Money | The Barefoot Spirit

How Crowdsourcing Built The World’s #1 Wine Brand

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Mon, 08 Jul 2019 14:39:35 +0000

Hi! We are Michael and Bonnie, the founders of the world’s largest wine brand. Did you know that we used crowdsourcing to build Barefoot Wine? Sure, it wasn’t called “Crowdsourcing” back then, but it was the secret to our success!

If Necessity is the Mother of Invention, Being Undercapitalized is Surely the Father!

It all started with an opportunity to turn a debt into a business. Our friend, a grape grower, hadn’t been paid for his grapes for three years. The only thing we could get out of the winery that owed him the money was a trade: debt for goods and services. The goods were bulk wine, and the services were bottling services.

We were undercapitalized and astonishingly deficient in industry knowledge. Then, all of a sudden, we had $300,000 worth of grapes and bottling services, but no clue as to what to do to convert those assets into cash. We were humbled. We started asking questions, lots of questions. We didn’t know it at the time, but we were crowdsourcing.

To read the complete article, please visit Crowd Sourcing Week

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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The 50-Word Blurb and the 5-Slide Deck

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Mon, 04 Feb 2019 19:16:43 +0000

All startups agree on one thing: They need more money. Over the past decade, we’ve worked with many startups. Even though we offer three decades of hard knocks business experience and a ton of contacts, what do you think is the first thing they want from us? You guessed it, money!

They typically ask for an NDA right off the bat, then present us with over 1,000 words of copy, and a 30+ slide deck. They try to anticipate as many questions as they can in advance and they go into extensive detail on how and why their solution is what the world needs.

Although we appreciate the time involved preparing all this documentation, we are almost discouraged by the sheer time commitment we have to make before we have determined if we’re interested. It forces us to drag our heads through a lot of information that we may not even be looking for. The sheer size of the presentation also discourages us from sending it around to folks in our network.

To read the complete article, please visit Entrepreneur

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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Work with Your Community to Create Advocates

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Thu, 12 Jul 2018 17:00:26 +0000

Every time we speak, it never fails that at least one member of the audience comes up and asks, “I’m just a start up, I’m on a very limited budget. How can I afford to advertise and get the word out about my goods and services?”

Almost everyone in the audience is looking for ways to save money in their new or developing business. They’re all looking for the most bang for their buck in every area of spending. Marketing your products and services are probably the biggest challenges new business face. It doesn’t matter how good your products and services are if your customer doesn’t know about them.

No Advertising Budget, No Entry

When we started Barefoot Wine, we were completely undercapitalized. Our first big chain buyer asked us if we were going to spend $200,000 in an advertising campaign to build our brand before he would take it in to his stores. We were so strapped, we didn’t even have one of those $200,000. He then basically turned us down and for good reason, our brand was unheard of, and he would be taking a big risk giving expensive shelf space to an unknown and unproven brand.

He told us that without a well-funded advertising campaign he wouldn’t touch it …and no other chain or box store would either, for that matter. The big chain buyer said, without advertising, we would have to focus on selling the independently owned stores one at a time. We told him, “That will take years!” He said, “You’re right! You better get started!” He did say that once we became a household word, he would put us in to his 200+ store chain. Well, it took 2 years, and yes, he did put us in. His was the first large chain store in the country to take us.

Becoming a Household Name Without Advertising

But we didn’t become a “household word” through commercial advertising. And we didn’t become a “household word” throughout the country at first. We became a household word only in California and we did it through support for the community from which our customers came. You see, the independents were no different than the chains. They didn’t want to take a chance on an unknown brand that wasn’t being commercially advertised. In fact, they threaten to discontinue Barefoot if it didn’t sell within 90 days. And we only had a handful of accounts that would even take that chance, to begin with.

It was during that first in 90 days that we got a call from a nonprofit community organization asking us to support their kids-after-school park. Once again, we had no money. But we did have wine! We donated wine to their fundraiser. The next month we noticed a big uptick in sales in the stores in that particular community. Without knowing it at the time, we had given the members of that organization a social reason to buy our product. They also felt obligated to tell their friends colleagues and families to go out and buy it as well.

