Let's Talk Business - To Wholesale...or What? Week Three

Hello, welcome to Week Three of our coffee chat series! Hope everyone is enjoying these talks. I know I am...really appreciate the conversations and all the insight and inspiration that follows. Today, there's a big juicy topic for us to discuss- wholesale.  This concern has come up so many times, in so many different ways....let's see if we can work it out a bit. 


So, a typical questions goes a little something like this: 
I'm interested in selling my patterns beyond Etsy. I'm starting with my Etsy shop. How would I approach online vendors to sell them on their websites as well? 


Does this sound familiar? Have you ever considered offering wholesale for your items? 


Well, there's a lot to love about wholesale I think. And there's also a lot of reasons to cross it off your list.  Yep, that's right. Wholesale is not for everyone. Somehow, as entrepreneurs we seem to think that it's the natural next step of growth. (I know I did.)  And it can be super exciting. But, it can also kill your business before you even get started. 


Let's discuss. 


Benefits to Wholesale

• Establishes your brand in a particular market
• Opportunity to share your products with more people
• Possibly a very large order
• Moves you into arena of making more efficiently 
• Paid up front (or 30 days after) rather than consignment                                                                  

Bummers to Wholesale

• Massive use of time
• Massive use of resources
• Massive use of energy
• Potential loss of profit margin 
• Another brand/shop/storefront speaks for your brand

Ok, so now what? What do you guys think about this? Anything to add to the list? 

My in-a-nutshell take on wholesale (after lots of experience, trial & error, success and heartache.....) is that it is NOT for every business. So rather than thinking of HOW to expand into wholesale, first consider whether you IF you should.

Wholesale works best for brands who can do ALL these things:

1. Positioned for profit.  (wholesale means you are typically selling your items at 50% of the retail price. If you have not factored this into your prices than, wholesale is a sinking ship.) 

2. Able to produce items on fairly large scale...still at a profit.  (think: printed stationery, art designs reprinted, patterns, etc.) 

3. Identify their target market. If you're offering your items at wholesale to the wrong crowd, what's the point?

Feeling like wholesale is a good match for your brand? If so, fantastic! I've written a post on how to approach wholesale accounts (line sheets and such...) that will hopefully make good use of my experience working with stores on a wholesale basis. 

Second-guessing the idea of wholesale? That is perfectly ok too. As I said, it is not for every business. It should be approached strategically. And if wholesale is not up your alley....then we can explore other options for growth. 

I'm really looking forward to thoughts/experiences/questions on this topic! I'll be around today....coffee in hand...and ready to chat! See you in the comments :) 

{recycled price tags from 42Things}

Missed Past Business Chats? Catch them here:

Week One: Passion Driven Business
Week Two: Establishing Your Brand
Week Three: To Wholesale or Not
Week Four: Getting It Done - Scheduling Tips with Meagan Visser

Week Five: The Art of Being Different with Tracey Selingo

Week Six: Identifying Your Target Market with Noisette Academy

Do More...

Here's a big burst of color and inspiration to start off the week! 


Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend. We sure did- packed up the car with snacks and went for a long drive out in the country (have I ever mentioned this is one of my all time favorite things to do?), walked the local trail that the winds through a historic barn and farm, boxed up odd and ends around the house (you know, to be prepared :), played castle again & again (Jack makes me the queen every time, good boy!), checked out the museum of science (our go-to place for Jack, the budding engineer) and enjoyed some minty hot chocolate by the fire.  

Looking forward to this week...I've got my coffee and am ready to start checking things off my list! Who's with me?  Cheers to a fantastically productive and rewarding week!  xo

{print from Amy Tangerine via Design Editor}

Newness

Been awhile since I shared some new things I've whipped up:

Chevron Clutch in Steely Blue. 

Really can't get enough chevron now can we? 

See? More!

Part of a custom wedding order. Loved the choices so much, I had to make more to put in the shop. 

And the sweet little flowers... 

 ...and more...

...and more.

 New Poppy Brooch color in Cantaloupe. Yum. 

