Last year, I shared the three best things I did for my business in 2010. Writing that post was a great opportunity to reflect on what did (and didn’t) work for my business in the previous year, and so I’ve decided to make it an annual tradition.
2011 was an interesting year for my business, and for most of the year, it had the feeling of a kind of awkward growth year. My perception of the year didn’t quite match the reality (more on that later) and in actuality it was a major year for me.
I was able to double my sales from 2011, as well as doubling my profits, making 2011 my highest earning year ever. Not only did I double my wholesale sales from 2010 to 2011, but my sales were 1.5 times my 2008 numbers, which was my previous best year in terms of wholesale.
Here are the three things that I feel had a really positive impact on my business in 2011:
1. I hired an employee.
While having a 30 hour a week employee certainly contributed to the growing pains feeling I had throughout the year, it was by far the best thing I could have done for my business. By handing over the bulk of the jewelry production to someone else, I was able to focus on other aspects of my business – marketing, sales, and running this site.
Having an employee also allowed me to take on an order volume that I might not have been able to handle otherwise. During my busiest months of the year, both Amy and myself were working some steady production hours to get orders out the door.
While having an employee did give me the occasional added stress of someone else to pay (someone who HAS to get paid before I do) it also gave me the opportunity to step back from my business from time to time. I could go to trade shows, conferences, or just take a few days off and not worry that the business was falling apart.
2. I expanded my jewelry line.
Having an employee also gave me the time to focus on creating new designs, something I hadn’t really done for the jewelry collection since 2008. Over the summer, I created a new collection that expanded on my best selling pieces while taking them to the next level.
This new collection really helped boost my sales in the second half of the year. I picked up new stores, brought back a major account that hadn’t ordered in over a year, and reenergized some of my existing, long term accounts.
While news reporters continued to talk about a sluggish economy, I continued to receive word from my stores about how well the new collection was selling. (And more importantly, getting lots of reorders.)
3. I learned to sell.
Prior to this year, I had serious doubts about my abilities to sell my own work. Not only that, I worried that selling was a skill I’d never posses. But in 2011, I not only learned how to sell my work better, I learned to love selling.
Now, before you think I’ve turned into some shark who’ll do anything to make a sale, let me reassure you that is not the case.
What I learned to love about selling is that it’s another form of teaching. I love being able to share my product with others, and help match people with the product that’s right for them.
My ability to sell really helped me make the most of every wholesale show I did this year. While my neighbors at certain shows were complaining about how slow the show was, I was in my booth, talking to potential customers and ultimately, writing orders.
Not only did learning to be a better salesperson bring me more confidence (and more orders) but it also taught me an important lesson. There’s nothing that needs to take place in my business that I can’t learn if I commit to it.
Not only do I want to reflect on what went well in 2011, but I also want to look at what could have gone better. In 2011, I made a major error that caused me a lot of stress.
I lost track of my numbers.
In 2010, I was meticulous about tracking my numbers. I knew exactly how much money was going in and coming out at any given moment.
But in 2011, I was anything but meticulous. I let myself believe that I didn’t have time to pay attention to the numbers, and that was a serious mistake.
For most of the year, I had no idea how well my business was doing. I was only focused on the number in my bank account, which isn’t always a true reflection of the health of your business. Without tracking monthly numbers on my faithful spreadsheet, I wasn’t seeing the big picture.
As a result, I had a major freakout in October, in the weeks leading up to my 30th birthday. I felt frustrated that my business wasn’t growing at all.
But in November, I finally made myself take a look at my numbers, and I was floored. I had completely underestimated the amount of money I had brought in this year! And what I thought was a slow year was actually my biggest year ever!
Around the time that I finally looked at my numbers, someone shared this podcast with me on Twitter, and it reinforced the lesson that I had learned. (If you have time, it’s really worth listening to!)
Out of my mistake, I learned a major lesson, and that might be the best thing that happened to my business this year. Tracking my numbers is 100% essential, not only to the health of my business, but to my emotional state regarding my business.
