Ron, I wish you nothing but the best. Sounds like you are in the process of taking a drink out of a fire hose.

I'm a consultant and here's some free advice.

Don't do anything to generate new business until you have caught up on the orders you already have.

Hire whatever temporary help you can to get you through the crunch. Any nearby colleges with hungry students? Even high schoolers can help a lot. YOu can get students at wages that are very friendly. They're not expecting a long term job or benefits. They are just looking for current income and a boss who treats them fairly.

Figure out where you personally can add the greatest value during this period. Should you be overseeing things in general or focused on one or a few parts of it during this crisis? For example, who should be answering phone calls and responding to e-mails now?

It is a crisis. Not just the sheer crush of the workload during the transition. More importantly, the company's reputation and customer relationships are on the line here. It is far more difficult to re-establish those than it is to retain them.

Most folks will cut you some slack if they feel you are doing the best you can under difficult circumstances. Make sure they know your circumstances using every communication channel you can. (Your post here was seen by tons of current and potential customers. Are there other sites where you can deliver the same message without violating their posting policies?)

Don't make promises you can't keep and keep every promise you make.

Can your suppliers help you? For example, would some make direct shipments for you during this transition in the interest of keeping your business when you are back to being ready to fulfill your own orders?

Think! Take anywhere from 2 hours to a day sitting in a room all by yourself with no ringing phones or other distractions. List all the problems you are having. Rank them in terms of their importance to your future biz success. Write down what you think is the best way to solve each, rank those, and then execute the He!! out of them.

Figure out what you will do to build this business after the crisis is over. One person's point of view: giving me a discount to offset my displeasure with a delayed shipment will have a far less long lasting effect on me than would building some kind of personal bond with your communications to me while I await the delivery.

Hey, free advice is often worth what it costs --often far less. But I hope this helps.