For my first blog post of the new year, I thought I'd do something a little different and share my goals for the year ahead. Part of me is a bit apprehensive about putting these out for everyone to see. I mean, what if I don't achieve them? But maybe that's the push I need to stay motivated and get things done!
Get Organised!
My main goal for this year (and probably everyone else's!) is to be
more organised and manage my time better. Pretty broad, right? So what does being more organised look like?
Up until this point I've really just been getting things done at the last minute. I'm a world class procrastinator! Whether it's commissions, kits, blog posts you name it, I leave it til the deadline. So I want to get out of this habit - in particular with kits. Needle Nerd kits are due out every second month and I usually have the ideas planned way in advance. So it's time to start making them way in advance too. Well ok, maybe not way in advance but at least not the week before they have to be sent out! If I work on a new kit each month (instead of every 2nd month) I'll be ahead of myself by the end of the year. And that sounds pretty achievable to me.
Being more organised with my business will also be very beneficial to my personal life this year. 2022 is set to be one of my busiest years yet with a new job, being a bridesmaid twice, and my own wedding to plan! Regardless of what happens with be alice, I think this is going to be a great year.
More Stitching
Having better time management and organisation will also feed into some other goals this year. Especially my next one - more actual stitching! This might seem like a strange goal for someone who runs an embroidery business. You'd think I do nothing but stitch! However running a small business takes up a lot of your time. And over the last year I've been trying to improve my business skills. So it feels like I haven't done much actual stitching.
Between making kits, teaching classes, planning social media content, writing blogs and keeping on top of orders - stitching up new works is the thing that gets left behind. So in 2022, I want to give myself more time to create! As long as goal #1 is achieved, this should be too, right?
Growth
One of the most important goals I have as business owner is, of course, growth. It's important to constantly be improving my numbers of sales, customers, site traffic, followers, etc, etc. Especially considering the fact that I don't make a living from this yet. I'm still learning a lot about this side of things. And I'm constantly working on what I offer in order to achieve this. So 2022 will include lots more of figuring out: which products to stock, how to provide free resources, what to be posting on social media, and all that other admin stuff! It's not the work I'm most excited about but its probably the most important if I want to keep doing this. After all, I do have a wedding to pay for!
New Techniques
Growing my customer base and list of subscribers is obviously very important. But I'm also conscious of keeping things interesting for those who have been with me for a while! To that end, I'm hoping to introduce some exciting new kits and new techniques for you to try. I'm currently planning a mixed technique kit based on the Claddagh design, and a stumpwork (3D) piece that will challenge you in all the right ways! I'm so excited for these new ideas and I really can't wait to share them with you. I'm also hoping to teach myself a few new things - in particular some Mountmellick stitches. All going we'll, I'll be able to share them with you in 2023's kits! Though maybe I'm getting a bit ahead of myself now!
Hopes
My last set of plans for this year aren't totally in my control unfortunately, so we'll have to call them hopes rather than goals. I'm really hoping that this will be the year we get back to doing classes and workshops in person.
Although zoom has been a great alternative (and I may still do the odd workshop online), there's no substitute for the interaction you get with a group face to face. Getting back to selling at markets was great for a little bit of this interaction. And I hope to continue some of that in the coming months. But classes in particular are what I'm missing these days.
I'm also really hoping we can start up the Dublin Sewcial Club meet-ups again soon. There's nothing like a stitch 'n' bitch to keep you motivated on your embroidery journey!
Well I hope this blog post hasn't been too boring to read! I know it doesn't have a whole lot to do with embroidery, but hopefully it gives you an insight into what running a small creative business is like and what goes on behind the scenes at be alice. I'd love to hear if you have any embroidery related goals for 2022, so make sure to leave them in the comments!