Business as usual

The rest of the past 3 weeks I've spent signing up for my usual conventions - kind of stressful since with the online form-filling-out sign-ups that most cons have gone to, the tables for the popular cons sell out in a matter of minutes.  You have to type fast.  But I've made it into all of them through March of next year, so I'm good to go for that much longer, at least.  I also made it past the new jury that got set up for my largest con, this year.  Wasn't too sure about that one given the style of jewelry that makes up 90% of what I sell (it's very simple, fast, and doesn't give me repetitive strain injuries to make).

I've also been putting together this next round of supply orders - from five different companies - for the next two events.  This process takes days now, which is fine, because it means I'm selling that much more.

After this year's events so far, I started to brainstorm a little more about my business.  And came up with the radical idea to cut the number of different things I'm selling in half, cutting out the lowest sellers.  I have about 200 - 250 different charms and pendants that I sell, and that is too many to keep track of (I have no inventory control system - I can't really afford a professional one with bar codes and a reader and such).

I started on the idea once I figured out how to easily manage inputting all my sales into a spreadsheet.  The way to do it isn't to try to fit all items into a single spreadsheet - it's to have one spreadsheet for each class of items, so it's easier to look at most of the data at once.  I did this for one class of items, and noticed there were some styles that I had sold only one or even none of in the past 2.5 years.  So, out they go.  Going to do that with everything else, too.

Hopefully that will free up some display space, too, so I can experiment with other things.  It's hard to even find the time to do that, though.  Frustrating.  Then there are also the websites I've been wanting to build.  I need about 6 months to sit down and really get creative with all these jewelry bits I have now accumulated, and to get one or two functional websites up.  Maybe I'll have some time over the summer, before the next round of conventions starts up in August.  I applied for one in Tulsa in August, but they're juried too, and I haven't heard back from them.

The wait continues to get into the dealer's rooms in some of these conventions.  I'm in the artists' spaces in several of them, which means competition for tables every year when signing up.  In the dealer's rooms, once you're in,  you're in as long as you pay in advance for your spot.  The stress over whether or not I'll make it into some of the cons every year is not fun.  My big convention in June makes up 20-25% of my annual income.  I probably still have another 4 years to go on the waiting list for the dealer's room ( I got on it 3 or 4 years ago).  I have enough savings to get by for one year if I don't make it in.

Next up, the thoughts on life post.