November 17, 2011

Small Business goal setting 2012


via sixwordstoryeveryday.com

I am so close to my sales goal for the year I can taste it! It's a overwhelming feeling. I can't believe what I thought was this crazy goal at the beginning of the year would happen. Of course I have other goals as well but this one gets to me the most. Not without a lot of help, crying, hard work, stress and road blocks this year but it happened.

I wanted to triple my business over last year. To me that was huge. With that being said, I reason I am so close was because I expanded into a whole new market. The wedding market. I began to really sell wedding related items which pushed my sales to meet my goal.

So now I start thinking of 2012. Can I do it again? What should my new sales goal be for 2012? How can I make it happen?

Here is a list of things that I need to look at in order to make this goal a reality. You can ask yourself the same things.
  1. Create new/test products on regular basis. This one is going to be hard but I think crucial to my business or any business. If I want customers to return I need to have new things for them to buy and to attract new customers.
  2. Streamline where I can.Streamlining anything can help save you time, money and effort in the long run. See what you can streamline in your own business. Can you make something easier or faster? Can you ask for help? Can you order more inventory at one time?
  3. Cutting costs.This is a big one for me. I need to start really getting my wholesale accounts for supplies in order. I don't want to have to run to the local retail shop every time I run of of something. Somethings I already buy wholesale. One example is a adhesive. I got through so much of it you would think I could glue a car together by now.
  4. Making my name known.You can never get enough of this. It seems easy enough but its harder than you think. I have not done as much of this as I should have this year. The reason - I am scared. I am scared it might actually work and I will get so many orders I don't know if I could keep up ( I still have full time 40 hour week job). That being said if I don't get more orders or new clients how am I going to make my goals? Starting in 2012 I am going to start getting my name out there - in the "real" world and online.
What are your goals for 2012? How are you going to meet them or exceed them?

3 comments:

  1. I think your goals are very reasonable and clear. Just like you I am a small business owner (interior design) that would love to open an etsy shop. My bigest fear is what would happen when/if I open it. Since I am a stay at home mom for the past three years I feel like I have been disconnected from the world and its taking me twice as long to find info, local vendors,etc. than someone who has been in the working force. The sad part I do not have any family living close to us to help me with my daughter.

    Good luck! Megan

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  2. Hi Megan,
    I think you should open a etsy shop. You can start out small and work your way into. I found it takes a while to get "found" on etsy. Finding vendors is a lot of work,I am still trying to find wholesale accounts for the items I make my stuff out of. Email me directly if you would like chat more about etsy. It's not as scary as it seems ;)

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  3. Thanks Tiffany. I probably will e-mail you after the holidays to chat more. Holidays in my house means traveling out of state and visiting lots of family. Happy Holidays! Megan

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