Come this July it will be 4 years of having my own craft
business,
Patchwork Jane’s Handmade Boutique. What started off as small, just
for fun has turned into something big, meaningful, and time consuming. I’ve
learned a lot over the last couple years, building my social media, creating
ads, marketing my pages, craft shoes, orders, getting my items into two stores
as well as my own online Etsy shop and orders sold through my Facebook page. It’s
been crazy!! But I’ve also made mistakes, learned what works and what doesn’t
and have thought “where do I want to go next?”
I started off sewing, changed to tutus, added in tutu
dresses, then eventually hair accessories and stuffed owls. Now…. I’m getting a
little burnt out on tutus and I’m going back to sewing. But this time in the
form of handbags and zipper pouches. I’m investing in this new adventure with
lots of different fabrics, interfacing, hardware, a new sewing machine (working
on this one still), my gorgeous Vintage 1949 Singer for tough layers and
whatever else I need for this endeavor. I’m
excited!! I’m still doing tutus but I’m venturing away from themed outfits and
looking ahead to sewing and keeping things a little simpler. I haven’t decided
if I will do completely away with hair accessories or just the simpler ones and
focus on the fancier ones for my tutu sets and flower girl sets.
I have to focus on how to make this a consistent business vs
a up and down business with a hodge podge of creations that are not reliable. I’ve
learned that while having a multitude of different things is good, it can also
backfire and end up costing you more time and earning less in profit. I need to
have items that are consistent in that: 1. I always have materials on hand for
them, 2. Be easily created in an acceptable amount of time, 3. Does not require
me to keep a million items in stock, resulting in me having a huge amount of
inventory in stock. Essentially I need to slim line my items.
Goals:
1.
Make a plan: Items to keep and what they require.
2.
Figure up cost to make and is the item worth
keeping.
3.
Go over my pages, double check policies, prices
and items.
4.
Set small goals to get through each week and 1
monthly goal.
These are a few I’m starting out with in my notebook so I
can keep track of my business plan and goals. I’m also using a weekly planner,
my favorite being
My Happy Planner from
Me & My Big Ideas. But there are
several others out there; I know the
Erin Condren planners are very popular as
well. So if you are working on building
a new business or just working on building your up, start with a business plan
and a calendar to weekly plans and goals.
Kinda
