Christmas out of the way, New Year done and dusted and holiday season finished. So, ready to continue the challenge of business growth.
First of all I have to report that December was my best month so far in this tax year. Strangely enough one of my busiest weeks was Xmas to New Year whereby I sold something every day. This surprised me as I don't do Sales or Offers, I just plod on as normal. Anyway, I'm not complaining other than I had to wrap lots during holiday season.
We're now into January and thinking about our Tax Returns. I do it every year, leave it till the last minute. Good job I have a nice Accountant who does it online for me. This can be a costly affair so worth shopping around and getting a few quotes. I've been with the same Accountant for years. Anyway we won't talk about year ends yet as that, for a business person in UK, is March. January is just the month we all panic to get our figures in.
I'm excited about 2012 because I plan to go further afield for my stock. Normally I try to stay local but now we're going further and staying overnight, so it's like a mini shopping holiday - well shopping for stock is just as exciting to me as some women like to shop for clothes. Honestly I love it. Ok I'm still selling the cheaper end of the market as I haven't yet grown enough to purchase the more expensive pieces. That will come though. Infact, viewing my Sales Reports on ebay I'm averaging £10-£15 per item at 70-90 sales per month. Still chicken feed to some of the bigger 'antiquers'. Nonetheless I do have growth. To start with that was £2-£5 per item at around 20-30 sales at the beginning, so over the 3 years it has increased, all be it slowly. On the good side aswell my vintage style clothes are doing ok, though the jewellery hasn't done much yet. I'm glad I expanded to include these 2 extra categories as they are fun to buy.
This weekend I'm going to outer Manchester for a 300 stall fair and end of next month there will another in Manchester with 700 stalls, so surely I will find some lovely pieces affordable to my business. I also plan to find some fairs near the seaside to have a day by the sea. I dare not go on holiday because of my business. Honestly, if you close down for a week it takes another 4 weeks to get your ratings back up. So all hotels or camp sites must have internet access so I can run my business on hols.
One negative aspect though is my website shop is doing rubbish. Ebay is still the best seller but we've had some ups and downs with their silly rules for sellers. Whereby my little individual shop, which I spend every day with PR work, is hardly selling a single thing. It won't stop me continuing but sometimes I think the only way forward is ebay. I had hoped the stand alone website would get me out of ebay, but that hasn't happened yet.
I'll report back when I have my goodies.
First of all I have to report that December was my best month so far in this tax year. Strangely enough one of my busiest weeks was Xmas to New Year whereby I sold something every day. This surprised me as I don't do Sales or Offers, I just plod on as normal. Anyway, I'm not complaining other than I had to wrap lots during holiday season.
We're now into January and thinking about our Tax Returns. I do it every year, leave it till the last minute. Good job I have a nice Accountant who does it online for me. This can be a costly affair so worth shopping around and getting a few quotes. I've been with the same Accountant for years. Anyway we won't talk about year ends yet as that, for a business person in UK, is March. January is just the month we all panic to get our figures in.
I'm excited about 2012 because I plan to go further afield for my stock. Normally I try to stay local but now we're going further and staying overnight, so it's like a mini shopping holiday - well shopping for stock is just as exciting to me as some women like to shop for clothes. Honestly I love it. Ok I'm still selling the cheaper end of the market as I haven't yet grown enough to purchase the more expensive pieces. That will come though. Infact, viewing my Sales Reports on ebay I'm averaging £10-£15 per item at 70-90 sales per month. Still chicken feed to some of the bigger 'antiquers'. Nonetheless I do have growth. To start with that was £2-£5 per item at around 20-30 sales at the beginning, so over the 3 years it has increased, all be it slowly. On the good side aswell my vintage style clothes are doing ok, though the jewellery hasn't done much yet. I'm glad I expanded to include these 2 extra categories as they are fun to buy.
This weekend I'm going to outer Manchester for a 300 stall fair and end of next month there will another in Manchester with 700 stalls, so surely I will find some lovely pieces affordable to my business. I also plan to find some fairs near the seaside to have a day by the sea. I dare not go on holiday because of my business. Honestly, if you close down for a week it takes another 4 weeks to get your ratings back up. So all hotels or camp sites must have internet access so I can run my business on hols.
One negative aspect though is my website shop is doing rubbish. Ebay is still the best seller but we've had some ups and downs with their silly rules for sellers. Whereby my little individual shop, which I spend every day with PR work, is hardly selling a single thing. It won't stop me continuing but sometimes I think the only way forward is ebay. I had hoped the stand alone website would get me out of ebay, but that hasn't happened yet.
I'll report back when I have my goodies.
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