A purple I really love. 

Making organizers in new prints every week! Got some organized buyers out there! 

Love to hear your thoughts and what you've been working on lately. Hope everyone has a lovely weekend, xo.

Spring Flowers

Happy Friday! Aren't these flowers lovely? Like a burst of happiness. And, honestly, just what I needed this morning. Long, tough, crazy week.  Going to focus on calm and thankfulness today.  What is your focus for today?


{flower prints from my new favorite artist, Rebekka Seale }

Introducing New Coaching Sessions

Hooray!
I've redesigned my business coaching services and added more sessions - focusing on specific needs for your business.  From concept development to shop review to an overall business boost - I'm your girl.  


It's only been a few months since I began offering business coaching sessions and in that time I've worked with some incredible entrepreneurs.  A few looking to sort out their ideas to launch their dream.  Others needing more of a trained eye to spot areas of improvement. And a couple who were ready to move on - open a brick and mortar shop and enter the world of wholesale.  I am truly thankful to be part of their creative business journey! 


Here's a bit about each:

Bright Idea: Concept Development 

Woo hoo! You’ve got an idea! A little spark of awesome, just bursting to be made into something amazing. In fact, you can probably contain yourself right? So much excitement, but yet, probably a lot of anxiety too. Perhaps, there’s even a good dose of frustration. Because with ideas like this, where do you begin?

Let me help. I’ll take your bounty of big ideas and guide you into developing a strong, viable core concept.  I’ll listen to your dreams and transform them into a practical plan.  I’ll design a customized, just-for-you report with feedback on your concept, sustainability, areas for growth, and an action plan to catapult your idea into reality.

Double Take: Shop Review

So, you’ve got your shop up and running and can’t seem to figure out what’s holding you back? You make and create, try and try again but your shop appears stuck. That’s where I come in. I know what I’m looking for-- the marks of a successful shop. I’ll give your shop more than just a once over, I’ll pore over item descriptions, review branding and logo, dive into your search relevancy, dissect profile and policy pages, evaluate photography, and look for overall cohesiveness.

Oh, but I’m not just going to tell you what’s not working! Oh no, I’m going to give you at least 20 actionable steps you can apply to immediately take your shop from ho-hum to heck-yeah!

Go and Grow: Business Boost

Waving to you on that business plateau! Looks like you need a little push in the right direction to grow and build. Maybe things have been going well but you just feel like there's got to be more. Well, pull up those boot straps, because we're gonna do some serious work. We're going to talk growth, sustainability, profit margins, revenue streams...and lots of other big time topics. 

With this session you'll take that leap from small fry to business savvy entrepreneur. So watch out world! And don't worry, I'll hold your hand if you want.

________________________________________________________________________________

I've fielded a lot of questions lately about my business coaching, I thought it might be helpful to answer them here as well:


1.  Is business coaching just for big, already successful shops? Not at all! In fact, they might not even need the extra boost. Coaching is for folks who take their idea and their business seriously. They are committed to making it successful and want a little (or big) push in the right direction. 


2. I'm just starting out. Do I need help now or later when things are up and running?  If you're confident in your starting place then go ahead and try things out. But unless your concept is refined and you have a plans for launching, building, and marketing I'd suggest investing in assistance now.  


3. I know I need help but coaching can cost a lot of money.  I'm with you. I felt the same way. But 4 years later I can say this, 'the cheap comes out expensive.' Meaning, had I invested a bit in my business to begin with I would have saved myself thousands of dollars, hundreds of hours, and a lot of disappointment.  Hiring a business coach is making an investment. It's saying, my talent and ideas are too valuable to just throw things out there and see what works, I'm going to go forward with a plan.  


4. I'm a little embarrassed, are coaching sessions going to judge me.  No way! At least not with me.  When I take on a new client, I keep an open mind, think of each person as a colleague, and respect the fact that they are sharing something personal and amazing with me - their business!  


-> There's more information on each of the sessions on my Business Coaching page and I'm happy to chat more in the comments or individually  allisa.jacobs [at] gmail.com 


Thanks again to everyone who stopped by yesterday's business chat on establishing your shop. Look forward to seeing you next Wednesday! 