We thought, “Wow! Maybe we’ve discovered something here! Maybe this is an alternative to expensive commercial advertising. Maybe it’s more effective simply because it’s more locally targeted. Members of the organization lived in the neighborhoods surrounding the stores where our products were for sale. Then we thought, let’s try this in another market, only this time we asked for a few concessions that the nonprofit could readily provide. They mentioned us in their newsletter, they thanked is from the podium, they let us put up banners, they let us put out lists of where to buy our products at their fundraiser, they let us write posts in their newsletter, they used our logo and let us use theirs.

These were not big national organizations looking for paid sponsorship. These were just little community organizations, but they were made up of potential customers. Why shouldn’t we support our potential customers?

Worthy Cause Marketing

As Ivan Meisner says, “When it comes to networking, take off the bib and put on the apron!” This approach to getting the word out, which we called Worthy Cause Marketing, was so effective that as we expanded Barefoot into other states, regions, and even countries, we got the word out by supporting local communities and their worthy causes.

Already we can hear the objection, “Well it was easy for you. You are selling wine, but how does that work for me with my product and services?” At a local Chamber of Commerce meeting, we met a gentleman who was practicing Worthy Cause Marketing to get the word out about his services. What was he selling? Gun safety! He found that he could support parent-teacher associations, as well as police and sheriffs associations by offering free classes as a silent auction item during their fundraising dinners. Association members saw his support for their cause. Some members bought and used the silent auction classes. They came back and recommended his classes to all the other members.

Targeting the Networked Market

One of the great advantages of working with community organizations is that they are already networked! They are already communicating. And they are local to where your goods and services are for sale. Offering them free goods and services to support their causes as well as helping them get the word out about their goals and fundraisers will endear you and your products to their members. You become part of their organization and a supporter of the causes they hold dear. Of course, they want to support you in the marketplace.

You will not only show the world that you stand for more than the mercantile value of your goods and services, but that you support the causes that are important to your customers. It’s not only a great contribution for your company to make to your community, but in the long run, it’s the cheapest form of advertising!

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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7 Rules for Successful Delegation

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 18:00:23 +0000

One of the hardest thing for any Type-A business owner to do successfully is to delegate. Some believe, “If you want it done right, you have to do it yourself!” They say, “Nobody can do it like I can do it.” And this may be correct, but sooner or later you must delegate. There’s just too much to do in a growing business, you simply can’t do it all yourself.

It’s certainly a compromise, but we believe successful delegation is a two-way street. The owner must accept less than “perfect” performance. The employee or contracted services individual must move out of their comfort zone, develop new habits, and accept new responsibilities.

Here’s what we have learned after years of experience, most of which was painful. Perhaps it will help you delegate more successfully.

Look for Extrapolation Learners. People who can extrapolate the underlying principle from an example and apply that principle to a new example they haven’t seen before are good candidates for delegation. Many people don’t bother looking for principles since they can get cut-and-paste examples for pretty much everything they need on line.

You will find many who say, “Like what?” to everything you ask, even when they have seen an example of the same principle in operation before. Avoid delegating to these people. Delegate only to people who glean overarching principles from the examples given in trainings and their own experience.

Seek Integrity. When people do what they say, don’t drop assignments you haven’t regularly asked about, and voluntarily keep you posted on the status of their projects, they are good candidates for delegation. Look for people who take responsibility to get the job done and don’t blame others.

Avoid delegating to people who say, “They never got back to me” when you have to ask, “What happened on that project?” because they didn’t voluntarily inform you. Don’t delegate to people who have demonstrated they will only accept the minimum level of responsibility required of them in order to get paid.

Look for Coachability. When people can take and apply constructive criticism, look for policies and procedures that can help them get their job done better and faster, and show steady improvement, they are excellent candidates for delegation.

Avoid candidates who take constructive professional critique personally or don’t seek experienced help because they so desperately want to appear self-sufficient and all-knowing.

Seek Self-Starters. When people see the big picture and, without being asked, initiate appropriate action, mitigate a problem, or improve an unstable situation, they are great candidates for delegation. They still require some supervision, but are less likely to require micro-management.

Avoid delegating to people who have already demonstrated a need for constant supervision and vigilant oversight.

