Monday, January 2, 2012

One Girl Show

If you pop into my Etsy Shop and the inventory looks depleted - never fear. There is a reason.

I am really fortunate to have my products in seven stores across the country as well as a handful of online shops.  When I started on Etsy almost three years ago, I never would have predicted that.  But I learned - without even realizing it - "if you build it, they will come."  A couple of awesome shop owners came knocking and soon I found myself doing consignment on both coasts.  That gave me the courage to knock on a couple of local shop doors, email a couple of awesome shops in other parts of the country and I discovered something about myself ~ I enjoyed "selling" and sealing the deal!  (I'm rather shy, so this aspect of my personality still astounds me!)

So with all that going on ~ and I'm planning to add to my brick 'n mortar roster ~ it's a lot to keep up with on my own.  I am determined to -  for as long as I can -  keep my business personal ~ with every product being handmade, handcrafted, stories written, merchandised and shipped by me and me alone. I really don't ever want to lose that personal touch.

So with 2012 upon us I am looking into the new year and I realized if I'm going to keep up (and still have some semblance of a personal life which sadly has been lacking) I needed to restructure a bit.  So here's my plan ~~

*Every Quarter (every 3 months) I will offer a select group of 25 products.  This will be consistent across the board ~ all the brick 'n mortar shops and Etsy. (Etsy may have a couple of extra products if I have things already made and sitting on my studio shelf.)

*Every Quarter (every three months) those 25 products will change to a new offering of 25 products.

From a production point of view this makes sense as it allows me to work more efficiently and get my product out the door more quickly.  Working "assembly-line" style really speeds up production.  Of course I have to indulge my creative spirit and take time to develop new designs, so those will be popping up from time to time. Some of these new designs will be offered as Limited Editions for a short time only and then retired.

So that explains why my Etsy inventory went from over 100 products to 33.  I'm still here. Here. There. There. And there.  And maybe someday ~ everywhere. :)

5 comments:

  1. This is an excellent plan! I can't wait to see what you come up with every quarter! Ivy

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  2. Agreed, sounds like a good plan. Maybe you'll get to take a day off every now and then ...

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  3. Excellent Plan! Looking Forward the up coming products in your store!!

    http://madamesouffle.blogspot.com/

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  4. What a great idea! Hope it works for you - sounds like you fell into a real good niche market! Well done you!

    Will look out for your Etsy offerings, as being in the UK, your other outlets are a tad out of the way!

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  5. That's great that you're doing so well :)

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