to Resolve or not...

I'm horrible about being held to things I say when it doesn't really involve anyone else. Need me to show up to help you move furniture around? No problem. Need me to pick you up at 3am from the airport and then drop you at your great Aunt Trixie's house 45 minutes the other way? No problem. The end result benefits you. When the end result benefits me... I could really care less if I follow thru. I'm not lazy. Just... well, whatever.

So everyone makes these great resolutions right about now. They vow to do this, say this more often, not do this and then get super super skinny. So... will I do it this year? Sure, I always make goals for myself. Do I make New Year's Resolutions? Not really... but it never stops me from putting a few ideas down that I'd like to keep in mind.

Business-wise... the goals are important. They give me a timeline and they allow me to visualize where I'm going. Just like I made my monetary goal last year, I make milestone goals scattered thru out the year to keep me moving forward. So... here they are.

:: Spend wisely ::
This is actually two fold with the next goal. Everyone is spending less these days, I'm not an exception. I feel like I have all the necessary tools to run my business efficiently- anything else at this point would be an "extra bonus". I would love to find a paper cutter, seeing as how I outsource larger cut jobs right now, but if it doesn't turn up, I can still provide service to my clients that doesn't have disruption.

:: Maintain ::
In some ways I feel like having the expectation that Five Dot will grow (i.e. me put more money into marketing, advertising, etc to reach more clients) is a false hope. Referencing back to the first goal, spending is down everywhere and I do not expect to thrive in a poor economy. Don't get my wrong- if I take off I'm not pulling the reigns back. I just don't think it's wise to put money into something where I can only hope there will be a return. Maintaining what I have now will allow me to secure relationships and plan for the next year.

:: Internal Growth ::
This is the year of internal growth. Processes, research, network- all of those things and more. I want to push my wedding line a little bit more (seeing as how most designs are already done and becomes a matter of listing them in the shop.) I'll take this year to rework my website, build my catalog, build my "to contact" list for wholesale and pull my look book together. It's all do-able... I just need to build that time line.

:: Experiment ::
I want to experiment with different materials- fabric, felt, metals, etc. I think this year will be a good year to play. I already have a few ideas I'd like to pursue- things that I think will be received well. Many involve pattern work and attention to detail which will be a nice break from my work now. I've hit a bit of a wall with what I have now and breaking out of that box, I think, will help me build on my collection. This is the first year I've started to put together an inspiration board (I'll show it once everything's up and organized)

:: Continue to have fun ::
I'm having a great time building my brand and my company. I feel like I'm heading in a direction that I'm comfortable going and I feel like I'm finally asking the right questions and putting those answers to good use.

Personally...
These tend to be the same as everyone else, but I'll put 'em down on paper- er, blogland.

:: Spend Wisely ::
Time to glue that wallet shut. Don't get me wrong- we want for not (or whatever the saying is) and we're not eating saltines and peanut butter every nite (even though they're soooooo good). We live. We buy things we like. I buy things I like but don't need. This HAS to stop. I have plans for that money now... a new house with a studio to call my own. (and Hubz, if you're reading, please don't remind me of this post when I've been at Target for an hour and I'm still not back.)

:: Declutter ::
I got stuff and I like my stuff. I like my stuff with me. I have too much stuff. Someone else needs stuff. I'll give you my stuff. The past few weeks I've done a very good job of letting things go. We recently took advantage of some good deals on plastic bins and switched over all the old cardboard boxes to labeled plastic bins. But I must say, Hubz took the prize for oldest-stuff-kept-that-was-meaningless-to-everyone- involved: timesheets from the early 90's. Yeah, we shredded those.

:: Stick to my Plan to win Prizes ::
let's just say this goes along with everyone else's "... and end up super super skinny" pledges. 'nuff said.

:: Be Content ::
If none of this ends up panning out, I want to know that I at least had fun this year... which so far, is going very well.

(I know, posts with no pictures aren't really as fun, but I haven't done much creating. I spent my time watching all 19 episodes of My So-Called Life and flipping thru magazines.)