Look for Mistake Learners. Accept that mistakes will be made. Look for candidates who learn from them, candidates that see them as an opportunity to get to the bottom of what happened, candidates who write new documents to prevent a reoccurrence, and candidates who can improve your company’s policies and processes.

Avoid those who hide or try to cover up their mistakes, or blame others (finger pointers). Seek to rid your company of those people who continue to make the same mistakes.

Provide Incentives. Create a bonus structure for the folks you delegate to. Make sure you both agree on the metrics. Use your new bonus plan for just one year, so in subsequent years you can improve the requirements as you discover and fine tune what’s necessary to achieve the results you are looking for.

Give Regular Reviews. Make the reviews more frequent in the beginning to avoid the formation of bad habits or misconceptions. Always come back to the principles. Always remind the candidate about the importance of sales, growth, and profitability. Go over the decisions they have made, validate the correct ones and offer advice on the ones that need improvement.

Delegation is an imperfect art, but you can mitigate the risk of failure by looking for the attributes in others that will give you confidence and peace of mind. You must train your candidates on the process knowledge and operating principles necessary to take on the responsibilities involved. Then you must give them clear goals and regular reviews – and let them do it their way.

We like to say, “When the cement is wet, you can move it with a trowel. When it gets hard, you’ll need a jackhammer.” So, overkill on orientation, make sure they know where the money comes from (sales!), and confirm that your candidate thoroughly understands the principles that will guide their decision making. Then accept the inevitability that they will make mistakes, and they will make decisions that will be different that yours. Some of those decisions may even be better!

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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3 Ways to Prevent Growth from Killing Your Business!

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Thu, 25 Jan 2018 18:00:50 +0000

Expansion, growth, or build-out phase, whatever you call it, it is the most perilous time for your business. This is ironic because the perception from outsiders is that your business must be doing well because it is expanding! But it’s the expansion itself that can collapse your business.

Before you entered the build-out phase, your business had finally achieved its first level of precarious sustainability. You could finally pay your bills, not with investor’s money, but with revenue! Imagine that! You had finally achieved a few big clients who were making you cashflow positive for the first time since you launched your startup. You had built your business up to a point where you had proven your market proposition and some degree of stability did result, if only for a while.

It wasn’t long before you realized that the few big clients you were so proud of and dependent upon actually had you over a barrel. All your eggs were in one basket. Any one of those big clients could dictate terms or worse, stop buying and put you out of business right then and there. Lucky for you, you listened to your accountant and your salespeople who agreed that you were in a compromised position – until you got some new clients to mitigate the risk of coercion or financial disruption.

So, you decided to expand. You decided to get more customers so no one customer could hold you hostage. You decided to protect your revenue with more sources of income. And then what happened? You hit the wall! Like so many other build-out businesses, you were hit with costs and overhead you hadn’t seen coming. You found out the hard way about the cost of sales. Not the cost of goods. But the cost of sales!

We have found it to be the number one underestimated cost in business. Before the build-out expansion phase, these costs were spread out and absorbed under general “overhead.” But once you start moving into new markets, these costs make themselves known in no uncertain terms.

Suddenly you feel stuck. If you borrow money to expand, how long will it take to pay off the loan? If you sell equity to expand, how much control will you have to give up? And more importantly, what are the costs of expansion anyway? And are they the same in all markets? How can you know them ahead of time? And can you cashflow your way to achieve expansion?

The implications of growth are many. Here are 3 ways to survive this Build-out or Blowout challenge to your business:

