April 11, 2012

Almost done with my Four Months. This is what it was all ABOUT. Not sure I'm meeting my goals. I certainly haven't come to any conclusion about WHICH of my businesses to focus on. But maybe I would be too bored if I only focused on one. I do have ADD after all, and the more things I have on my plate, the better I function. Maybe doing too much will keep me younger in the long run. At least my mind will not go stale.

I did learn a lot about my flower jewelry product. As a matter of fact, I'm changing my line about daily right now. I know I shouldn't but while making my flowers, I find that I can make in bulk, certain flowers, better than others. I have also found that some are more desirable than others. I have found that I can tint some of my own acrylic beads beautifully. I only need to buy a base color, so I can easily buy those beads in bulk and color them.

I found that my product line was not what it should be. I added several items. I added brooches, which have been the best selling yet. I have tiny brooches, which can easily be used as boutonnieres too. I could slap myself for not thinking of that one. Actually I was going to work on that before I left my previous selling site. But in the move, I forgot what my focus was. I simplified the line and made it more accessible to everyone.

That's what I learned about my flower jewelry. I still have a few things to do before I can offer them retail though. There is my packaging. I'd love to use vintage un-pasted wallpaper for the cards in the packaging.  I think I'm going to have to go with a stamped gray cardstock though. I need to find a big gray inkpad, and maybe carve my own stamp. Hmmm, I wonder if I can draw with some flexible rubber material, Silicone maybe, on an acrylic sheet. I need a pretty big stamp. I'll have to look into that.

Tomorrow I'm going to do a quick review of what I learned about my product design business so far.

March 8, 2012

I have a plan, I work hard at it, and it works. Now that's a rare thing. I am a fairly organized person. I make spreadsheets of everything. Well not everything, but if I have comparisons to make I do. I'll make cost spreadsheets, accounting spreadsheets, product dimension spreadsheets, etc. I have a spreadsheet on all of my flowers and their cut sizes so I make them all pretty similar. So a 3 flower necklace has the chain type, and each flower size and color.

I recently made spreadsheets on the new product with time and cost so I could analyze the dollar per hour of each. I did that to see if wholesaling was a viable option and it was. Nice to know. I know most crafters don't really do that. Most just see the money coming in and don't realize what is going on until they do taxes at the end of the year. I know a lot are loosing money instead of making a profit. If they took the time to do a cost analysis, they could see which items make more and focus on those. Of course you have to sell them too.

So the plan is working, really. So far this month I had a bulk sale in my flower shop (the first at this shop) and I sold 7 product designs. This month I increased my income by just under $400, and the designs have the potential of making much more money in the future, with commission. I am so very pleased. And that is for March alone. The month isn't even half over. I have more design commissions in March that will bring income in April.

I was hoping that my plan would work, but it's really amazing how well it has. I have blogged more, designed a nice website, redesigned my blog, made updates on linked in, and made more Facebook and Twitter posts. I've also posted a few items on Pinterest, but not sure I really want to go there. I might be removing most of my boards and only posting things I am sure people want reposted. I love Pinterest, but the thought of getting sued scares me.  

March 2, 2012

I really can't believe it's March already. Hell I can't believe it's 2012. I only have 2 months left to write this diary. I'll be glad it's over, but I think I'll miss it.

I was just reading a blog post about consignment, as opposed to wholesale. I guess the thought is that on consignment, the shop hasn't made any investment in your product, and has no incentive to sell. Makes a lot of sense to me. I really hadn't even considered consignment. I've done it in the past, and although I did make some money, what I usually got was trade. Not that that's bad. I got one of my favorite shirts ever in a trade. I wore it until it fell to shreds.

But the person who wrote the post has a point. I don't think I will sell on consignment unless it is a trial, and I will make sure to get a consignment agreement.

I made nine new product designs in the past two days. Two were variations, so not as much work, but still, a lot of work in 2 days. Five of the designs were chosen to sample. If just one of them sell, it could be fantastic for me and the company I work for.