{image credit julien denoyer}

Let's Talk Business - Establishing Your Brand

{happy deliveries}

Hello friends! Happy Wednesday, thanks for stopping by to chat some about business. I really enjoyed last week's discussion about creating passion-driven business models. Today, I'm addressing a concern that came up several times from readers, how to establish your shop online...whether it's Etsy or otherwise. I'll offer my suggestions and I'd love to hear what you all have to say as well. I'll be around all day to answer questions- anticipating multiple coffee refills today!


So, how do we do it? How do we make our mark? I've shared before that when I initially opened my shop on Etsy, I had the "make it and they will come" approach. I also subscribed to, "I'll just throw it out there and see what happens" kind of philosophy. Which, actually worked for a bit. Until it didn't.  Because in the middle of being all creative and such we also need to have a plan. 


We need a strategy that is more than just getting found in the search results, it is about being remarkable. 


{why don't we go ahead and read that sentence again.}


Being remarkable means you make/give/share/show something worthy of remembering, worthy of being talked about. 


So what might it look like in practice? Here's some thoughts on making your mark to establish your shop, yourself. 

• Be You.  We want to hear from you, in your voice. When I think of the shops/sites I love (and remember!)...they are so genuine it seeps from the computer screen. 
• Be Cohesive.  From your products, to photography, to branding make them yours and make them consistent. In practice cohesion looks like clear branding images across the board (shop, social media, invoices, etc.) and your products are designed from a point of view (not a mish mash).  Choose a style for your photography - make it crisp and awesome, then stick with it.  All this makes it easy for folks (buyers, magazine editors, Etsy admin....) to recognize your shop...again and again. 
• Be Choosy.  Carefully, thoughtfully, strategically, and heartfully decide where to connect. You don't need to be visiting every blog, every forum, every team, every social media outlet. Figure out what works for you, your target market, and what is smart for your shop.
• Be Good.  Whatever you do, do it well. If you're going to retail fabric, cut some straight lines. If you design stationery, use the best paper. If you create handbags, sew impeccable seams.  These details get noticed....and remembered.

These are just a few ways to establish your shop. What else can we add to this? 

How do you do it? How do you make your mark?  

{Have a business concern? Post your burning question below and I'll add it to the list to be discussed on one of our Wednesday chats!} 

More in this series:
Week One: Passion Driven Business
Week Two: Establishing Your Brand
Week Three: To Wholesale or Not
Week Four: Getting It Done - Scheduling Tips with Meagan Visser

Week Five: The Art of Being Different with Tracey Selingo

Week Six: Identifying Your Target Market with Noisette Academy

Week Seven: Building Revenue Streams

Loving Your Business Enough..and such

Happy Monday! 


Despite crazy baby schedules, a rainy forecast, blog comment failures, and the usual surplus of ideas but deficiency in time....(I know you guys can relate to some of this, right?) I'm feeling pretty darn good about this week.


There's some exciting stuff going on; 
Today - meet me over at Oh My Handmade where I share my views on loving your business enough. It's a little dose of tough love for ya...and I really look forward to hearing your thoughts. 


Tomorrow - fingers crossed and baby schedules willing, I'm announcing a few new business coaching options. Serving up some goodness to get us all in the direction of our dreams! 


Wednesday - Let's Talk Business. Round Two of our discussion focusing on all those things that keep us creative business folks up at night. (topic to be announced soon :) 


Friday....planning a super cute fabric flower tutorial, with a twist or two. 


Have a lovely week! 
xoxo

Color Wonder

{design seeds - morning light}

Hello and happy weekend! 


So the house hunting continues (ps. thank you for all the fabulously insightful advice last week, totally invaluable! I'm going to want to invite you all over for the house warming celebration!)...and as many of you can probably relate, looking at houses sort of makes you really look at yourself.  I mean, this is not just what dreams are made of, this is like, the real thing.  I've been trying to look at each property as a slate and imagine what color, what feeling, I see there. 


