PART 3 - My 2012 Business Plan

well what a week it's been!!

**warning - grab a cuppa. This is a pretty long blog**

This blog was always going to be about putting my 2012 business plan together. And it still is, it's just been pushed a bit further down the page. I just wanted to begin with a few words about the Cheeky Chat that happened this week over on my FB page.....................

I was thinking of taking a bit of a rest in the school holidays. Both to spend some much needed time with the kids and also to think about and plan the coming year. But typical me, I car bosh all that by putting an idea that has been roaming around my head for a while now, into action (not thinking it would take off) I didn't "think on" as my gran always said. Always whispering it to me every time I walked out the front door with a new beau in tow!

The result to my idea has been totally amazing and it has left me feeling both exhilarated and exhausted both at the same time. After my last blog about how I started Cheeky Pickle, I had an unbelievable response from lot's of new and newish FB page owners, asking my advice and thanking me for the honest blog that I had wrote.


I was rapidly realising that there was an obvious need for some sort of forum/catch up, where lot's of these page owners could get together, ask questions and basically help each other out. So I put it out there and got about 24 people saying they liked the idea. 24 was o.k. You could get a good chat going with 24 people couldn't you?. So I planned a date and time and really had no idea what was going to happen. I grabbed a glass of wine and settled in.

well it went off big style......................................

and there were so many posts that, with half a glass of wine down my neck and the adrenaline kicking in, I just couldn't keep up. It was manic and went on like that for about three hours. By that time I think we were all so worn out, we could hardly string two words together. It was like these ladies had all this pent up energy, enthusiasm, frustrations and questions to ask, and finally (and thankfully), they had found somewhere to vent all of these emotions. It was brilliant, and I feel like, not only have I made some lovely new friends, but also gained some invaluable advice to help take my business forward. My little dream had come true and the "Cheeky Chat" night had, totally by chance, been formed!

As you can well image, we will not be stopping there and we plan to have a Cheeky Chat night every month, Tuesday night at 8pm (Melbourne time) on tickle the imagination's FB page. Everyone is welcome, just jump on board.

Each week we will have a different topic to discuss and we will also have an EXPERT in that field, on hand, to answer any questions. That EXPERT will then write a guest blog on this page the following day, the Wednesday, about their subject, e.g websites/marketing e.t.c. If you need more info about the Cheeky Chats, please read here

finally, back to the original blog................


Part 3

Continuing on from my last two blogs, Part 1, where I looked at how I am personally preparing myself to leap into 2012, and the very popular Part 2,  where I talked about the early days of Cheeky Pickle and the journey it has taken me on. The ups and down of markets, getting into shops and all the in's and out's of setting up my FB business page and the daily struggle of getting "likers" and more importantly, keeping them!

Part 3 is about how I put my business plan for 2012 together.

I had to take a huge step away from my business.........

So with my Cheeky Pickle profit margins in hand (is that what you call them??), I  knew that without a shadow of a doubt, the next step for me was to take a massive step away from the sewing machine and write my business plan for 2012. Mmmm....sounds positive, pro active, like I know what I'm talking about. Well, I don't! I haven't got a clue about how to formulate some sort of structured plan that will take my business to the next level.

But there was no way that this measly fact was going to stop me when I was in such a positive frame of mind. I had to strike while the iron was hot. And I was determined to put one of my new years resolutions to the test............................

the only way to do things differently, is to open my eyes wide and start seeing things differently..............

So off I trotted back to my little safe haven Build a Little Biz, where I knew Karen would have a link to some fabulous site or other, where I could find all the info I needed about business plans. And of course, there it was, how to write your Business Plan 2012 by Method and Madness.

 
brilliant!! I'm on my way..................................

So the next day, I (thankfully) came down with my once yearly dose of man flu. Like most women, if I'm ill I just get up and get on with it. But once or maybe twice a year I do allow myself a little pampering. I put that really throaty sick voice on and "called in sick". Most of the time when I'm sick, hubby is up and down the stairs like a blue arsed fly, asking me where this and that goes, who has what toothbrush e.t.c, that eventually I give up, get out of bed, coughing and spluttering and just get on with my motherly duties. But like I said, once or twice a year, when I do feel particularly bad, I give my hubby the look that says "leave me alone, or else I will erupt like a volcano!" it usually does the trick and I don't see hide nor hair of any of them for about three hours. If I'm lucky.

brainstorming ideas...................................................

