Monday, January 14, 2013

Making 2013 Rock!

Last year I set monthly goals for myself, my shop and my blog. While I liked keeping tabs on a regular basis, this year I'm thinking bigger and more long-term. I've put together a list of goals I have for the entire year. Some I can get done in the short-term and others may take the entire year to accomplish.
I'm pretty happy with how things went last year here on my blog, so I don't plan to make any changes or post any goals about that. Most of these goals are business related. Because let's face it, when you're self-employed...business is pretty much your entire life :)

And as most of you know, I'm a big believer in not just having goals, but writing them down. And even more, sharing them with others. The graphics in this post all relate to the importance of writing down our goals.
(Thank you to Allison Morris and onlineeducation.net for allowing me to use these graphics. See the entire post here.)

Short-Term Goals
Stay up-to-date on my cost log and tax info: This used to be something I did at the end of each month. I was able to do this on my breaks at my full-time job and was always up-to-date. Now that I work from home full-time, I haven't been setting aside the time to do this! I'm certainly paying for it now since I'm 6 months behind. Not this year!
Learn about self-employment taxes: I know I should have been doing this since last June when I started working from home full-time. But I knew I had 6 months of other taxes that would help offset my end-of-year taxes. Now that I'm going to be self-employed the whole year, I need to make this a priority RIGHT NOW!
List the jewelry items that I have made: I actually have tons of jewelry items made that aren't in my shop yet. I got so busy with Christmas orders at the end of last year that listing new items had to be pushed aside. Well, those items aren't doing me any good just sitting in a bin. I need to get them listed soon.

Mid-Term Goals
Make and list new wood invitation and wood greeting card designs: My Wood Invitations have done awesome! To reach more buyers, I know I need to expand my designs and styles offered for these. I also have several new ideas for my Wood Greeting Cards. My goal is to add 5 new designs for each item over the course of the year.
Add wedding sets: I get asked for RSVP cards and other matching wedding items to go along with my invitations. During 2013 I want to add some wedding sets including: RSVP Cards, Save the Date Cards, Matching Table Numbers and a Guest Book. So the whole theme is tied into the wedding.


Organize my storage space and work area: This seems to be an on-going, never-ending goal of mine. I guess the goal should be to STAY organized once I get there! Our attic is one big storage area for my inventory and shipping supplies. I know where everything is, but I'm sure no one else would...what a mess! I want to take a little time each month to start organizing that space as well as my studio and make my most used items more readily available.

Long-Term Goals
1,200 Sales on Etsy in 2013: Last year I set monthly sales goals, but this year I'm looking at the big picture. I know certain months will be slower than others and certain months will be a lot busier than others. So I'm setting a more long-term goal that can be assessed throughout the year. It's a pretty ambitious goal, but I'm hoping I can get there :)
Learn about graphic design: One area where I am lacking in my invitation and card designs is the graphic design side. I'm able to use the clip art and graphics I already have to create my designs, but I get asked a lot for special designs. I'm not able to create new designs from scratch yet, but I have all the software and tools needed, now I just need the know how. I want to look into taking an online class or local class to learn how to use my Corel Draw better and advance my skills.

It's a long list of goals, but I'm confident that I'll be able to reach them all this year. I like having them broke down into sections knowing what needs worked on now and what I have to think about for the coming year.
I plan on making 2013 ROCK!

17 comments:

  1. Great list of goals. I agree that when self-employed the business is the life :)
    I am a member of a local trade association. Their monthly newsletters help me keep on top of any changes in taxes or laws pertaining to my business. I also set quarterly sales goals :)
    Wishing you continued success!

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  2. That is an ambitious but I believe doable list of goals for the year! Way to be motivated and good luck!

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  3. Great goals Edi! You've really thought it through! I hope 2013 is very successful for you! But have no doubt as you work so hard!

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  4. Great list of goals Edi, I wish you good luck! I hope you meet or exceed all of them!

    One of my goals this year is to stay up-to-date on my cost log and tax info too... I said that last year, but didn't do as well as I wanted to at staying on top of it.

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  5. Ambitious goals, but I am confident you will achieve them.
    As Bob the Builder would say,
    "Can we build it? YES WE CAN!"

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  6. I like that you have short, mid, and longterm goals. It's a good way to make things a little more manageable. I think you have a good variety of stuff to do, too! It'll keep you from busy. :-)

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  7. nice plans! I'm sure all of these changes will help your business grow. Learning graphic designing will be fun too. There are so many tutorials on the web. I use Inkscape as a designing program and there are alot of tutorials using that program plus it's free.

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  8. I think it's great how you have both short and long term goals and have them so well organized. It inspires me to do the same for my businesses!

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  9. Great goals! I need to get better at organizing my cost log and tax info...Thanks for giving me a shove in that direction! =0)
    ~Kim

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  10. You're gonna love learning about taxes! :) If you haven't done any yet, SE tax will be a shocker! I know you can meet all these goals too and am really impressed with that sales number!

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  11. This is an awesome list of goals! I love how many different areas of your business it covers. I look forward to following your progress this year. Here's to an amazing 2013!

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  12. I think it's a good idea to have long and short term goals. And your idea of a long-term goal for sales is very reasonable. Good luck with the software - "One day at a time!" {:-D

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  13. You have created a lot of achievable goals for a successful year. I wish you much success in reaching them in 2013.
    Valerie
    Everyday Inspired

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  14. These are great goals and I have no doubt you will work hard and achieve each one of them. I hope this year is successful in every way.

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  15. Great list Edi! Your goals are well organized and thought out so I am sure you can accomplish them all! The tax part looks scary. I have been familiarizing myself for future planning and it sounds like taxes are filed and paid quarterly! Yikes! Great idea learning more about graphic design. :) I wish you a successful 2013!!!

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  16. And you will--rock it!
    What a great list of goals!
    Those are certainly organized. I hear you on organizing supplies and other work related items. difficult. The thing is, we work with those supplies all the time, so some of them can get shifted around. My stuff is both organized and unorganized. I'm already working on that.
    wishing you much success in 2013!
    (great graphics!)

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  17. Ditto on all of those goals...except that 1,200 sales in a year is a dream at this point, and for me the program to learn better is Corel PaintShop Pro. Good luck with all of these goals!

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