Friday, December 26, 2008

Tis the season

Merry (belated) Christmas, Happy New Year, and God Bless Everyone!

Now that the Christmas chaos has concluded, we are ready to start focusing on some serious issues at hand. The CPSIA has a lot of small businesses, retailers and manufacturers alike, up in arms. As a manufacturer, I have to do a lot of research (and by I, I mean Hubby) about these issues and decide what actions we should take. There is a lot of misinformation out there and rumors are spreading like wild fire. So, do we get a lawyer to look at the legalese of the new laws? I don't want to be overly reactionary, but I have to do something. I have potential retailers that will not entertain carrying Dapper Snappers without certification that it meets the new standards whether or not they apply to our product. Our first attempt will be to get certifications from our suppliers and from that create our own certification that we comply fully with the new laws. But what if some of our suppliers aren't required to provide certification because of the nature of the product they sell? Will that mean we have to get it tested independently? 
It really is difficult to make heads or tails of this. The new laws are a source of confusion for all of us. We just have to take a step back away from the confusion, separate fact from freak-out, and do our best to comply. We will have to do something though because I can't not sell the one product that makes life easier for so many moms all over the world. Save the Dapper Snapper, Save the world! (Okay, I'm a Heroes fan)