The product design is interfering with my plans for wholesaling. If this becomes a regular thing, I might have to give up on the jewelry altogether. Well, not really. At the rate I sell, I can certainly keep my shops open on Artfire. But wholesaling could be out of the picture. I might even be able to do a show or two, or a local shop or two. But not a national program.

On top of all the work, I caught a cold, and I was never really over the flu and sinus infection. I think I really need a tropical vacation.

February 21, 2012

Today I felt better than I have in over two weeks. I only had to take some pain meds once in the morning. I rarely ever take any meds, just my supplements. I've been taking acetaminophen four times a day for over a week. So not like me.

Even though I felt little pain, I guess I'm still shaky. I've been dropping and spilling things all day. Starting with an egg that I miraculously caught after it slipped out of my hand and flew up after bouncing off my hand. It was funny.

Then the sewing machine would just not work right, and when I finally got it to stitch right, I ran out of bobbin thread. Really, three times with three different colors on three orders. After one order was finished I noticed a stain on the vintage fabric. I got it out, but not easy on a finished piece and not necessarily something I wanted to deal with. A few things to be made, should have taken very little time and with cutting ended up taking about 4 hours. And I never even got packaging done yet.

I keep my onions, apples and oranges on hooks on the wall. Just easier that way. The onion bag fell on the floor near the litter box in the dustpan. Gross! Now I have to wash them all and peel them and store them in the fridge. I just realized it was probably because it was on the same hook as the rolling pin my daughter used to make the beignets today.

Finally I went in the kitchen to clean up and put the last of the food away. Huge pot of rice, plenty for another meal, so I put in in a bowl covered with foil. It was like the thing was made of rubber. I put it in it bounced out on the floor. Dumped over and all the rice fell out.

I even had to take a break writing this, because one of the cats dumped a full glass of water all over the table and floor, and the paper masks my grandson made for Mardi Gras so that the black marker ran all over the table.

I did have two very wonderful things happen though. I became a Top Seller on eBay today. I don't even know how that happened, but I'll take the discount that goes with it.

I also wrapped up my website enough that I feel proud to post it. akacinders.com I don't have a shop on it yet, but there are lots of links to my Artfire shop. I'm still not throwing in the towel yet.

February 16, 2012

Sometimes I hate that I have the kind of mind that can calculate how much profit I make on an item and how many I have to sell to make X amount of dollars. But in so many ways it's better, because this way I can see which of my items are best to offer wholesale.

I first have to calculate the cost of materials for each item. Then I have to calculate the time to make each to figure out what my dollar per hour rate is.

So I took my profit and divided by how much time to make the (necklace, brooch, etc) then multiply by 60 (minutes in an hour) that way I can see how much profit per hour.

In order to make 30,000 a year off broaches, I would have to sell nearly 7000 of them a year and work 65 hours a week crafting and packaging. That is at a 50% off wholesale. My profit and $ per hour on my venue are great if I could sell anything. Wholesale could be a viable option if I can sell at a bit higher price and pick up speed on my production. Nice to know there are variables.

Let see, if I made 10 pieces a day at an average of $8 profit each wholesale. That's $80 a day or for 5 days $400 a week, or $20,800. That's manageable, but not a lot of money. OK, I just figured that I can live on that. And it would be about 3000 pieces a year or 50 a week. Working only 5 days a week too. The publicity might even increase shop sales at which I make a much larger profit.

If I could place 20 pieces in 150 stores across the country that's manageable. I think I could make more than that and find more stores. It's a big country.

I suppose I'm not factoring everything. I did round up cost a lot, and I didn't include time for promotion and customer contact. But I also think that wholesale sales of less expensive items can lead to sales of more expensive items.

I can also sell at craft shows, but I need low cost items that I can sell pretty reasonably. I think a simple tie headband with single flower would sell well. They can also be worn on neck.

One of the things I found interesting, and I only did the calculation for 4 different items, was that although some had a much higher profit, $ per hour was less on them. I'm going to go over a few more items tomorrow and make some decisions. With the spread sheet I'm making, I can actually see if new items will be worth offering at all.