Of course I've been obsessively perusing Pinterest, Design Seeds, Better Homes back issues and color palette generators and color quizzes. More than usual anyway ;)  I stumbled upon a color personality quiz I just have to share from Pittsburgh Paints, Voices of Color. It's the most thorough questionnaire I've found...it took about 10 minutes. But I actually enjoyed the whole process (it almost seemed a bit like guided introspection) - it asked questions about what room you'd feel most comfortable in, what sense of smell you respond to, which musical soundtrack you most like, how would your friends describe and so on. 


Well, I ended up being "Honey & Almond" - guess the yellows and oranges are no surprise :) 

The color of the sun, yellow signifies good faith and confidence and therefore, where there is yellow, there is light! 

....Known to stimulate the intellect, yellow also improves concentration and sharpens memory, making it ideal for the study, home office, and children's rooms. With its positive effect on mood, the joyous nature of yellow promotes harmony and a sense of vitality, making it a welcome addition for kitchens, where family and friends gather. In mellow shades or invigorating hues, yellow suits nearly any room.

If you end up taking the quiz, I'd love to hear the results and compare! 


And, speaking of comments, I'm working on updating this blog o' mine so that we can better connect via comments, a true reply and discussion area - yippee! So excited for this, just hoping I can settle down and figure it all out. 


Anyhow, enjoy the color loving! xo

A little this, a little that.

{via stylemepretty}

Hello! Loving this bouquet I stumbled upon...and look closely...some of those flowers are paper! Wouldn't this look lovely on a desk? Just the burst of mid-day inspiration I need sometimes. 

Speaking of jolts of inspiration...thrilled so many creative lovelies stopped by to chat about business yesterday. We talked about passion driven business and I'm impressed by how many people shifted their focus yesterday to align their business with their passion. I received some truly inspiring & uplifting emails from fellow creative entrepreneurs forging their way! I am really looking forward to chatting more next Wednesday and am ironing out details now.  In case you missed it, we'll be covering a different business related topic each week (submitted by you!) and I'm currently ironing out the details and guest posts. 

The topics we have for now include:

• Identifying your target market
• Developing a niche
• Branching out into wholesale
• Growing into a brick and mortar shop
• Establishing your shop online and on Etsy
• Product development 
• Fine tuning a concept

What other topics would you like to add? Look forward to seeing you back next week for more discussion and support!

And because I've somehow turned to all things spring this week, I thought I'd share this super cinchy and awesome tutorial from Centsational Girl on creating hand stamped linen tea towels.  A little burst of color is just what we need around here! 


{obsessively pinning more spring favorites on my Pinterest Boards.  Just. Can't. Stop. Help!}


xo, 
allisa

Let's Talk Business - Part One - Passion

Hello, so good to see you here! I've carved out this little space in time for us to meet up and chat about all things business-y. Last week so many of you shared your business related questions and concerns (more? keep them coming!)  I'm always amazed at the sheer resourcefulness, drive, and ingenuity in our creative community. Your questions were so thoughtful and since. Thank you so much for trusting this space to share them. 


Where to begin? Well, the questions ran the gamut from pre-idea to growing business to identifying target markets to building brick and mortar shops. Wowza! I'm hoping to throw out a few things today and hear your thoughts. Tell me what resonates, let's discuss and hopefully we can grow together. 


Over the weekend, I began collecting information, brainstorming and lining up guest posts and I thought, you know, many questions can be addressed....or at least layers of concerns can be peeled back if we start where I often encourage others (and myself!) to start - by reassessing your passion.  In fact, the whole first chapter of my e-book dives into identifying your core concept. Because that has to come before anything and remain the focus as you grow.  Have you identified your passion?


When we try to decide where to take our business, how to grow, ways to improve - it's often so easy to forget our core concept and think about what we think we should do, or could do... or even more tragically, into the messy realm of worrying about what will people buy. You know what I mean? 


