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“Welcome to the world of business,” she said as she kissed me. “Now, time to get ready. The meeting’s in an hour and a half.”
The two of us danced around one another while we got ready, and by the time we needed to walk out the door, she was standing there in her heels. I smiled at her, wrapping my arm around her waist before I drew her in for a kiss, but she turned her head, and I caught her cheek.
“Don’t muss the lipstick,” she said, winking. “Have to make a good impression on the boys. It wouldn’t look kosher if you walked in with my lipstick on your collar.”
“Why do you think I wore the red shirt?” I asked, winking.
“You’re so bad. Come on,” she said, giggling.
We rode back to the client’s office, and the secretary led us directly into the conference room. There was a small table with four men already sitting around it and two chairs reserved for us. We shook hands, and they paid us their condolences for our loss, then we sat down and got to work. The first order of business was figuring out where they stood, and I breathed easier when I realized they were hesitant to open a new store as well.
“I was hoping that’s what you would conclude because I think I have a solution to the problem. Stella?”
I was wary of her taking control of this part of the meeting. Sure, we were working on her solo speaking when it came to important matters, but besides the moment in the park, we hadn’t given it a test run. However, I saw how good she was with the secretary when we arrived Friday, so I tried to abate my nerves.
But, I was still ready to jump in at a moment’s notice.
“Gentleman, since my father apparently tried to instill heart attacks in every single one of us, allow me to present to you a solution to your issues,” she said.
She laid open a folder on the table, and the men leaned in to look at it. It was four pages of graphs and numbers I didn’t recognize, and I realized I wouldn’t be able to wrangle this conversation if it went south. I didn’t do enough preparing on my end to jump in should Stella bomb this meeting, and I felt my hands begin to pick at the hem of my suit coat.
“Opening a store would easily cost around $500,000 to build it, stock it, maintain it, and man it for a year. Just one year. From what I can see, my father didn’t conduct any market research for the area, so for all we know, we’re tossing that money out the window,” she said.
“What are these numbers over here?” someone asked.
“I’m glad you asked. These products here are the five most ordered products from our store. Crutches, braces, gauze, medical tape, and iodine. These numbers in the first column are how much it costs us to make them in bulk at our warehouses.”
“Seems about right,” a man said.
“The second column of numbers is what we sell them for bulk out of the store,” she said. “But, this third number over here is what we would charge the customer if it were shipped directly from the warehouse.”
“Why’s that number smaller?” someone asked.
“I’m so glad you asked,” she said, smiling. “See, the upcharge between number two and number three is the ‘rent’ on the shelf in our store. We not only charge the customers one price but included in that price is a bit for the rent the product has to pay for sitting on our shelves. Since they aren’t on a shelf, it doesn’t need rent, so that money goes to offset shipping costs directly from the warehouse to them,” she said.
“So, they can just go online somewhere and order them or something?” someone asked.
“Exactly. We can offer three tiers of shipping, from one-week shipping to overnight shipping, we’ll still make a profit, people still get what they want, we can keep our reputation by continuing to donate to charity, and we don’t have to dig ourselves into debt with opening another store on the other side of the country.”
I couldn’t believe how comfortable she looked. She was smiling and laughing, and the men around the table were eating right out of the palm of her hand. For every question, she had an answer, and for every figure, she had a sum. By the time the meeting wound down, not only had we cast aside the idea of opening another store, but they had signed off on the paperwork we needed to get started on the website.
That meant we could hire a web developer to take us to the next level.
“Gentlemen, it was a pleasure,” Stella said as she shook hands with everyone.
“Your father did good, handing the company over to his kids. You are going to do well with it, I can tell,” one of the men said.
“Thank you; I appreciate that,” she said.
“Gentlemen, I was apparently not necessary for this meeting. But, it was wonderful meeting you all. When we get back home tomorrow, I’ll shoot you a timeline for when the website will be up and running, and by the end of the year you should be able to open your surrounding communities to all we have to offer here at Harte To Heart Medical Supplies.”
“We look forward to it! I’ll keep a lookout in my inbox,” another man said.
We shook their hands and shot the shit for a little bit, then we all dispersed. Stella was walking with her head tall and her chest puffed out in pride, and all I wanted to do was scoop her up into my arms. I pictured spinning her around and telling her how proud I was of the way she handled herself in that meeting, but I kept myself restrained until we ducked into a cab.
“I nailed it!” she exclaimed as I shut my door.
“Stella,
