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This may turn into a two part post – it just depends how many words I can cram in under the limit…I mean *cough* how concise I can be. *grin* My strength was always in creative writing and not journalism, mostly because I love descriptions that wrap around you like your favorite fuzzy blanket, instead of a straight shooting line that smacks you between the eyes. *smile* Anyway, I reserve the right to continue this post because I have lots of ideas to share right now.

While I was really sick (actually only now am I starting to feel like a human again instead of a casing for phlegm – ewww, gross alert! *grin*) I caught up on some reading. I’m sure you probably know that I love to read and that it understandably means that I follow a lot of blogs. For awhile I had to prioritize and missed out on some blog posts. Well, one of my catch ups is on The Jackie Blog. I think this blogger is really engaging and I’m impressed that she has issued The Gauntlet to help motivate others to improve their lives. She’s accomplished a lot with her personal challenges and is really inspiring to me, especially because she’s honest and forthright about not wanting to do stuff some days. The challenge is to pick something in your life to improve that is quantifiable, for at least 30 days, and she has some incentives as well, although all participants will have the benefit of improvement no matter what. Well, I decided that I’d really like to apply the challenge to my business. Although I think about the business a lot and do a lot of research, I haven’t felt overly productive or successful lately, and I’m hoping that dedicated time with a little tough love will help both my feelings about my business as well as the business itself. So, although the challenge officially starts April 1st, I’m giving it a go now. We all know I’m not patient when I have an idea. *grin*

I totally nerded out and made an outline of goals to accomplish during the challenge, as well as a few other items to work on or consider. It’s a little sad to think about (let alone say) that I’m going to be removing some products from my line strictly because they don’t sell. My husband got a few extra days off and we couch potato-ed to help me recuperate, plus spend time together. Anyway, one show we caught up on with the DVR is Shark Tank. It’s one of those hate to love it shows for us. *grin* Just my luck one of the applicants was a young girl who is creating and selling homemade scrubs. She has a few variations of them, but that’s all. Of course Larry keyed in on that business model and said that I need to apply it to mine. “You need to focus on one or two items that actually sell instead of so many options that don’t always sell.” I understand, I totally do, and I know how he is looking at it. However, you have to have a bit of variety and change in order to find what is a perfect fit for the business and fills someone’s needs. I set my feelings aside and decided that I’d compromise by restructuring a bit, and I’ll also keep experimenting, but I’ll try to keep the new items under the main lines now.

I admit that this is a bit scary and kind of sad to revamp the business. The bad side of homemade sometimes is that every creative item has a little piece of your heart and hopes mixed in, so when they are unsuccessful you feel a bit emotional about it. However I am going to pull my big girl boots on and make bigger, and better, tracks for my business to step into.

First, several items that have never sold or seldom sell will be completely removed. I’ll have my friendly line reminding customers to please inquire if you don’t see what you’re looking for, because I may still be able to make that item, but I’m losing money by having them available full time.

Second, I’m going to come up with a brand logo that will go with the company name and product title on the main label. I’ll also probably add a label to the back for the “do not eat”, which will help to make the product label much more interesting and professional. That girl on Shark Tank had some really adorable packaging and a cute label. I know it’ll take some work and may not be finished within the month challenge, but it is a key priority to me, and one goal of the challenge that I’m really excited about.

Third, I need to finalize and implement the concept of “As Supplies Last”. I’ll use that for trying out my experiments and things that won’t be made any more, but I still have stuff on hand. I’ll see if the new items sell well and if they do, then they make it to a standard page of my website. If items don’t sell or ideas fall flat, they get a reduced price and will be removed once appropriate. It will be a lot easier than having to dedicate fluctuating space on my standard pages when they’re set up fairly well right now.

Fourth, I really want to do a sale. Larry thinks it needs to be labeled as a liquidation sale, which in my opinion is what the As Supplies Last page really is. I want to do a flash sale. I have a few real reasons behind this idea – I personally love to shop them so why wouldn’t others, I can control the time frame, I can possibly do high volume at a more discounted price for a limited time which will still make me more than slowly selling off a few at the moderate liquidation sale price, and lastly, it may generate some interest and excitement. When I’m excited about something it comes bubbling out of my mouth any time that the conversation goes idle, and if anyone else gets that excited, maybe they’ll spread the word to their friends and I’ll get some new sales.

Lastly, I have some smaller goals such as working on gift giving/boxing options that make the products even more attractive, better marketing, and some good ol’ tedious work like changing some names, editing my site, getting improved pictures to use in marketing, and whatnot.

I think I have a few months of work outlined, plus my work on trying some new items. I have the supplies on hand, so when I get a creative urge, I’m going for it. *grin* I hope to do a few featured ingredient posts to help everyone know a little bit more about a cool item and I have a few little summer recipes that I will share. They use perishable ingredients, so I can’t sell them, but I think some will appreciate them, even if they only get to the recipe via Pinterest. If there is something you would like me to write about, such as a specific ingredient or product, or whatever, please drop a comment and I’ll add it to my outline. Periodically I’ll share my overall challenge status with you, because that will help motivate me when I don’t feel well. I’ll be held a bit more accountable, even if you don’t honestly give two figs if I succeed at the challenge. Just acknowledging the challenge and putting that into the forever zone of the Internet…that helps me feel more accountable than when it’s just for my eyes only. *grin*

Now, I also mentioned melts, which is something I’ve been impatiently waiting to discuss, but I’m running out of space, so I’m taking the allowance I gave myself earlier and making a second post to accompany this. I’ll see you on the other side of the post. *big grin*