You can be sure in 2012 I’ll be tracking them religiously.
How about you? What were the best (and worst) things you did for your business in 2011?
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If you want to get serious about growing your business in 2012, check out my newest e-course, Business Thinking Boot Camp. Class starts on January 2nd!
I’ll have to think about this some more, but I think the best thing I did for my business this year was take two MAJOR (financial and personal) risks and then allow myself not to feel that I had to follow through long-term on either of them simply because of the huge investment and risk. Instead, I let myself learn what NOT to do from those two big events.
This was such a great article! I’ve been meaning to look back on this year in terms of finances to set my 2012 goals but I didn’t think to look back at my business decisions. Thanks!
The best thing I did for my business was listen to the silly voice in my head that told me to make a new product line that seemed completely ‘out there’. The result has been a revenue stream that matches my previous main product line.
The worst thing I did was not raise my prices enough. I’d recently increased my price points by 1.5 times but I should have doubled it at the least. I never could have anticipated the response from my holiday and gallery shows. I’m much more confident now in the value of my work.
The best thing I did this year was to expand my product line. The growth has been amazing and made me fall in love with it all over again!
The worst thing was not making solid goals for the year. I had things that I definitely wanted to achieve and did this year but I can’t help but think I could have done more and better with a list of clearly definited goal and thinking out the steps of how to achieve them. Definitely fixing this for 2012!
We moved (my husband and I are both self-employed creatives). Seriously, we moved to an arts-friendly community where we fit in so much better. The opportunities that have come my way this last eight months are nothing short of amazing. Richard Florida is really on to something. Having lived it I can whole-heartedly agree that community matters – a lot!
Yay Megan! What a great post. I tripled my business over last year with the help of a whole new line of products I made this year for the wedding market. Without it my business would have been down from the year before. It really goes to show that you need to try new things and see how they do. The worst thing I did this year was not trust myself enough so I stalled out on making new products. I just didn’t know if I would have time for it all. I think if I would have I would have had even more sales.
I couldn’t agree more about the importance of reporting your numbers, both for tracking the company’s health and for the peace of mind in knowing. As entrepreneurs, if we skip the regular financial reporting, we lose the ability to react quickly when things start going side-ways as well as forgoing the chance to celebrate when things go well. ~Heidi
This title grabbed my attention as I – like you – am an independent maker/creative/artist. This is interesting especially about the learning to sell. I feel good about the new ideas I will put in to practise and share with other friends ;0 Thanks! Alison
The best thing I did was have a baby! Obviously this was not a business goal, but my Little One (now almost 5 months old) has brought new perspective and inspiration to my personal and business life. I keep a sketchbook next to my rocking chair, which I’ve officially dubbed my “inspiration chair.” And thanks to him, I started a new side business to my graphic design business: design-savvy baby onesies and tees!
Thanks for the great post and happy new year!
The best thing I did was turn my hobby & passion into a business by registering my company in 2011!
Reflection and planning are fitting this time of the year and I’m doing a lot of that. One of the best things I did was taking the time to find the right resources to assist in the various aspects of my craft. My list of lessons learned this year can be found here:
http://tinyurl.com/7sadet3
The best thing i did for my business was move it out of my house and into a commercial building that has other artists. Having 24/7 access has been huge now that we have a new infant. Being able to go there and work at any hour and not have to worry about noise is great. It also helps production cause when i go there i’m there to work so i work.
The second best thing i did for my business was hire an employee. She is not up to 30 hours a week but 10 – 15 works well for both of us. I was worried about hiring someone thinking i wouldn’t find someone who could or would work the hours i needed. When i put up a call for help on one of the social sites i’m on, I was surprised at the response i got. There are a lot of people out there looking for anything so don’t be scared to only offer 10 hours per week if that is all you can afford.
