New Year, New Focuses

I’ve never really been one to have goals, particularly with the business. I have things I want to do or achieve, but the idea of setting a goal in a time frame freaks me out. I think I don’t want to disappoint myself when I don't achieve the goal, so in my mind, it’s just better to not make any! One of the questions I hate being asked is 'where do you see your self in a 5/10 years?' - I literally have no idea!

Having said that, there are a few things I’d like to do, and so I'm going to write these down here, just as a reminder. And if I don't achieve them, then that's okay too. I had two things I wanted to do in 2024, which was to focus on wholesale (kinda failed, but made a start!), and do more markets (I did 14 in total!).

So, over the coming days, months or years, I would like to:

• Focus on wholesale. I'm actually going to do my best to put a big focus on wholesale/finding stockists this year after a terrible year for online sales. Whilst I did start in 2024 - I made a catalogue, I'm stocked in two shops, and I have a Faire account - I didn't put as much into it as I should have. So I want it to be a bigger focus of mine. However, I said that last year, and look where we're at! 😅 But tbf, I wasn't expecting to do 66% less in revenue (and that's with added extra markets!)
• Be less reliant on social media. This one is going to be hard, but at the same time, with how social media is going on, I don't think it will end up making a huge difference, as sales are already down due to lack of reach. As I mainly grew my business using social media though, it will be a big shift, and a big task in finding the right ways to reach new people that don't involve social media apps.
• Draw more. Might seem like an obvious one, but I felt like I didn't draw as much as I would have liked last year. I'm not about to start doing a drawing a day - although as I write this on the 2nd, I have actually started a drawing a day - but as drawing is one of my favourite things to do, I would like to do it more, and not necessarily for the shop, but just for myself as well: the downside to making your hobby a job is you never end up doing it just for fun!
• Keep the business going. I love what I do and am so grateful that I am nearing 4 years of doing this full time, but the past year has taught me that it is not always sunshine and daisies, it can be bloody tough and stressful at times (not helped by moving into a bigger house with more bills to pay!). But I am so determined to keep the business going, and ideally keep it as my main source of income. Mostly because I want to succeed and not fail, but also I do not think I could go back into employment 😅

What things are you looking to achieve in the near future?