...Thank you. It continues to blow my mind that we’ve got such an incredible community behind the Trek Light Gear brand and new people joining this adventure every day. If you’re reading this it means you’re following along with us, seeing our tweets and Facebook posts and not just seeing our links but clicking on them. Thank you.
Here’s why I’m writing this blog post – WE NEED YOUR HELP!
We’ve entered Trek Light Gear into a business contest put on by Chase and LivingSocial. They’re giving away a $250K business grant to 12 winners and I can’t even begin to tell you how much this would mean to a small business like Trek Light Gear.
The irony probably lies in the fact that many of you have no idea how small of a business we are. Until this year I was the only full-time employee, AKA Chief Everything Officer. Every package sent out, every handwritten note and social media post, every phone call and every email answered - through it all the brand grew into something special, a community formed, and at some point it stopped feeling weird to say 'we' instead of 'I' when talking about the company. In January I was finally able to double our staff which makes two of us keeping this train running (in addition to the two awesome part-time employees who keep the Trek Light Gear kiosk running on Pearl Street).
We’ve been experiencing an awesome amount of growth, but there’s one reality that becomes more apparent each day – it costs a lot of money to grow. The more people that want our products the more we have to make and stock those products in advance, have space to store them, employees to ship them and at the same time generate new business, interact with customers, and on and on.
That’s why this grant would mean so much to our business right now and help us get over this crucial hump. I want to show the world that not only is life is better in a hammock, but at the same time a company like Trek Light Gear can be built on the notion of charity and giving back, which can create a ripple effect of positive change throughout the world just by doing 'business as usual'.
To vote, all you have to do is click this link and then click on the ‘Login & Support’ button on the right side of the page. Just type ‘Trek Light Gear’ in the search field and you’ll be able to cast your vote on the very next screen. In order to qualify for the grant we need to reach 250 votes, which hopefully will be easy with your support but we really need your help to get there before the contest ends on June 30th (less than 10 days away). We're about 180 votes away at this point. Once we reach 250 votes it’s up to the judges to pick the winner and we’ll just have to keep our fingers crossed.
PLEASE SHARE! You’ll be given an option to share your vote and that’s a crucial step – anything you can do to ask your friends on Facebook or Twitter to show their support for us will help us reach the goal and have a chance to win the grant. If you vote, leave us a comment and let us know so we can say thanks!
Approximately 180 votes to go! Let's do this!