grommies kids surf

weekend antics...

Time to catch up on activity over the last week. We have been busy working on the 'nine to five's' (hence the reason why its been a week since the last post) and we are  also having to concentrate fully on grommies, so time is a commodity we need to use wisely. The meeting with Carl last weekend was good, and he txt earlier to say that draft design ideas will be through mid week - great.  Also managed to start a more pro-active search for some young grommies to get involved with the sponsored grommies programme, which has been boosted by  help from some magic seaweed  forum members  -  thanks for all your help  so far, you know who you are. We have also been asked to  help a young guy in Cornwall search for some sponsorship - more of that to come very soon.

With one half-day window of dry weather this weekend, and our Devonshire VIP visitors in tow (my parents) we got out on Gower and went for a coastal stroll. We went out to a certain headland and I teased myself about the surprisingly light winds and swell coming into the bay. Climbing up the top of the rather steep point I was greeted with this beautiful view, and A missed surf opportunity!

It was a surprise to see no one out - according to all the forecasts, prediction sites and wave buoys this place was never going to be working, but once again nature has the last trick in the hat when it comes to surprises. It goes to show that despite all the modern technology we have at our disposal you can't beat an eyeball check to see whats really happening. Get out there and explore!
So no surf for me this weekend, but I have had some great text and e-mails telling me how my surfing friends  had missed it / arrived too late / went to the wrong place. Thanks guys it cheers me up no end. All thats left to say is: 'tis a fickle thing this surfing malarky!!   

A typical grommies saturday

Saturday the 4th - we had a couple of orders in which is always welcome, but the afternoon was mainly about the meeting with Carl, and discussing designs for the summer range of products. With money being an issue (isn't it always!?!) we are focusing on a couple of grommies products which will work together as a complete set, or as a single item. Carl has done design work for clothing before (although not kids surf wear), so we are pretty confident he's going to pull of some really creative stuff, utilising the grommies logo and brand. The meeting lasted for about an hour and a half, Carl was going to put some grommies branding together for next week, in time for Sarah's meeting with our design wales consultant.

Anyhow after the meeting Carl wanted a lift to Caswell - the beach does have surf, but arguably the worst break in Wales - the apartment he needed a lift to was right on the beach front, so I thought I'd take some pictures from the car park (especially as there were some surfers in)... I would of done likewise but I didn't have my kit. Anyhow i did get a wave in on Sunday at Rossilli - although I managed to forget to take my wet suit hat - this made it a very cold surf indeed! Well, its Monday evening now and back to doing what I'm paid too - that two week break is already seeming a very distant memory!   

A few days to go before work (well the other work rather than the grommies work!)

Well we have a couple of days before going back to the day jobs, and we have been doing okay with grommies sales wise both yesterday and today which we've both been quite surprised about. With Christmas arriving  we  expected  things on the grommies front to go quiet; we both sort of thought that things may not pick up again! Other things we have been doing included a real big look at the finances - the realisation that its  tough  being a new small business certainly sharpened the focus for us in regard to our next products. My dad wasn't lying when he said about cash flow  being the biggest killer to small businesses, so the cash-flow forecast has been at the forefront of all discussions. We have also been in discussion with some manufacturers,  looking at colour swabs for tee shirts, rash vests and boardies; and also arranged to meet with Carl over the weekend to look at some design work for the Grommies kids surf clothing. Carl seems super keen to get involved which is great. 

Anyhow we both have agreed to put more pictures on the blog as it makes it a bit more interesting to read - however I feel a picture of our Excel spreadsheet isn't going to quite do it! So I found this on the surfers village site  I thought it looked pretty cool.

Well it's back to looking at colour swabs and cash-flows for now...

The first day of a New Year!

Well, it's 2008, and with slightly shapeless minds (from a late night of watching Jools Holland BBC2) we managed to get out this today, and have a break from thinking grommies. I knew there was surf on the other coast, but we decided to go for a stroll down to Bandy cove this morning and take in some crisp, sea air.  With the tide in you can't get to the sand, but we had a stone skimming comp, but my years of practice paid off. It certainly was chilly with the South East wind, and thinking about summer time, the grommies 2008 kids surf clothing seemed very distant. However we do need to keep a focus on next year's summer range, as it can take a number of months to source and receive samples of our designs (that we have yet to create!). With all this in mind Sarah and I are back 100% to the 'grommies grindstone' tomorrow, before returning to our regular 'nine to fives' next Monday...

Well, all that's left to say is that we wish you all a very happy and enjoyable 2008, from Sarah and Stu at grommies.