Supply. You are going to need extended credit and terms from your main suppliers. They are more likely to extend them to you if you have developed a collaborative relationship with them during your Build-up phase. You have demonstrated empathy for their position by warning them ahead of time when you would be late or short on your payments. You have presented and executed payment plans to become current. You have shared your growth plans with them on a quarterly basis. You have entered into a long-term contract to give them the security that you will remain their loyal customer even after you get large. You have done these things all along, right?
Sales Cost Analysis. You have hired a cost accountant who has identified not only the cost of sales, but the cost of sales in various different markets. They have advised you about the profitability advantages of certain markets. You have heeded their counsel with an expansion plan based on a cashflow growth strategy. You have entered the most profitable markets first, the ones that cost you the least to compete in. You and your cost accountant have identified all the costs of sales, and how they differ from territory to territory. These include, but are not limited to, taxes, fees, transportation, advertising, promotions, customer service, representation, merchandising, presentations, discounting and so on. You don’t expand into the next territory until the first territory pays for itself. Right?
Compensation and Incentives. You have finally figured out that you can’t expect growth by paying your salespeople strictly on volume. In fact, you really can’t grow without a new compensation package based on new, higher goals every year. You have identified what growth means in terms of practicality and business health, and now you have developed the metrics that reward your people for growth and new markets and reorders. You have also set incentives in place for the other folks not on your payroll who can aid your growth. You’ve decided to take a smaller slice of a larger pie, haven’t you!

Of course, there’s a lot more to this tricky expansion business. The main thing is to not over extend yourself, make strategic alliances, grow slowly, and notice what it costs to actually make a sale, service a sale, and keep the sales coming. Work with a cost accountant and your suppliers, and follow a sensible strategy and you can build-out and not blowout! You can do this, right?

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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How Social skills can Reduce Your Need For Cash

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Thu, 08 Dec 2016 18:56:21 +0000

Business owners want to know, “How do I raise more money?”

We ask, “Why do you need more money?”

The answer is usually, “To pay my bills” or “To grow my business.”

But we have found that more money may not be the answer. What if you could get more investors, increase your credit limits, extend your terms of payment, and close more prospects — all by using better social skills?

To read the complete article, please visit The Business Journals

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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Lines of Credit Can Help Startups Retain Their Ownership

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Thu, 22 Sep 2016 17:00:27 +0000

We are always surprised by the number of startups that don’t use, or even know about, lines of credit. The first thing we hear is usually, “I need more money!” Sure you do. But the real question is how to get it. Today, with Shark Tank, Venture Capitalists, and term sheets, you’d think the only way to get your business going is by giving up a big chunk of ownership. You may believe there is no other way!

There are several other ways to raise capital for your business, but they all require that dirty word that everyone seems to shun, “Sales!” Yes, sales. We found it down right shocking that out of 40 schools of entrepreneurship where we have spoken over the past three years, only one taught sales. Real sales! Not sales management, not sales projections, not marketing, but real sales, from “Get out of my office!” to “I’ll take two truckloads!” And that only happened because one of the entrepreneurial benefactors of that school said, “Hey, why don’t you guys teach sales?”

When you think of sales as a pitch to an investor, you are starting off on the wrong foot. You might start using terms like “burn rate,” as in how fast you burn through cash without income (from sales) to offset it. You might even get the idea that you have “succeeded” because you got an investor when in fact you may be a long way from a positive cash flow.

Before the investment, you couldn’t lose. Now you can lose the investor’s money. Now you can go back and ask for more because, you may think, if the investor’s in for a dime, he’s in for a dollar. But even if you do get more funding, it comes with a price. You lose more and more of your company until you are working for the VC – who now wants to sell the company the first time he thinks he can get his money back. So much for growth!

We all see so many crowd-funded ideas that never see the light of the retail marketplace. How can this keep happening? Lack of sales before their crowd-funded investment is depleted by extensive R&D and operating costs – that’s how!

So that’s why we advise our clients to get a good sales education first, before trying anything entrepreneurial. The liberal arts are a good place to start. You know, communication, history, culture, psychology, and philosophy to name a few. The human, or soft, skills along with actual sales training can make a positive difference in your business, especially in the early stages.

We also advise our clients to start small and focus on a small area. Limit your number of offerings until you have achieved positive cash flow. Find out what quirks and service requirements lie in a small market so you can take your well-rehearsed show on the road. Make sales your top priority.

If you do, you may qualify for a line of credit from your local banker. Without taking any percentage of ownership, your bank can set up a “revolving charge” so to speak, where your accounts receivable, purchase orders, and inventory are held as temporary collateral to advance funds you can use to pay your bills and grow your business. But it all starts with sales.

Sure, they’ll probably want a “warehouseman’s lien” on your inventory that gives them first dibs if you go south. They’ll want to set up a separate account to collect your receivables. But that can be done on a zero-balance, sweep basis where you only pay for what you need. And isn’t that better than giving up the ownership of your company?

