As usual, I'm rolling into the end of the year like any manufacturer or retailer - feeling bruised, beaten, and otherwise utterly exhausted. I just wrote out a check for my workspace for the month of January and am ecstatic that I'm only paying for 50% of my normal time as I don't have any plans to go into the space more then that this month. I just keep telling myself that I have to get this big Valentine's order finished up (which I'm hoping will be done by the end of the weekend) and get my QuickBooks in order for my meeting with the accountant on the 12th for year-end taxes and then I get the rest of the month off.
Of course I say that now...truthfully even in the four-five days I had at home for Christmas - with no computer, no phone calls, and no workrelated aspects at all - I found I was still thinking about work...a lot! Actually, what I found was that after a day or two I started thinking creatively again about new products, potential new distribution channels, potential new relationships. It's that type of stuff that makes me really excited about the business and I can see the future potential again whereas normally this time of year I'm just so mired in the day-to-day survival.
And so even though I can't wait to have some time off, the truth is that I know I'll be experimenting with new products, and working with the graphic artist to get some new mock packaging drawn up, and sending off samples to potential new relationships. Downtime has never been a strength of mine....
In other news, I took a very quick look at QuickBooks today and it looks like I'm ending the year $400 behind where I was last year. Not too bad for what will hopefully go down as the worst economic year in our lifetimes. Here's hoping for a better economy for everyone in 2010.
Happy New Year - I hope the new year brings all of us hope, creativity, and lots and lots of opportunities.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Ask and ye shall receive
Not to get too 'Oprah' on anyone, but the 'Universe' definitely heard my whining about finances and came to clear up my mess. Literally 10 minutes after I posted the last entry I received a payment indicator from my dropship partner letting me know that they had automatically deposited money into my account. There's nothing like getting emails saying You Have Money. Then today I got a little bit more of the money owed.
The main chunk of the dropship and BIG order payments will arrive in January, but what I've now got is enough to pay the bills that have to be paid with cash - things like my city business license renewal. Thankyou Universe!
I'm trying to finish up loose ends and get ready to leave tomorrow for a few quick days at home with my family to celebrate Christmas. It'll be a quick trip but the good news is I get to really make the most of tomorrow since the airport shuttle is coming to pick me up at 3am. Yes, you read that right - 3am. That means I ought to be full on grumpy...ah, I mean full of Christmas spirit by the time I arrive home.
Merry Christmas!
The main chunk of the dropship and BIG order payments will arrive in January, but what I've now got is enough to pay the bills that have to be paid with cash - things like my city business license renewal. Thankyou Universe!
I'm trying to finish up loose ends and get ready to leave tomorrow for a few quick days at home with my family to celebrate Christmas. It'll be a quick trip but the good news is I get to really make the most of tomorrow since the airport shuttle is coming to pick me up at 3am. Yes, you read that right - 3am. That means I ought to be full on grumpy...ah, I mean full of Christmas spirit by the time I arrive home.
Merry Christmas!
Friday, December 18, 2009
Really?
Ug, this morning is not off to the way I had hoped. It is wonderful news that I have this Valentine's order but because I wasn't expecting I really don't have the cash available to pay for the necessary raw ingredients. There's nothing more I hate then this feeling that the business bank account is literally scraping bottom. The reason is mainly due to the fact that I've tried to pay cash (or debit) for almost everything I can so that's kept the balance low. And then there's the fact that when cash has been coming in I've been using it to try and pay down the business credit card which was run up when I had to buy in all the packaging and raw ingredients for my BIG holiday orders.
The irony is that I have a bunch of revenue coming in the first two weeks of January from the BIG holiday orders and my dropship orders. The amount is equal to half of what I've made this year. So it's going to pay down the business card totally and put some money in the bank for 2010. In the meantime though, I'm running low on actual cash and have a bunch of expenses that need to be paid for.
And then I read an article like this yesterday in the NYTimes:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/fashion/17etsy.html?_r=1&em
I know that these people are the anomoly but really? You're making $140,000 from sales on Etsy? I've been doing this business for almost four years, haven't hit six figures yet, haven't ever given myself a paycheck, and still feel like I'm barely keeping my head above water.
Who knows, it may be because it's the end of the year and I'm just burnt out and tired. But right now all I can say is, really?
The irony is that I have a bunch of revenue coming in the first two weeks of January from the BIG holiday orders and my dropship orders. The amount is equal to half of what I've made this year. So it's going to pay down the business card totally and put some money in the bank for 2010. In the meantime though, I'm running low on actual cash and have a bunch of expenses that need to be paid for.
