TAKING YOUR BUSINESS ON THE ROAD!

I imagine a lot of us can work away from our home based office.  I've met with my accountant, my web designer and had several interviews for employment at coffee shops.  I can take a travel case and design and produce while at the cottage, even though I never have everything I need.  I have decided that I will no longer do artisan festivals or craft shows or marketplace events anymore.  After two consecutive summers of lost tents and personal injuries caused by severe weather, I have decided to depend entirely on my web site.  Even though all these events can be lucrative and I have truly great memories from them, I am attempting to be basically home based.  No more pop up boutiques, no more office and home shows, no more hospital booths.  I hope I don't miss it too much! some venues were so much fun while others were just awful.  If your starting out in this business it is important to take this road, to interact with other artisans and to see where your product stands compared to others.  It is really gratifying when you have a good show and it certainly builds confidence.  Many times there were just too many people selling basically what I was, but it never stopped people from looking and giving me positive feed back.  No two artists are exactly the same and there is always the right buyer out there for your original product!

ARTISTS WITH TOO MUCH INVENTORY

I'm sure it must be more than just the jewellery business that inventory  becomes an issue.  At least, we can take apart some of our work and re-design.  As we design and produce we have a system where we box and number it in clear containers so we can see it all the time.  Items that we have put away really accumulate, so this way we can always see what we have.  We can only imagine what it must be like for people with larger items and work that can not be taken apart! the storage alone must be an issue.  If an item does not sell and many hours were spent designing and producing it we keep for ourselves.  We don't put on sale to just lighten the inventory, we would rather treasure it or donate it to a good cause than under sell it.  Our supplies are much less cumbersome than other artists also, even though beads, findings and other supplies are smaller they still need a great deal of storage, but we would imagine nothing like wood workers, photographers or glass makers to name just a few.

WORK SHOP IN THE WOODS

I've been thinking about getting a small cabin in the woods as a work shop to get inspired by nature! Many articles have been written about how some people are much more creative when they have very little outside distractions!!  So the search is on, it will need to be very small, nooooo house work, connected to water and electricity, within walking distance to a village or small town and have very few bears around.  After purchasing some rock lites from Harbour group for my web site, I have decided I would like to design less commercial pieces and use more stone and natural products like I did at the beginning.  I maybe drifted away from what I found rewarding to follow a more monetary line of product.  But, we need to pay the rent so maybe we are all guilty of this, or maybe I didn't do this at all! possibly things change to suit our moods or growth at that time.  Nonetheless, I am going to get a cabin in the woods!

BEAUTIFUL WEATHER & BEAUTIFUL DREAMS

We spent this beautiful weekend enjoying the fantastic Harbour front with all it's pop up activities.  During the warm sunny days the area is full of artists from start ups to the established and from the exciting to the mundane.  So many times we saw items that made us think "why didn't I think of that" during these lazy strolls we certainly realize that a lot of artists design and produce jewellery.
But we won't be discouraged, maybe if we don't actually reinvent ourselves we will add more to what we bring to the table.
While speaking with people at the waterfront, we find more and more people interested in making photography more than a hobby, by just strolling down the water's edge you can see countless displays of immense artistry with the use of a camera.  We wonder how competitive would this be, unlike jewellery it would certainly require much more activity.  We are  curious how business works with these artists and do they have the same frustrations!   How do they gage their success or does it have nothing to do with monetary results, how do they start up, where do they get mentoring? 
We  like using the camera on our cell phone and think the pictures are wonderful, so understandably the passion and imagination we viewed was just awesome!

GOVERNMENT HELP FOR START UPS!

In my earlier days I used my home business to subsidize funds to obtain cancer treatment for a loved one not available in Canada at the time.  After that I was lucky enough to be accepted into a program that mentored start up business'.  It was hard work to get in and also dedicated hard work while being trained but after nearly a year I came away with the ability to run a small business.  Needless to say there is a lot more hard work needed to keep the momentum up and a whole lot of discouragement once your on your own.  At times I would joke with friends that I design the jewellery and make it and wear it! but didn't know I had to market it!!
In my next blog I will write more about the government program s.e.b.

IS BEING AN ENTREPRENEUR EVERYTHING YOU THOUGHT IT WOULD BE?

So now you have many beautiful pieces of jewellery made and you've had lots of compliments and your ready to start.  When I think of all the how to jewellery books I bought at the beginning I could cry.  It's unbelievable the information you can now find online.  Just the other day I was having trouble with a type of knot and went to you tube and viola!  We sold a lot at the beginning but on reflection I feel we under priced like all artists!!  Again this week I made a piece that took hours to design and it sold in an hour!  again maybe because it was under priced, it's a hard thing to get our heads around!

UNFAIR PAY

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Unfair pay and workload continues for Canadian moms

Article By: Lisa Lagace

- May 14, 2012

Statistics show working moms still earn significantly less than working dads -- and they're still doing more at home.

Despite all the progress the women’s movement has made in closing earnings gaps and fighting for equality, working mothers continue to face in equalities at home and in the work place.
Statistics show women outperform men while in school – graduating from university in higher numbers than men and often take on the primary breadwinner role in their families. Despite this unparalleled ambition and success, Statistics Canada notes that women still earn an average of 25 to 31 per cent less than men in the same field. They also take on the majority of child care and housework, meaning the gap is even wider than it seems.