At the beginning of December, after working through October and November on filling orders and making fall fashions, I realized I totally missed Christmas.
I completely missed the window to make Christmas fashions and ship in time for customers to enjoy them for the season.
I was pretty bummed, especially because I had some killer fabric to make a few fun pieces.
That got me thinking of when I should be sewing what, and for what season.
Which got me thinking about planning ahead.
Which reminded me of a blog post I read about stretching your goals and planning for a BIGGEST MONTH EVER for your work.
Could I do that?
Could I be so organized and together that I could sew for the seasons, BEFORE the season, AND plan for a Biggest Month Ever?
I don't know.
Which makes me WANT to know.
Which lead to thinking and planning and dreaming.
.
.
.
So I researched the hottest colors predicted for Spring/Summer 2014
(I've never done that before)...
Made a fashion color board of the ones I liked best...
and then started WRITING out my plans.
.
.
.
If I want to make April my Biggest Month Ever,
that means I've got to start NOW, in January, so the complete collection can be made and ready to ship at the first of April.
Which means I really don't have a whole lot of time if I'm going to bring ala carte items and OOAKs during the preceding months.
AND continue to live my life too.
I wrote out my plans, starting with the end.
What did I want to bring to you in April?
How many pieces in the collection?
How many OOAKs?
How many multiples?
What are the prices?
Then from there, break it down from the total end goal
into monthly goals...
into weekly goals...
into what I should ideally be doing each day.
Writing out my plans/goals/schedule is the easiest part.
I love lists, I love plans, I love thinking through everything.
Now actually implementing?
That's the hard part.
That's the discipline part.
The part I stink at.
But, I've got fabric all picked out, and ideas swimming around in my head.
and am excited to see if I can hit my goal
and see what will be.
"Dreams aren't expensive. They only cost two things, TIME and GRIND."
-Jon Acuff
I'm a "metrics" kind of person too. When I had MTS Designs going I always made lists for Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter clothes I wanted to make. Rather than have everything ready to send out, I took orders so customers could pick the color they wanted for their doll clothes. That worked pretty well, but at times I felt so overwhelmed with orders I thought I'd never catch up. I can really relate to your statement about missing Christmas; for me it was summers.
ReplyDeleteGood luck! I love the colors you've chosen and I'm really looking forward to your new collection. My only advice: allow enough time. Things always take longer than you think they will and life can get in the way too.