I really don’t have a worst thing i did for my business other then not hiring an employee sooner. I do have a struggle though. I struggle with pricing. I make children’s toys so it is really tough to create value in my stuff. It is not like jewelry or other crafts because parents are not thinking having something forever. They are thinking the child will grow out of it in a year or two so they don’t want to spend a ton of money. I set my wholesale price at 4 times my material costs then double it for retail. I have got my cost really low so my retail price is reasonable. For 11 months of the year my retail prices are set based on what people are willing to spend on a toy on the spot. during that 12th month, I sell out every time i set up so i raised my prices 20 – 40 %. That didn’t stop me from selling out but did slow sales down some while keeping the overall number about the same. The biggest thing i noticed was that it would have pushed me out of a bunch of earlier sales and did make me lose a couple of sales because many people were buying with a budget. they were only going to spend x on so and so. And they wouldn’t spend $2 more then their budget. The biggest thing that bugs me about raising my prices in dec is the customers who have bought from me through out the year and are coming back to buy more. I feel like i should be consistent with my pricing….
Thanks, Megan for your post and pushing us to become better business people.
Patrick
Hi Megan,
The best thing we did for our business this year was to close down our store and office and move our operation back to our home. The economy in our area was just not supporting our store front (we have an online business), so we just closed it down. Along with moving the store inventory back to our home, we decided to go ahead and closed the office as well.
Moving everything back home did make it crowded at the house, but we now have everything in one location. And without the extra expense of the store rent, office rent and utilities, we were able to concentrate our time and resources to the information business we wanted to expand: http://SellingtoGiftShops.com.
What seemed like a downturn for us really turned into a win as we are on our way to moving in the direction we REALLY wanted to go!!
Sandy Dell
‘Gift Rep Sandy’
Megan – I love your site – it’s so informative. Often – I only get a quick second to pop in but always make a point to return to thoroughly read your posts or watch your videos. I’m looking forward to having a very productive 2012. Thanks –
Lisa
BostonBakedBeads
Megan, I love your information and ideas, and I guess the best thing I did this year, was actually START a business, and do everything legal that needed to be done. I also learned from your site, not to call it a HOBBY….it is a BUSINESS, and I am an ARTIST….not crafter!!!!Thanks for keeping us on track.
The best thing I did this year was hire an employee. It was so scary at first and I felt almost apologetic for having him do the grunt work but then got used to it and {smacked myself a little} and now it is heaven…I am an artist and interior designer. I work mainly project to project with no retail sales but find many important resources from your site and info. I do commissioned paintings and furniture as well as a full service design business. I have learned the hard way that there are only so many hours in a day that I can produce work and to have an employee there to run the errands, manage the mail, bills and so on, frees me up to do what only I can do: the creative part.
Thanks for all you do!
Hi Megan,
Great post! The best thing I did for my business was to take the ittybiz.com turnaround class. I really needed the outside perspective about what to focus on. My sales for December are on track to beat my sales for the whole of last year. Yay!
The best thing I did in 2011 is to get more sales reps and expand my collections!
Like you….I lost track of my numbers and got sidetrack from my main goals.
Of the panoply of website I’ve pored over this has the most vecyaitr.
Best thing — This summer I participated in a two-woman art exhibit which went on for one month with an opening reception. A lot of excitement — preparation, planning and fun. My work was well received and did wonders as far as meeting and finding new customers, shop owners, exposure and building my confidence. Also led to another show over the holiday season at a gallery I’ve been hoping to be in for quite a while. The exposure from the exhibit opened doors to new people, galleries and shops. My business has taken quite a leap since that initial exhibit. It was the best thing I did in 2011 and I hope to repeat it in 2012!
The best thing I did for my business this year was to start making baby and toddler clothes. I used to knit a wide variety of things and sew a few things, but I noticed in 2010 that the huge bulk of my sales were hats for babies and toddlers. I love to sew also, and had developed a large stash of vintage fabrics, so I set off. My sales were a bit higher in numbers, but profits are way up because an 1 outfit brings me more profit than 1 hat! ..the worst thing, I got panicky and bought a lot of new fabric…far more than I could use, plus that wasn’t my brand (I worked with recycled and vintage) so i ate up lots of my profit on fabric that I didn;t begin to use up!