Make sales. Get a “Line.” Save your ownership. Pay your bills. And grow your business!

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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How to Find Your Ideal Investor

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Thu, 04 Aug 2016 17:00:47 +0000

One of the wisest questions any startup could ask is, “What should I be looking for in an investor?” Wise startups assume they have some say over whom they will accept money from, rather than being in the desperate position of being lucky to get any investor.

When you choose your investor carefully consider their motives and what they can add to your business besides funding. Sometimes the “perfect” investor is not bringing hard money to the table! Sometimes what they bring can be of greater value to you in the short term and protect your equity position in the long term.

For years we could not get an investor in Barefoot Wine, now the world’s largest brand. The banks wanted nothing to do with us because we didn’t have a “secondary means of collateralizing the debt.” Those are big words for owning real estate. They wanted us to own property they could take if things went south. Ironically, when we tried to buy a house they said we were self-employed and ipso facto “unstable.” When we complained that they had floated mortgages to four of our employees, they said, “Well, that’s different. They have a good solid job!”

So were forced to go it alone, undercapitalized and on the verge of bankruptcy for years! But that was a good thing! That forced us to be resourceful, frugal, and practical. We never had a bunch of money to “burn” through, so we had to come up with alternatives to get the word out about our product. We had to come up with other ways of financing our growth. We were forced to grow slowly.

Yes, it was a good thing because we learned how to get our vendors, suppliers and retail buyers to “finance” our business and we never lost control. They had an interest in seeing us succeed and we learned quick enough what we had to do to gain their trust. They were, in retrospect, our ideal investors.

Had we gotten the Shark Tank variety of investors, we would have been forced to sell as soon as we achieved the equity return majority owners wanted to see on their investment. Not necessarily the most opportune time for a sale, but the shortest turn around for investors!

With access to capital we would have approached marketing in a much more conventional, expensive, and less efficient way that we did – which was to use Worthy Cause Marketing. Because we were broke, we chose to support local fundraisers in the neighborhoods around the stores where our brand was for sale. We hoped the non-profit’s members would choose our product over our competitor’s. This turned out to be a targeted, highly efficient, and effective way to build a loyal base of advocates.

Our “investors” who were suppliers and vendors stood to gain by our success, so they granted us extended terms, higher credit limits, and free warehousing. In the case of “investors” who were our retail buyers, they gave us cash for volume discounts, store-wide ads resulting in higher volume, and they gave us their loyalty. In other words, they helped us build our brand.

These “investors” wanted long-term contracts, quick resolution to customer service issues, and empathy for their position. They never pressured us to sell our brand. On the contrary, they wanted us to continue to enrich them with ongoing growth and success!

So what is the bottom line? Your ideal investor is someone who is in your industry and stands to gain by your success in more ways than just a return on their hard capital investment. They will be more supportive, more forgiving, and more respectful of your long-range goals. Cash is not necessarily king. It takes more than money!

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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Do You Need More Money – Or Improved Relationships?

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Thu, 16 Jun 2016 17:00:55 +0000

A common lament we hear from startups is, “If I only had more money!” or, “I would have succeeded but I was undercapitalized,” or even, “I ran out of money!” But what is money but trust in the form of investment? Someone is taking a risk on you. Money without trust can be very expensive.

The banks love it when you have to come to them to borrow money at high rates to pay for your services and supplies. When you can’t collect the money owed you before your bills are due, they are right there with short-term loans and lines of credit.

So do you really need more money? Or do you need to develop better relationships with your vendors and suppliers?

First, you build a relationship based on trust with your key suppliers. With that foundation, they will be more likely to raise your limits and extend your terms. Over time, they will realize that your success is a key to their own growth and success.

But how do you get to that level of trust? It takes empathy, communication, dependability, and good behavior – over time. They have to believe that you have their best interests at heart. That means that you must be clear about what their best interests are. Where are they going with their business? Who is their competition? Where do they want to be in five years and how can you help them get there. We chose our suppliers and vendors based on how we could grow our businesses together. We also took this approach when choosing our distributors. We offered them big discounts on volume for cash and then helped them sell it. They became loyal and we enjoyed dependable receivables.

