it's a plan

Apparently writing business plans are all the rage now a days.  Ok they always were the thing to do, I just always ignored that little part of what I would need to do if I ever started up my business.  I've been doing some reading up on said business plan and decided to give it a go.  I ended up with 5 pages of handwritten scribble detailing the beginning parts  of what will be my business plan for 2013.

Here's how I went about it.  I wrote down 4-5 major goals I want accomplished by the end of the calendar year.  Big ones, but not unattainable ones.  I didn't write that I wanted to quit my day job or to have made enough bucks to buy a small island.  I did write that I wanted my site to be getting about 50 hits daily.  That doesn't seem like a lot but right now I'm struggling for 10.  So it's a good goal.  I also wrote that I'd like to make some money, not that I expect to be in the black this year, but I want to have at least sold some pieces.   I also added in some smaller goals, mostly regarding inventory.  What I want in my shop by the end of the year type stuff.  The important part about this list was that the goals needed to be measurable.  I need a number of flowers I want in the store by a certain date.  OR a product line in the store by a certain time.  Daily hits can be measured in my Stats page. 

Ok great I have goals.  Phew, that was tough.  The tougher part was brainstorming how to attain these goals.  The biggest one is getting out there and finding people, finding my audience.  It's possible and like C says I need to figure out who would buy a flower and where they hang out on Internet and go there.  So I have ideas, lists of places to try.  I have lists of art shows to apply to.  And that's as far as I've gotten after 5 pages of scribble.  I still have ideas and deadlines to make for products and smaller things that need to get done.  Then I should type it up so that I can read it again in a couple weeks when I need to reassess what needs to be worked on right now. 

It feels good to have it all written down.  More doable and less scary.  Because really its this business side of business that I find intimidating.  But that's ok because I read a quote that said If it doesn't scare you a little it's not worth doing.