Lola looked Charlie up and down and burst out laughing.
“Seriously? You want ME to help YOU? I just wanted some killer size 12 heels. My public demands it!” Lola shouted.
Charlie winced.
“Yes, I do want you to help me. We need to turn this business around so it can survive. It won’t do that unless we have a niche, and your size 12 kinky boots are the niche we’ve been looking for.”
Lola smiled.
“Well, what do you want to know, Charlie? You’re the shoemakers. We’re just the fabulous queens who wear them…”
Charlie passed Lola the report.
“What I need to know is what kind of size 12 shoes and boots you’d like to wear. After all, you laughed at my first designs.”
Lola nodded.
“Yes, well, they were AWFUL. I see your point.”
Charlie coughed nervously.
“There’s just one thing, though. Some of my workers are a little…er, old-fashioned. You may need to tone it down a little just while they get to know you…”
Lola flashed an angry look at Charlie.
“We can ALL tell they’re old-fashioned from the clumpy, frumpy designs they’ve been giving you. And I can’t ever be anyone other than myself, Charlie, so you and your old-fashioned workforce will just have to cope…though I promise not to break into ‘I Will Survive’ on the factory floor. “
“Fair enough,” Charlie replied with a weak smile.
******
A few months later in Milan, Charlie looked down at his feet forlornly.
“I can’t do it. I’m just not a model. This is a disaster,” he said quietly to himself as he sat on the runway in the spot where he’d fallen.
“It’s all your own fault, Charlie. You didn’t have to fall out with everyone before the fashion showcase. There was only you left to wear these. It’s tragic.”
Suddenly, a familiar figure stalked their way down the catwalk towards him. It was Lola, followed by two more drag queens, all wearing Charlie’s fabulously kinky boots.
“Get up!” Lola hissed.
“Style it out and hold onto my arm.”
Lola pulled Charlie back down the catwalk, smiling and stopping at the end to pose.
“Now THAT’S how you model boots,” Lola said with a grin.
After the show, Charlie was inundated with interest from fashion reporters and had an armful of orders to take back to Northamptonshire.
“We did it. We saved the factory!” Charlie said, grinning.
“I know! And now me and the girls always have a source of beautiful boots!” Lola replied.
“But, Charlie, there is one more thing. You do have to sort out all the processes and paperwork. The staff tell me you’re still doing things like your dad. The world has moved on. In fact, it’s moved online. We had some consultants in compliance and management visit our cabaret show recently, and they were telling us about an amazing online software called Mango.
“It’s perfect for niche businesses like yours (and ours) because you can keep all your records in the cloud, you can access everything you need even when you’re outside the factory, and you know you’re complying with the regulations.
“Having Mango can also help you when you get ISO standards in health and safety, the environment, business continuity, energy management, corporate social responsibility, and quality management. Prospective clients love the fact businesses have ISOs, don’t they?”
Charlie scratched his head.
“Well, we could certainly do without all that paperwork cluttering up the factory and increasing the fire risk. I’ll do some research, Lola.”
“Give my friends at Penarth Management a call,” Lola said, handing him a business card.
“Before long, Charlie, these kinky boots are going to be walking all over your paperwork!”
Time to give your hard-copy paperwork the boot? Call Penarth Management on 029 2070 3328 or email info@penarth.co.uk. Find out how online compliance software like Mango also benefits your niche business. Book a free demonstration which will be delivered via Zoom. We can help you achieve the ISOs your niche business needs, too