The whole idea here is to reduce your need for cash in the first place – so you don’t have to borrow so much or so often. Ideally, your buyers pay you before your bills are due! And conversely, your bills ideally aren’t due until your incoming checks have cleared. The reality is somewhere between that ideal situation and borrowing money to pay for all your supplies and services. This is where building a strong relationship based on trust really pays off. The stronger the relationship, the less money you need! Period!

When you write a business plan, you itemize the costs you expect to pay. Then you start your business and find out costs are higher than you planned. When you itemize your receivables, they are almost always less – and received later – than you planned! In other words, your business plan is generally impractical. The day after you open your doors, it’s the cash flow projection that is guiding your business, not your business plan. Your business relationships directly affect your cash flow projection and the very survival of your business.

The sooner you get started, the better. Identify right now the suppliers and vendors you can grow with. When you grow, they grow.

But don’t leave out the magic ingredient, the foundation of trust. Let your major vendors know your plans, your directions, and the obstacles you face. Offer them long-term contracts that make them feel comfortable about helping you grow. Call in advance when you can’t make a payment and offer a plan to get your account current. Meet with them on a regular basis to review your progress and ask for the help you need – that will result in more sales for them.

Remember your vendors and suppliers will judge you more by how you behave when you’re in a pinch than when it’s smooth sailing. That’s when you show your true intentions. That’s when you show your stuff and build your trust, and that’s when you can reduce your need for capital.

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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Change the Future by How You Spend Your Money in the Present

Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey — Thu, 31 Dec 2015 02:00:04 +0000

How would you like to improve the world in the New Year? How would you like to really make a difference? We’ve often said, we vote with our money. Every time we make a purchase, we are “voting” for more of that product or service, where it comes from, and how it got here. We are voting for the labor practices, environmental practices, and political views of the producers of those goods and services. Our money goes into their hands to continue practices that we may have some serious issues with.

Recently we read with horror about shrimp-shelling factories in Thailand that enslave refugees and force them to work inhumane hours in virtual incarceration. The shrimp is then dumped on a very fungible market where those slave-peeled shrimp are almost impossible to track when added to other supplies of shrimp from other factories that respect human rights. Because the shrimp is used as a generic supply by brokers who sell to wholesalers who then sell to the big box stores, American consumers don’t know if their appetizers or their cat’s food has slave-peeled shrimp in it. We don’t even know which products to boycott! But it has to make us all think about buying any shrimp that cannot certify humane labor practices. At least we are asking now. And we hope that you will too. It’s the only way to change the world. We all must become more aware about the products we are buying.

Instead of acting like there’s nothing we can do about commercial practices that hurt the environment, or harm people or our health, we can take action in the New Year with our “voting” dollars. Here’s how:

Ask about origins and practices. If you don’t get an answer, go to your local farmers markets and ask them. They will answer you. We make it a point of buying most of our food from local growers we know and trust. We feel good about supporting their practices and not contributing to a fungible food supply that doesn’t know the origin and practices of their suppliers.
Reduce your dependence on petroleum. Think twice about using your gas-powered car. Look for alternative means of transportation, use technology, a bicycle, carpool or look into an electric car. Even as the world knows that we are pushing carbon emissions beyond the tipping point, drilling for oil continues as if there will never be an alternative. Terrorism runs on oil.
Don’t just buy the cheapest thing. The purchase price might be cheap but the medical bills and environmental damage is unaffordable. Do you really want to save a few bucks today by “voting” for something that results in long term-costs that will come back to you in the form of increased taxes? Who paid for the Katrina superstorm or the drought-ravaged fires in the west? We all did!

So, if you really want to change the world in the New Year, consider the power you have as a consumer. This is, after all, the world’s largest consumer economy. The world’s producers vie for a position in the American retail market. They want our money! But we may not want to give them our “vote” to prosper in the short run if we have to pay for the results of their practices in the long run. Ask more questions about where your money goes. Support merchants and producers who stand behind their products and practices. Send a New Year’s message and make your “vote” count! Here is to a prosperous – and healthy – future!

Who We Are

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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