Rachael's Handmade Designs

Hi All, I have taken a few momments to evaluate my shop today. This is something that I like to do mid-month. It helps to keep me on track and identify what my goals are and how to go about them. The following questions I actually type up, print out and spend about a half an hour during my day thinking about. I file the finished "Monday Mid-Month Meeting Minutes" in my sales binder. What can you do now to finish your month strong? What are your goals and objectives for the coming month? Start with the end in mind - work backwards and break your goal into attainable steps. What will you do? Discern skills and tools necessary to obtain your goals. Mehtods for tracking your progress. Have a support partner - who can you talk to and bounce ideas off of re: small business and your goals? Establish a 30/60/90 day game plan. Also, YTD (Year-To-Date Sales) can be helpful. If you track your sales with the date and amount of dollars, this can help you with what to exp...

Hi All, As the outside gal, creativity is your strong point. Sometimes, tho, we all run into a brick wall. One way to battle this is to clear the cobwebs from your work space. It really gives you a fresh start. (Personally I find that it's difficult for me to create when my space it too messy or too clean. I like it *just right* I like to see what I have and what I can work with.) I also feel that going through your supplies every now and again when you feel blocked can really be beneficial.  This is where the "Inside Gal" can come in handy. Clear off your design table. What do you have? Take inventory of your supplies. (Jot down price if you have it available.) What do you use on a constant basis? What have you *not* used in the last six months? Generally if you don't use it in six months, you won't ever use it. (Side note: this works for just about everything you own - wardrobe, personal effects, books, etc.) So? Sell what you don't use! Recently I sold ...

Hi All, The Outside Gal has a lot to offer. This position is responsible for a number of different things, such as procuring new jobs, making sales, schmoozing with customers or future customers, and being creative. Usually this person will be the creative driving force behind the company. Outside Gal Keep a binder or a sketch journal of ideas. Take it with you wherever you go - you never know when inspiration is going to hit. I also like to keep a point and shoot camera on me as well, if I can manage it. 1.  Make some mock ups of your product and have a protective but nice presentation for it. Figure your total cost and profit on these items. Would you be willing and able to produce tripples or sets of these, if asked to? 2.  Decide on the types of established businesses and locations you think you'd like to do business with. Do some research on these companies. Who is the owner? What is the background information for this company? Get a telephone number and ad...

Hi All, To every successful business structure there is a pattern: an inside gal and and outside gal. That is, there is someone who handles the books and money aspect of things, and someone who creates as well as goes and actively seeks customers, business opportunities, and generally schmoozes with possible future customers, thereby creating the driving outside force of sales.  Often times, as a small business owner, we find ourselves having to juggle these two hats, and most of the time having to stack them on top of each other. Inside Gal First things first, organization is KEY ! Set up a seperate folder system or drive on you computer specifically for your business. Procure Microsoft Office Excel; and a tabbed and labeled binder. The Binder In this binder you should keep the following: 1.  Any formation documents for your company - if you are large enough to have formed your business with the state, you will have these. Even if you are just a D/B/A, you sh...

Hi All, Like many of you, my shop has been hurting lately. :(Summer is a hard time to weather for small business owners of some trades. It's important to understand that there are seasons for shopping - or at least, I keep telling myself this!  I have been doing research on how to compensate for the challenging summer months; indeed, how to turn it into something useful to further my shop and encourage growth.  I don't usually read the Etsy blog, but I'm kind of feeling blocked, so I decided to. I came across an article that helped me to understand more merchandising approaches. BUNDLES! We all agree that having varied price points in your shop helps to appeal to a wider range of buyers, right? In the retail culture, I was often taught that it's the number of transactions you have in a day, and the size of those transactions. The magic number was three! So, think about it. By offering a bundle, you not only offer the buyer the items that they were looking for...

Hi All, In reviewing my last post, I neglected to mention one very important thing: shopping seasons! Understanding the seasons and holidays are very important in sales, perhaps more so when you're running your own shop. Although this can be very discouraging for small business owners, often times the summer months are the hardest to weather (ha ha, no pun intended) because most shopping centers around large holidays, such as Christmas and Black Friday. In the retail culture, Christmas and Black Friday shopping can make it or break it for the ENTIRE year. A close second is the Back To School season in August/September. Take this into consideration when you're running your own business. What can you do to compensate for this? Stay positive! I know it's difficult, because as a shop owner I face the same challenges and sometimes upsetting defeats. We are our own worst enemies when it comes to this. The sales will come, but the most important thing is staying positive and b...