Last year I also posted about my new years resolutions for my business. I figured I'd revisit these and set some goals for this year as well. There were some overarching resolutions like delegate, get organized and focus. I think in general I've done a good job on these things. Having someone here helping me has helped immensely. I've been able to focus on building my business while letting her deal with the day to day shipping, invoice making and admin. And she's also really helped out on getting things organized in our back-of-house, putting systems in place for inventory management and client communication. In turn I've been able to work on sourcing, creating new designs and doing a few projects. From a focus standpoint, I turned down some design work and really thought hard about the projects I did accept. And because I like my clients now,I've been really enjoying the design work that I am doing. Admittedly, some of my more specific goals regarding the hardware line didn't pan out and have been pushed to this year, but in general 2014 was a good one. Now that the having of babies is behind me, I think I'll have more time in 2015 to really work on my goals. Here they are:
- Double our 2014 sales figures. This was a goal I had last year as well and I came really darn close. Now that we've honed in more on pricing and margins, I think this is doable, especially because of my second goal below.
- Focus on marketing. This year we are really focusing on our marketing efforts. After a fairly long hiatus we are putting new energy back into email campaigns. Don't worry, we don't plan to spam you every day but the idea is to create focused emails maybe monthly so we stay on designers' radars. We already sent one email out about our Before and After promo and we got a huge uptick in site visits (granted, in the design world, that doesn't translate to immediate sales but hopefully it does down the line). We are also working on our press collateral so that we can introduce the classic series and any new products to some key magazine editors out there and get featured in some higher profile publications like Elle Decor or House Beautiful. We have some fun logo boxes in the making, are planning some new photography and are updating our press kits. We also plan to scope out some trade shows and think about partnering with some other vendors on a booth in the future. All very exciting and fun.
- Introduce two new lines. This was a goal last year but sadly it fell by the wayside as I grappled with putting out fires with our production facilities. Now that those are out of the way, I'm really excited to show you some new product. Remember the stepped series from my instagram? Well that should be out this year and be on the lookout for some other more abstract and mixed material introductions.
- Partner with a large retailer to develop a line of licensed hardware. Yes, this was a goal for last year. I figure I'll keep it as a new years resolution every year until it actually happens. Perhaps this year West Elm will pay me some attention. Of course actually approaching them is probably the best way to make this happen. Any tips on how to do so and who to contact?
That's about it. Not too complicated (therefore more attainable).
Do you have any specific goals for your business and career in 2015?
Graphic by Cori Magee
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