I'll post how I came to my results on Cinders Says so others can see how they're doing if they want to. Sometimes though, if you have another income, and you're doing this for fun, I think it's best not to go into it this deep and be blissfully unaware.  

January, 28 2012

I can't believe January is almost over. I've been spending the whole month working on whether I can possibly support myself at my craft, or if I need to take a 9-5 job again. As I don't have a husband to help me with health insurance and things like a roof over my head and food in my belly. I find I need to sell more than I am selling, if I ever want to move out on my own. You single artist/crafters know what I mean. Most single artist/crafters have to have a 9-5 just for insurance. Bless us all.

I'm taking 4 months to mull things over, refine my offering, and get a design portfolio together so I can go back to my full time career. I'm also finding that about the only money I am making right now is on my sewn items, aprons, pillowcases, bow ties etc.

I've found that because sales have been low on my felt flowers, I have lost motivation. I realized that maybe these are something that people have to see in person, to want to purchase. I also am thinking that I have designed some things that are so unique that the general population won't really want to wear. They are pretty, but not for everyone. I've been working on new configurations that will sell better, and getting new photography.

Today, I designed a simple brooch. I am very pleased with it, I am working out designs for bangle bracelets too. And I added more single flower necklaces. I also think I need to design more long necklaces, as not every woman has the neck for chokers. I'm on a roll.

I'm working very hard on the branding and packaging too. I've got a box and an idea. And I will be tightening up logo, ads and packaging.

As for supporting myself? I'll continue to sew and I will be working on my design portfolio. I'm hoping that I will use it for consulting work, rather than full time work. That way I can pull some income and still sell my flowers. Or I could find a wealthy single old guy with a heart condition. Either way.

January 14, 2012 - Progress Report

One of the things I really hate about having my own business, is not having health insurance. I haven't seen a Doctor in about 3 years. I take loads of vitamins and natural diuretics and anti inflammatory things, and of course my ever trusty CoQ10. And I pray a lot. There are things I can do if I really need. There is a free clinic for my county, but it's not very close, and my car is not reliable. If there is an emergency, I can use the local hospital and it should all be covered because of my low income. Not because the Government will help, but because the hospital and benefactors contribute. I really want health care reform to work and mean something to all of us.

I need to look at how far I've come since I started this journey of the mind, nine days ago.

For my jewelry business, I've discovered that I didn't have many single flower pieces. Simple pieces that might be easier to sell. I had started a website, but I need to expand on it and offer some unique pieces there. I also need more wedding offerings, as that is the most searched items in my shop. I needed packaging to offer my jewelry to brick and mortars and I need a catalog.

I made several single flower necklaces and will be offering more. I designed two crocheted pieces and have set up photography, and I've ordered packaging that hopefully will look like corsage/floral boxes. I also had a brilliant idea this morning of creating “package sets” to sell shops. With a variety of best selling product at set prices. Like starter sets.

I also applied to be a featured artist on my selling site and will be the featured artist January 24^th and 25^th.

For my potential design career, I organized my drawings and product photographs for a portfolio. I started to design a website that will showcase my work. I have also planned a few new designs based on what I see current trends in the US are. I did retouch a few older drawings in Photoshop and I still have to work on my Cad skills. I have a lot of work to do on the website, but I'm pleased with the overall design.

Although I don't really like the sewing shop, I did design and make 5 new offerings and I sold quite a bit there. I need to make totes and I'm totally procrastinating at it. I know they will sell.

As for the fitness. Still working on that one. My body apparently doesn't recognize that I'm cutting calories and exercising, although I'm not doing too much until I get in better shape. Don't want to hurt myself yet. I couldn't resist weighing myself again today. I did loose 1 lb. Hoping to do better next week.

I'm still thinking that maybe I should just be a clerk at a grocery store. Wouldn't it be wonderful to just stand and scan. Oooh they sit at Aldi's. I think I can scan pretty fast.