Vivian jotted a note.
“So where were we?”Sofia brushed her hands together to dust off the crumbs.
“The Running Wind,” Tyrone prompted.
She filled them in on the centennial celebration and told them about Donovan’s specific demands.
“How much personal attention does he want?”Vivian asked.
“My involvement in every detail.Which will necessitate longer visits to Corpus Christi.”
“Meaning you’ll be spending less time at the Houston office,” Vivian said.“Which might not be a good thing.”
“For a number of reasons.”Because Houston was the fourth largest city in the United States, Encore’s operations there were bigger.That meant margins were thinner.“Zoe has offered to put in some extra hours.”
“Awesome,” Vivian said.“She’s good, but her putting in extra time won’t be the same as having the two of you work on things together.And she’s damn good at sales.You don’t want her taking too much time away from that.”
“We’re at a juncture here,” Tyrone said.“We’ve been talking about this for what, eighteen months?We need to expand.”
But they needed more money to expand.
For certain events, they had to subcontract suppliers for tables and chairs, even flatware.Those services left them at the mercy of other companies, and Encore paid a premium, especially during the summer months.
On the other hand, owning all that meant capital expenditures and a larger warehouse.
The eternal business conundrum.
“This could be the opportunity we’ve been looking for,” Tyrone continued.“We outgrew this warehouse well over a year ago.”
Tyrone had been pushing for growth for several years, and she valued his input.He’d started out loading vans for her mother years ago.He was the only person who’d been with the company longer than Sofia had.And everything he said was correct.They’d erected several metal buildings for extra storage, but she knew managing inventory and getting trucks ready for deliveries was more complicated because of it.
“On the other hand, it could overextend us and put us at financial risk,” Vivian countered.
“We don’t have enough information to work with,” Sofia said.
“I’ll run some numbers when we know more,” Vivian suggested.“Put together some scenarios.”
“Agreed.”Sofia nodded.Vivian wasn’t just an excellent project manager, she had killer spreadsheet skills.Since they’d been working together for a couple of years, she knew the business well and had developed an uncanny ability to anticipate Sofia’s questions and concerns.
“I’ll put together some projections about the event, but also about Tyrone’s expansion.”Vivian paused.“And having an actual showroom where we could bring potential customers would be excellent.”
They had that in Houston, and Vivian was right, it made a big difference.Having more room meant they could host tastings, leave tables set up as examples, drape the ceiling, display arches and columns.“We could host an open house,” Sofia mused.
“That’s what I’m talking about,” Tyrone agreed.
“Let’s not be too hasty.”Sofia said the words as a reminder to herself as much as her staff.
“Mind if I solicit some bids?”Tyrone asked.
“You’ll need to for Vivian’s projections.”Sofia experienced the same burst of adrenaline and dread she’d felt when she’d signed the contract to buy this property nearly three years ago.“Anything else for me to think about before I head out?”
Vivian ran through the upcoming weekend’s events and provided updates on future bookings.Outside, thunder rumbled.
Tyrone said he’d hired on extra help for the summer.
She nodded, glad for her team’s competence.
“You’re not coming back today, are you?”Vivian asked.