So I had a few hours to myself, in bed. Luxury. However, even when us ladies are sick, we do still feel the need to multi task don't we? So out came my drawing pad and I began the process of scrutinizing myself and my business from every angle. I didn't think it would take that long, but once I started scribbling notes, brainstorming ideas (alone!!) and formulating plans, it probably ended up taking me about 5 hours for me to come up with the finished product.

To be honest, it's actually not much different to what I've had roaming around in my head for the past few months, but when you actually physically see your thoughts, ideas and dreams written down in black and white, with little meandering pathways, telling the story as to how you are going to achieve this. Then it feels like a real accomplishment in itself.

my business plan 2012.............................

I was a little unsure as to whether or not I should publish my own business plan, as it is, obviously, very personal to me. Hell, I'm just plain stupid to be doing this, right? But then I thought....If I write it down, it makes it real. But if I publish it to God only knows how many people, then WOW, anything might be possible. LOL!!

There are some bits that I have left out as it may be a bit too personal and you may laugh and I may be rather embarrassed! MY plan is 100% personal to me, so may only be slightly relevant to you. You may also look at it and say, mmm... what's all the fuss about, looks pretty basic to me. That's fine, but it's dynamite for me. Hopefully it may just spurr you on to sit down, grab a very large pot of tea and do your very own.
So anyway, I've just followed the plan, pretty much as I was told to.

here goes............................

List the following:

10 things my business accomplished in 2011

• I had increased FB page numbers
• I had introduced my printed and stitched range. With the added stitched border and buttons, I had made something that was unique and a little more than just a print 
• I had got a logo that I was 100% happy with. Thanks to Little Big Box. My BRAND was starting to come together.
• I had started to add another aspect to Cheeky Pickle, by creating a very popular Homewares collection
• I had decided to pull out of doing shop consignment
• My custom orders had increased a lot
• I had become a lot more organised in the way I ran Cheeky Pickle
• I had pulled out of doing lot's of markets and had decided to do a few, well chosen ones.
• I increased my prices
• I had a fabulous and very successful Christmas Market night on FB
• I added names to my designs (huge success in sales)

10 things I accomplished in 2011

This I struggled with. Being English, it really doesn't come that natural to blow your own trumpet!

• Designed my own website (woohoo, I have to admit, I was/am so very, very proud of that, even though I probably won't keep it. It has been a great put-me-on!)
• Became more confident on the computer, didn't feel as scared to do things on my own and not have to wait until hubby came home to help
• Wrote a few good blogs
• (hopefully) I had started to gain some respect from other business page owners. It can feel a bit clicky on FB when you first start on there. But doesn't any new job!
• Made my market stall better (o.k, i'm starting to struggle...)
• I had helped out quite a few other pages with shout outs and product reviews. I really enjoyed helping out in a way I felt I now could, with the bit of knowledge that I had behind me
• I had started to become a lot more confident, both in myself and in the decisions I was making for my business

Couldn't think of any more........

Challenges my business had faced

• Dispute with an unhappy customer
• Dispute with Post Office and printers
• Time management
• Erratic blogging/posting
• Self doubt
• Having to work in school holidays and weekends. The family time I did have, I was very stressed and not "with" my family in mind as well as body
• Overloaded with custom orders
• All work was happening mainly Sept - Dec
• Shops - a missed opportunity as I can't bring my wholesale prices down enough to justify itself

So this was the basis of what I had to work with. And so I headed off in my own direction here and sectioned my problems and solutions off.

After a long time getting to the bottom of how I and my business ticked, I realised that my main problem was time management and organisation. So I came up with a few sub headings to help clear my head a little.

be more organised......................

• Do only e.g 6 custom orders per month
• Write a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly plan. I have just done this and it's already working very well
• Blog on the same day every week. Be CONSISTENT.
• Pre plan FB posts
• Organise invoices/receipts better - make it a weekly task, rather than leaving it for months
• Limit time on FB
• Spread work over the year better. Stock up for XMas markets much earlier
• e mail back and forth to my customers less
• Spend more time on my product photo's and descriptions
• Get an e mail list together, start a newsletter

other ideas......................................

