One of the less fun parts about running your own business can be the bookkeeping (unless you like that sort of thing-- then more power to you!). The beauty of doing it is that the information actually tells you some really important things once you get it all (like uh, if you have any money left!). This list contains helpful tools our members recommend.
Landing the wholesale account is just the beginning. Actually having people buy your product off the shelf is quite another. And packaging plays a vital role in that. It is even a reason some shops won't pick up your product-- even if they love it! So we talked with an #ahasmember retailer about what packaging mistakes they are often seeing. Read on.
Next month we will be holding a six-day online summit called The State of Making. As part of this online webinar series we will be exploring how the year has impacted makers and what they can do to prepare for the holidays and beyond. Interested? You can sign up here to be alerted about all the details.
Today's post is from one of our summit speakers and #ashasmember Michelle of Four Letter Word Cards. Her year had some, um, unexpected challenges in it to put it mildly.
Sometimes your side hustle has side hustles. Or maybe all of your hustle can't be contained. Or maybe you've got a very active left brain and a very active right brain and finding *ONE* good paying job to fulfill both of them is not happening.
Enter makers with multiple jobs. Oftentimes the "end game" of starting your own business is viewed that it's supposed to become an ever-expanding full-time job. Which it might. It totally can. But not everyone wants that. Part-time businesses are still businesses.
Today's guest is fully an artist-- while having a "day job" that has almost nothing to do with being an artist. Except it totally does.
Last week we saw the release of new program by Etsy called Pattern. We discussed it a bit in our member forums (go here to view it you're an #ahasmember) and the conclusion for most was that it would not work for them. Which got me thinking that often when something shiny and new comes along it's easy hop aboard the excitement train that everyone has about it (or sometimes, conversely, the negativity train). That should be ignored and instead you have to evaluate it based on the only business that matters-- yours.
Ever faced burnout? Today Tashah Johnson, the owner of Candlessentials, walks us through her experience with reaching burnout and how she finally let go of the toxic “Because I CAN do it all, I SHOULD be doing it all" mindset. Tashah shared with me how she took her health back and helped her business grow along the way.
In yesterday's post, we talked about avoiding Shady McShadersters and seeing the signs of courses and businesses that don't deliver on their promises. Well, today we have a roundup of some amazing courses from AHAS members, friends, and colleagues, all chosen because of their stellar reputation and because they address areas of business makers often struggle with.
If you haven't heard yet it's 2016. ;) Which now that we are almost halfway into January, the mania of resolutions and words of the year and other things we do to psych ourselves up for "the best year EVER!" has simmered down a bit.
We've talked about Maker Resolutions a bit in our newsletter (hey, if you're not a subscriber then you are missing out! Go to the bottom of this page, subscribe and also get a worksheet to help you figure out your business resolutions). Today, I wanted to expand a bit on thinking about "resolutions" or "goals" or just plain mindfulness about areas that I think can frequently trip us up.
Every year, one of my favorite things was always going and picking out a planner. I had a really specific week-at-a-glance one that I enjoyed using (though, that beast was heaving and took up a lot of purse space). I've now gotten into a system that uses my phone calendar, Trello, lined sticky pads and a legal notepad. It's not as sexy, but it gets the job done (I will say after reading this post I am very interested in a Sugar Paper planner I saw!).
We thought we'd ask our members for recs on planners since it's that time of year. If you are devoted to particular planner (we know some of you very much are!), let us know about it in the comments.
There are a lot of greeting cards out there to choose from, but none as sweetly sassy as those from Julie Ann Art. Julie's cards have been buzzed about quite a bit, and I think it's because they resonate with more casual, "say-what-you're-thinking" people for whom Hallmark won't cut it. She talks about her business growth over the last six years.
