…Building a Business: There is a Season

The more that I do what I do, the more that I see there is a sowing and harvesting season. At least sometimes it seems to fall into this pattern for me.

There are times that I’m buying, collecting, picking up, and just stuffing my garage full of pieces to work on. It’s a hunt to find pieces that I love, which is the fun part.

The tedious part is getting the pieces I find to my house to work on. I have a mover to help me, but it’s alot of organizing, scheduling and paying, which is a bit painful. I totally need a truck and a college student on call. Once I feel like I’ve stocked up I must say I get a bit overwelmed by the disorganization of it all. If you’ve taken a peak into my working space you either think it’s pretty cool or are just as intimidated by the amount of pieces as I am. It’s a good problem. Well, unless it is the middle of winter and I’ve run out of space to work.

Then there is the working & buildling & production season. If you own your own creative business this is the part where you need TIME & SPACE above all. It can be stressful carving out the opportunity to work, especially if you have kids. A schedule helps. I have a big calendar on my garage door with a pink pen that keeps me in line. Of course, when a child of mine gets sick I stop all and park it under the covers with him/her and watch Little Bear until the fever breaks.

Pieces end up in all corners in m house. I actually don’t mind because I love the pieces that I work on and I’m happy to foster them in my dining room, hallway, kitchen, etc.

Harvesting. This is the time that we need to market our product and, well, wait. It takes patience and confidence that you have a great product. It will just take finding the perfect buyer for it. Don’t lose hope and don’t get anxious. You’ve done the hard work and a buyer will come. I am blessed to say that I’ve sold every piece I’ve ever done. Some things fly out my door before I even have time to take pictures and others take a few months. That’s okay because it’s inventory and I can rest because I’ve put in all the work, the sewing of the seed, to get to where I am. This is also a time of replenishing of the finances that you’ve spent to purchase your materials and cover the costs of production. Oh, and those awful taxes that also creep up. Uggg. Keep up with your spreadsheets and keep track of everything you spend and sell. Include shipping, taxes, materials, etc. You will be happy you did because you will have evidence to show if you’ve made any money and how much money. That check from the client is lovely, but did you harvest all you’ve sewed?

Once you see your inventory clearing out it’s time to start the process once again. Of course, I am still always looking for great pieces as you can’t really time these things. And if your craft is a pleasure, then you will want to do a bit of hunting, producing & harvesting even on the “off season”.