Planning for your handmade business - what to do in January to prepare for the year ahead!
What to do in January to prepare your handmade business for the year ahead!
So you have set your juicy goals for 2021 based on where you want your business to go and the life you want to build, you are all riled up and motivated to succeed, but you don’t know how on earth you are going to achieve them then you are in the right place!
Effective business planning can be tricky to master, but once you have done it you have the skills and knowledge to do it time and time again.
As I used to work in Financial Services as a project and programme manager I used to spend my days breaking down goals and KPIs (Key Performance Indicators that demonstrate whether you have successfully achieved your goal) and turning them into achievable and actionable business plans.
It’s all about understanding how to break those goals down into smaller steps. I am going to take you through an easy process that will help you create a plan to achieve your 2021 goals without overwhelm, so let’s get started!
Start with your 2021 Goals and break those goals down
The best place to start is with your goals for 2021 - I suggest you have 4-5 goals for your business and normally include:
An income goal
A marketing based goal
1-2 project based goals (a launch goal or special project like build a website).
A personal development goal (what skills and knowledge do you want to invest in)
Example goal setting template
These goals along with how you are going to measure whether or not you have been successful are your ‘end destination’. So I always recommend starting with the target date to achieve your end goal and working back!
So if my goal is:
‘I want to achieve £12,000 in income in 2021 by the 31st December 2021’.
So for that goal I would plot my target date on the calendar as 31st December 2021 and I would break that down into more manageable steps, for example:
I want to achieve £1000 in sales monthly
That means I need to sell X number of products at £X per month
I am going to launch a new collections in May and September (and break your launches into sub-steps), for example:
Research new collection 1 (finish by January 31st) - is it OOAK, limited release collection or high volume/ long term collection, colours, inspiration etc
Design new collection 1 (finish by February 28th)
Buy materials for product samples (finish by 12th March)
Fabricate product samples (finish by 26th March)
Make tweaks to product samples (finish by 31st March)
Photograph collection 1 e.g. closeups, sneak peeks/ hints, lifestyle, packaging (finish by 16th April)
Price products (finish by 16th April)
Write product descriptions (finish by 19th April)
Plan collection launch (finish by 1st April)
Plan Pre-launch e.g. sneak peeks and hints, email list building - (finish by 1st April)
Plan collection 1 launch e.g. email campaign, instagram etc (finish by 16th April)
Execute pre-launch campaign and launch campaign (finish by 30th April)
Launch (1st May)
I am going to hold an Instagram Sale in June to sell over discontinued items
I am going to take part in 3 Christmas Markets between October and November and aim to sell £1000 per market
I am going to offer free shipping and xmas gift wrapping from October 2021
I am going to launch gift vouchers in September 2021 and promote weekly
By breaking your BIG goals into smaller steps and putting a target date for you to achieve them it makes your goal more manageable. And not only that, it helps you understand what tasks you need to be focussing on monthly and weekly to help you achieve your goals.
Plot your target dates on a calendar
Once you have established your goals, broken those goals down into more manageable steps and given each task a target date, it is time to plot all this into either a calendar, or a task management software like Trello or Asana if you prefer working digitally. These tools are typically free for basic plans.
You can also use a regular calendar (I have provided you with a blank calendar to use below) or you can buy a large year at a glance wipeable calendar that will allow you to see everything you have going on in 2021 like this one.
I like to do my early planning using the wipeable year at a glance calendar and then transfer everything into my task management software of choice (Asana).
This allows you to look at your year as a whole and plan around things like holidays, key events etc.
So when plotting out my goals and tasks I always mark the following things out in the calendar first. These are:
Holidays - (School Holidays, Travel Abroad) block out this time so you don’t end up working or launching during this sacred time
Key Events - block out key events you have planned or key business dates like Black Friday or last postal dates before Xmas
This way you can tweak your target dates so that your plans fit around your life and it gives you a chance to move everything around.
Plan your business tasks monthly and weekly
Once you have plotted out your goals and tasks onto either a paper or digital calendar, its time to block out time monthly and weekly to do the work!
The most straight forward way to do this is to set aside some time Monthly and Weekly to do some planning.
I typically do my monthly planning on the Friday before the last day of the month and my weekly planning on a Friday afternoon - you can see this weekly planning time plotted in my Google Calendar in the example below.
Essentially this involves looking at each month and what fixed appointments or work you have to do each week, and block out time throughout the month to work specifically on projects that will help you achieve your goals.
An example of what my week might look like is shown below. This is a week from my Google Calendar where I have blocked out non-negotiable tasks and recurring appointments like exercise, lunch with friends, the school run etc). My making or shooting time, my editing time, content writing time, planning time etc. And then I book in time to focus on tasks to help me achieve my goals. What I like about Google Calendar is that I can colour code different work activities so I know from a quick glance what kind of work I am doing.
A typical week planned out in my Google Calendar with all my work (and life) tasks plotted out (with some free wiggle time left in just in case!). I don’t plan to work at the weekend hence why these days are blank.
One of the first things I do EVERY MORNING is to look at my google calendar and what I have coming up that day. Before emails, before coffee. I like to know what my day looks like.
I use my year at a glance overview and dates to help me decide what activities I need to focus on each week and then I block out time to work on these tasks. This time becomes like my dental appointments - something drastic has to happen for me to move this time.
You will see in the example that I have two blocks of time to focus on work that helps me achieve my goals. Some weeks it will be more and some weeks it will be less.
Be realistic with what you can achieve each day and week
Be realistic with what you can achieve in this focussed time. Most people overestimate what they can achieve in a day or a week, but underestimate what they can achieve over the course of a month. CONSISTENCY IS KEY! Regular blocks of time working towards your goals will seriously help you achieve everything you want to!
Remember timescales can change if they need to
And don’t forget - tasks can move if absolutely necessary - you will still be moving forwards because you know what you need to be doing and the right tasks to focus on. Without it you risk wasting a lot of time just working out what you need to be doing each month, week and day. And your time is precious!
Nothing major is going to happen if your deadlines move a little - very little in business is life and death! So be kind to yourself and give yourself permission to push dates back if you need to so you don’t become overwhelmed and overworked! You won’t be able to celebrate achieving your goals if you are utterly knackered at the end of it all!
And finally…
So to summarise, the key to planning for your handmade business is:
To set your goals and their target due date
Break those goals down into smaller, more manageable steps and give each task a due date
Plot this all out on a paper or digital calendar
Block out monthly and weekly planning time in your diary and stick to it! Use this time to understand what tasks you are focusing on during the coming month and each week/ day in the month
Block out time each week to work on your goal related tasks
Be flexible and move tasks around if you need to during your monthly and weekly planning time.
I hope that this has been helpful in showing you that with a little bit of planning and organising your work achieving your goals without burning yourself out is entirely possible!
Don’t forget to grab your free planning sheets to help you and let’s get set to make 2021 our best year yet!
Happy Planning! Until next time!