Thanks for all the informative ideas for making your business run like clockwork! This year, I intended to replace a worn out employee, and ended up hiring TWO part time workers. This meant I had to work doubly hard to stay one step ahead of both, but I was so well prepared for the holiday season that I could take advantage of nearly every offer that came my way. As a result, I quadrupuled my sales from last holiday season. I found I had to give up having complete control over several aspects of my business, but if you hire the right individual, they are there to take up the extra slack. And, the other thing that I constantly struggle with is taking the right photos of my handmade work so they translate well online. I worked on learning my camera better, and finally gave up and purchased a more advanced model that could give me the results I desired.
Happy New Year, and here’s to a very successful 2012!
x, Val
ValsArtStudio.com
Hi Megan! First off CONGRATULATIONS on having such a successful year! I hope that you have been able to set some time aside for yourself not just to reflect but also to CELEBRATE all of the accomplishments you have made – the lessons you have learned, and the incredible growth and success that your business has seen because of these things.
Secondly, I’m really glad that you sent out the reminder email about this blog post, that was smart – I would have missed it, and am glad that I didn’t 🙂
Third, I just want to thank you for continually putting yourself out there for the world to see – the stories you so honestly share about your own learning experiences are true pearls of wisdom, offering reassurance and so much inspiration and motivation. I realize that is putting it in general terms, but I really do appreciate the honesty of your writing and how you don’t sugar coat your articles. I think it takes a lot of courage to admit to letting your number tracking slip this year – (so did I!!!) and I love how you followed it up by sharing that once you took control of the situation, you were astonishingly surprised (so was I!!) Talk about being an inspiration to others (not just me me!) to take charge of their situation!
I’ll get off my soap box now. I just wanted to let you know how much your honesty in sharing your path means to so many of us other creative entrepreneurs. Thank you!
-Joanna
I actually started my etsy shop AND I sold something. I viewed myself as having a business, not just “starting” one.
The best thing I did for my business this year was to get involved with other business owners – I participated in the Etsy Holiday Boot Camp, took Tara Gentile’s Website kickstart course and signed up for Megan’s Honors program. Through these connections, I have taken over my website so I can make it more personal, I repackaged some of products to increase sales and I began an email marketing campaign. All of these changes have resulted in sales that I would not have seen otherwise and even some cost savings.
The worst thing was that I didn’t increase my # of wholesale accounts – I would like to work on that in the coming year.
I am looking forward to even more interaction and new ideas through the Honors program – Thanks Megan!
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I just wanted to say a huge thank you for all the insights and advice you have given me this year! Running a small business can be difficult, but knowing I am surrounded by wise women like you, make is a hell of a lot easier!
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I had to let this one sit for awhile, but after a few hours at the sewing machine (where I do my best thinking), I think I’ve got it.
Looking back, I think the single most important thing I did for my business last year was to create a separate workspace for my business. Before I took that step, my tools and supplies were spread all over the house, there was a constant trail of thread up the stairs, and, as a result, my house and my life just felt scattered and hectic. Having a separate space where I had a place for all my tools and supplies and could leave my equipment out really helped my business grow. I worked more efficiently, the organization made me much more calm and it gave me an overall sense of pride and professionalism as soon as I entered that room.
As for the worst thing I did for my business, I think it all comes down to not asking for enough help. I definitely went through periods of burn out and overtiredness… too many. When downtime came my way, I was so overworked that I needed a complete break and wasn’t using that time as I should have been, keeping track of my numbers, experimenting with new ideas, and building inventory for the busy times, like the holidays. This year I promised myself to make more time by lessening my hours at my full-time job and hiring some help, whether that’s my mother, an intern or a paid employee. I have to!
Yay for 2012! Good luck to you, Megan, and to everyone on meeting their goals this year!
Great post Megan! I may have to borrow this idea for my own blog – reflecting on an entire year is so hard to sit down and do when I can barely remember what I did yesterday!
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