And then I read an article like this yesterday in the NYTimes:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/fashion/17etsy.html?_r=1&em
I know that these people are the anomoly but really? You're making $140,000 from sales on Etsy? I've been doing this business for almost four years, haven't hit six figures yet, haven't ever given myself a paycheck, and still feel like I'm barely keeping my head above water.
Who knows, it may be because it's the end of the year and I'm just burnt out and tired. But right now all I can say is, really?
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like...Take 2
Apparently it's beginning to look a lot like Valentine's Day. I got an order yesterday from BIGGER company for a good amount of Valentine's Day product so now I'm back in my workspace, busy as ever, working on Valentine product while listening to Christmas carols.
I'm really happy the order came through though. It was from the BIGGER company whose holiday order got screwed up so the fact that they placed another order with me makes me believe I didn't completely screw up the relationship. Hopefully this will set me up well for future orders with them. Plus this will be the first time I book revenue of this amount this early in the year. One of my goals has been to stretch out my revenue a little bit more since right now basically 7/8th of it comes in the 4th quarter. If I can get a little going first quarter and perhaps some more in 3rd quarter it will help cashflow substantially.
It's going to be tight to get the order done and all the packaging ordered in with the holidays next week. But I'm fairly confident that even with my 5 day vacation next week I'll have the order ready to ship on or before Jan 8th. Course I may be spending New Years Eve packaging up a storm but such is the life of a small business owner, right?
I'm really happy the order came through though. It was from the BIGGER company whose holiday order got screwed up so the fact that they placed another order with me makes me believe I didn't completely screw up the relationship. Hopefully this will set me up well for future orders with them. Plus this will be the first time I book revenue of this amount this early in the year. One of my goals has been to stretch out my revenue a little bit more since right now basically 7/8th of it comes in the 4th quarter. If I can get a little going first quarter and perhaps some more in 3rd quarter it will help cashflow substantially.
It's going to be tight to get the order done and all the packaging ordered in with the holidays next week. But I'm fairly confident that even with my 5 day vacation next week I'll have the order ready to ship on or before Jan 8th. Course I may be spending New Years Eve packaging up a storm but such is the life of a small business owner, right?
Do you know what day it is?
I got one retail order today and one wholesale order for my Hanukkah product. It is the fifth night of Hanukkah already, right? Despite that both retailer and consumer wanted the product (I double-checked that they understood how close we were to end of Hanukkah) so I sent them out. Best of all, this means that I got rid of all the Hanukkah products I had on hand!
Sunday, December 13, 2009
It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like...
The Christmas spirit has hit me in full force. Things started slowing down ever so slightly on Thursday to the point where I found myself with more weekend time to myself then to work. With all that free time I finally found myself hit with the holiday spirit and in desperate need to bake cookies. Lots and lots of cookies.
Normally I've snuck out of town by now and am at home with my family so my mom gets to be in charge of all the baking (which she relegates to me mostly) and the decorating (which she takes care of because I suck at it). We're busy but it puts me in the holiday mood. This year, for a variety of reasons, I'm not heading home until the 23rd. It reminds me of when I was an undergrad and the way our semester was set up I wouldn't finish up finals until the 22nd, rush home, and then try to get in the spirit. This year it's run around and work like crazy and then head home on the 23rd and try to feel "Merry." Not easy to do.
So in addition to lighting the Hanukkah candles on Friday night, I also set up a small tree. It's gaudy but it brings me great joy. It's also fake which I'm not necessarily too fond of but I do have a candle that smells remarkably like pine - and not in fake pine way - so I've been lighting that at night and it helps.
Which brings me to today. I do have some work today but I also have four cookie recipes out in front of me that I'm itching to bake. And I have a brisket recipe for Hanukkah tonight. Ought to be an interesting smell combination in my house this afternoon!
Normally I've snuck out of town by now and am at home with my family so my mom gets to be in charge of all the baking (which she relegates to me mostly) and the decorating (which she takes care of because I suck at it). We're busy but it puts me in the holiday mood. This year, for a variety of reasons, I'm not heading home until the 23rd. It reminds me of when I was an undergrad and the way our semester was set up I wouldn't finish up finals until the 22nd, rush home, and then try to get in the spirit. This year it's run around and work like crazy and then head home on the 23rd and try to feel "Merry." Not easy to do.
So in addition to lighting the Hanukkah candles on Friday night, I also set up a small tree. It's gaudy but it brings me great joy. It's also fake which I'm not necessarily too fond of but I do have a candle that smells remarkably like pine - and not in fake pine way - so I've been lighting that at night and it helps.
Which brings me to today. I do have some work today but I also have four cookie recipes out in front of me that I'm itching to bake. And I have a brisket recipe for Hanukkah tonight. Ought to be an interesting smell combination in my house this afternoon!
