundred, it became 100,000 visitors very quickly. We were watching one of the hottest websites on the internet in August, 2007.

We derived a concept for the Official Vick Dog Chew Toy and created a PayPal purchase button. It was free, PayPal had their fees, but with this many visitors, what the heck? We were investigating the vendors to create the toy and I had built the mold for production already, so why not sell it? We could easily get the funds to manufacture the toy.

Wrong! Huge problem. Many people will read this post with obvious opinions. Why did you try to sell a product before it was manufactured? What idiot takes money from people and not deliver a product? All of these factors were considered and we communicated our thoughts on the website. I remember specifically writing to the public, which was massive in August of 2007, the following statement:

Published via vickdogchewtoy.com on August 7, 2007 by Aim To Beginn, LLC:

Please allow 2 – 3 weeks for delivery
___________________

Back orders are now being accepted for shipping beginning September 7th 2007 all packages delivered via USPS

The Official Vick’s Dog Chew Toy

Is it different you ask? You bet it is! Vick’s Dog Chew Toy is made of state of the art “dog” material. The Vick’s Toy Doll is so strong and flexible, it will challenge every breed. Especially The Pit Bull. Unlike other toys, our manufacturer is so sure of its durability they guarantee it against the most playful dog destruction. It Bends. It Bounces. It Flies. It Floats. And best of all, it lasts through the whole season and more!
Get Your Official Vick’s Dog Chew Toy today!

You can see from this website excerpt the ‘walking on egg shells’ text. We don’t mention Michael Vick and we had no idea if what we were doing was correct? Do we continue to capture funds? Do we advertise that we are SOLD OUT? Remember, this is one of the top 50 websites visited on August 7, 2007. Our product, this idea, this endeavor was created by a person with a vision and the guts to make a difference.

I can’t wait to tell you more about my idea and how I overcame the biggest obstacles yet. Join our blog feed and keep up to date with the latest articles. I’m receiving some great feedback and would like to hear from you. Simply register to comment and let me know your thoughts.

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Michael Vick Jersey For Dogs: www.vickdogjersey.com

We are looking for our dog supporters to step up and raise awareness!

I appreciate your interest in my story.