There was a time when I lost my focus...and lost passion, Here's the ultra quick version (of which I've gleaned mounds of business-y lessons) :  I began by making handbags. People loved them. Everything grew from word of mouth way back in 2006. I was teaching and it was my hobby. Later, I decided to open an Etsy shop for extra cash flow. My handbags and clutches did very well. But I made a big mistake. Huge.  I began sewing just about everything. And then selling them. With our new baby came lots of handmade bibs, cloths, blankets, etc...and you know what I did? I made more and put them in my shop.  And they flew off my virtual shelves. They were in several baby boutiques. But there was a problem. I wasn't the slightest bit passionate about it. (except when I made them for my own little bebes!) The sewing was easy, there was no challenge...and I just didn't feel it.  What was there to market? It would be so inauthentic for me.  So, eventually, I made the switch. I refocused only on my handbags and clutches and it was the single smartest thing I've done for my business.


Can anyone relate to this? Similar experiences?


When a business owner has passion, you can feel it. You can share it. You want to be a part of that.  Which businesses & creative folks with passion overflowing come to mind?


When I think passion, I immediately think of Noisette Academy, Oh My Handmade, Rifle Paper Co., Sarah Jane Studios...


What am I passionate about? Hmmm, let's see...Well, I'm completely passionate about drawing sketches and figuring out my own patterns. I like the trial & error, make it work kind of approach. I don't do purchased patterns. There is something incredibly satisfying about making something that is completely mine. From sketchy rough draft to refined finished bag. And I'm passionate about making items that people love...and love to give. Those 'behind the scenes' stories really get me. Like the husband who contacts me to create the perfect gift for his wife. I love that. And on the other front, I am madly, crazily passionate about helping others shine. I love nothing more than working with other folks to forge their own success. That's why I taught and it's why I now coach other businesses.  Outside of business life....I'm passionate about my two boys.  They make getting up at 4:30 so worth it.  (they don't make it easy, but they make it worth it ;) 


Now, your turn. What are you passionate about? Does this translate into business? Are you letting your passion drove your business growth and decisions ? Let's chat!




{lovely print from Unraveled Design}

More in this series:

Week One: Passion Driven Business
Week Two: Establishing Your Brand
Week Three: To Wholesale or Not
Week Four: Getting It Done - Scheduling Tips with Meagan Visser

Week Five: The Art of Being Different with Tracey Selingo

Week Six: Identifying Your Target Market with Noisette Academy

Week Seven: Building Revenue Streams

Love.ly Day

Smoooch! 

Here's to hoping for a day filled with happiness & love...in whatever fashion. Mamahood, friendship, romance - let's soak in all that loving goodness.  xoxo

{This print is from one of my favorite artists, super talented & charming Luciano Luzano. His site is such a treat to explore.}

Valentine Envelopes - Serious Cuteness

Seriously too sweet not to share! Spied this adorable felt envelope tutorial over at Clever Charlotte and thought they were perfect for last minute, but super lovely Valentine's gifts. I'm thinking of whipping up a few for Jack's teachers...and maybe even an orange one with some joke cards tucked inside for him as well!


Ok, off to enjoy some dark chocolate hearts, rascally television, and hearts crafts :)  

Home Searching

And so it begins...
The search for a home to buy! There are not enough exclamation points to begin describing how excited I am. I've been smiling + dreaming + planning + wishing + trying like mad to let go and let our path shine through.  It's such a big event isn't it?!


Yesterday, we went through half a dozen walk throughs...and what really hit me at the end is that more than anything I feel like we have to keep a clear focus on who *we are* and what our dream is while we search. It's easy to get lost and think, oh this could work, this lifestyle could be for us, we can make changes.  I mean it is a process of give & take. But I'm finding that I need some sort of photo in my head, and then approaching each place with the idea of "could this home someday match that?" 


Ah, leave it to me to get all analytical & introspective about it all ;)   I'd really love to hear any suggestions or experiences others have with home searching & buying...do share! 

{wood wool stool}

{mmm crafts}

{tiek homes}

{jones design company}

{via create find admire}

{front door}

{via le belle vie}

these are the images in my head :)