Monday, December 7, 2009
Craft Show & Facebook
The retail craft show was this weekend though I hate to use the word "craft" to describe it. More like 'handmade' show. Craft makes me think 4H fairs and kitchens decorated in country-chic style (just so you know, those two words cannot honestly be put together without laughing). This show was more like super talented folks - mainly late 20's to early 40's who handmake their goods. There was some really cool stuff there but unfortunately my husband had to work (at his real job) and wasn't able to come and walk the show or relieve me so I could walk it. So I'll apologize to our relatives for the fact you won't be getting any really cool handmade stuff for the holidays.
All told, my little company did well at the show. I made about 2x more then I made at the summer show which was made even better by the fact that people were really only buying the $3-$10 items and not anything more expensive. So I did have lots of sales - just at a lower price point but that's not totally unexpected given the economy. I also got lots of great feedback, had an opportunity to 'advertise' my company to tons of folks who appreciate handmade goods, and generally had a great time talking to customers and other vendors.
There is another similar-type show in San Francisco in about two weeks but this was the last show for me for awhile. I do have a friend who's going to check out the SF show though and see if that may be something worthwhile going to next year as I really do enjoy these shows and, at the end of the day, they are so less expensive then my big tradeshows (though also less business too).
Speaking of advertising, I've been advertising on FaceBook for the past month and it's scheduled to continue through the holiday season and so far it seems to be bringing a great number of folks to my site. I've more then doubled the number of people visiting my site on a daily basis (thanks to the wonders of Google Analytics) and have been getting some good retail business as well. Not killer retail business, but good enough that I'm happy with what FaceBook is bringing me. I do have a few other irons in the fire as well including two ads in publications which are more or less hitting newsstands now so I'm hoping to see some more good things come out of those.
I did create a new FaceBook ad for Valentine's Day that will run for the month before V-day. Targeted it to single females who love dogs about how they need to get something for the 'true love of their life.' :)
All told, my little company did well at the show. I made about 2x more then I made at the summer show which was made even better by the fact that people were really only buying the $3-$10 items and not anything more expensive. So I did have lots of sales - just at a lower price point but that's not totally unexpected given the economy. I also got lots of great feedback, had an opportunity to 'advertise' my company to tons of folks who appreciate handmade goods, and generally had a great time talking to customers and other vendors.
There is another similar-type show in San Francisco in about two weeks but this was the last show for me for awhile. I do have a friend who's going to check out the SF show though and see if that may be something worthwhile going to next year as I really do enjoy these shows and, at the end of the day, they are so less expensive then my big tradeshows (though also less business too).
Speaking of advertising, I've been advertising on FaceBook for the past month and it's scheduled to continue through the holiday season and so far it seems to be bringing a great number of folks to my site. I've more then doubled the number of people visiting my site on a daily basis (thanks to the wonders of Google Analytics) and have been getting some good retail business as well. Not killer retail business, but good enough that I'm happy with what FaceBook is bringing me. I do have a few other irons in the fire as well including two ads in publications which are more or less hitting newsstands now so I'm hoping to see some more good things come out of those.
I did create a new FaceBook ad for Valentine's Day that will run for the month before V-day. Targeted it to single females who love dogs about how they need to get something for the 'true love of their life.' :)
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Things Are Going Well
I haven't looked at QuickBooks lately for more then the minute or two necessary to create invoices and record payments but I think things are going pretty well. We continue to get in a few wholesale orders which just shocks me to no end and we're getting some dropship orders as well as a few retail orders of our own. Plus I'm exhibiting at a big retail show this weekend so I'm excited to see how it turns out. Course I alternate between worrying that I don't have enough stock to bring with me to worrying that I'm bringing too much.
And I still have a list of things I need to do to finish getting ready for the show (just remembered that I need to find my sales slips...where oh where did I put those? Hmm, might be stopping at OfficeMax tomorrow...)
But I am excited. The best thing lately is that I've been getting emails from folks who have ordered retail just raving about my products and customer service. It honestly makes me so happy to hear that what I'm doing is bringing joy to someone. And hopefully this weekend it will bring joy to even more since a portion of each sale this weekend is going directly to a local animal rescue organization.
Gotta get back to work...I'll let you know how it all turns out...
And I still have a list of things I need to do to finish getting ready for the show (just remembered that I need to find my sales slips...where oh where did I put those? Hmm, might be stopping at OfficeMax tomorrow...)
But I am excited. The best thing lately is that I've been getting emails from folks who have ordered retail just raving about my products and customer service. It honestly makes me so happy to hear that what I'm doing is bringing joy to someone. And hopefully this weekend it will bring joy to even more since a portion of each sale this weekend is going directly to a local animal rescue organization.
Gotta get back to work...I'll let you know how it all turns out...
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