• Sign up for a couple of courses that are relevant to my work
• Find a much better happy medium between work and home life (impossible, right?) 
• Look into different, bigger markets. Where I can reach out to shops/wholesale
• Put more money into marketing. No idea how at this stage.
• Get my online SHOP up and running and make it look very professionl
• Think of ways I can get my work into shops without feeling robbed

FB

• Collaborate more with other FB pages
• Be more communicative/chatty on my page with both customers and biz pages alike
• Blog more :)
• Read/look at other peoples work. Don't just be a fan, READ all those fabulous, FREE business guides and helpful info that's out there

So that is just a small pocket of ideas that came splurging out of my head on my man flu, stay in bed and multi task day. And here are the MAIN points (well these are the ones that I wish to publish. There a few more TOP SECRET ones!!) that I finally came up with that will help me to push myself and my business further towards the sky!

take a HUGE step back often

only do the BIG markets

be ULTRA ORGANISED, and stick to it

Increase COMMUNICATION on all levels

set up my ONLINE SHOP

get my work into SHOPS

make everything look more PROFESSIONAL

turn my brand into GOLD

make my CUSTOMER SERVICE even BETTER

Once I had finished my plan, I was right in the mood for doing something else positive for my business and found via Build a Little Biz, once again a great little resource, Framework for your Business. The basic subjects that you need to delve into, interrogate and extract what you can from, are:

• You
• Your product
• Your target market
• Market place
• Brand

This exercise is quite in depth, it took me hours to be honest, and I may not have done it perfectly (I'd love Karen from Build a Little Biz to let me know what she thinks) or how it was intended, but since completing it, I have found it invaluable to my business. I realised that I should have done this a long, long time ago as it really is the basic foundation to what your business should be built upon.

so this is mine...........................

It's just a list of words really. But as I started listing "my" words that related to "me", I soon realised that a pattern was beginning to emerge, relating very strongly between my business and my own personal views and standards.


ME

Personality
Honest, grounded, down to earth, positive, witty/funny, dry northern English sense of humour, reliable, professional, perfectionist, quirky........

Life
Loves running/boxing/keeping fit/ loves nature/hill walking/surfing/skiing, busy mum to two kids, one dog and hubby, hates sitting down and doing nothing, insomniac.......

Work
Degree in Multi Media Textile Design, loves colour/texture/bold design, background career in Textile Design, passion for patterned papers, professional, perfectionist.............

That was the first bit completed and already I could see a pattern emerging.


words to sum up

• witty
• quirky
• reliable
• professional
• natural
• honest and down to earth

PRODUCT

what am I selling?

• Art, Art for childrens bedrooms, homewares, cards, tags, bunting, prints, textile designs
• handmade, loved, designer, quality, something unique/modern/special/luxurious/custom made/one off/pretty/something to match other items in the customers home/magazine living.

words to sum up

• designer
• modern
• handmade
• unique
• quality

 TARGET

• Mums, new mums, handmade lovers, scrapbookers, women aged 24 - 60 (??) people who want unique gifts to buy
• People who want attention to detail/a professional and personal service/to feel like they matter/people who want to experience the whole handmade/personal package from choosing from fantastic photo's of products, right through to payment check out.

MARKET PLACE

Honestly.........I'm a bit stuck on that one and need a bit more time!! Will keep you posted :)

BRAND

When I looked back on all my lists and brainstorming ideas, I finally brought it together to write my last list. Brand. This is supposed to sum up the message you are sending out to your customer and your promise. Basically I put together all my word lists from the other little subheadings and extracted the ones that I felt most strongly about.

And to be honest, I feel like it sums myself and Cheeky Pickle up perfectly. It also gives me a direction and on those very busy day, when I'm trying to do everything (badly!!) it helps me focus on what matters most. These are the words that sum me up now, and ones that I will be working very hard on everyday to make sure that Cheeky Pickle is at it's best.

professional
quality
modern
honest/reliable/personal and excellent customer service
designer
Quirky/witty/one off

a fantastic, fresh frame of mind.......................................

Completing these two little projects has put me in a fantastic fresh frame of mind to start 2012. So it's up to you now. Take your time and don't rush each step. Be selfish and take a huge chunk of time away on your own to complete these tasks. You may thank YOURSELF later.

Please let me know if this blog was useful to you? Also I would really LOVE to know if you completed any of the tasks mentioned, and if so, how did you go? Have you come up with some fantastic new strategies to push your business forward into to 2012. Please share :)


Cheers - Ali xxx