Getting organized

Hello World. I’ve been having some set backs with my newsletter and making my e-mail list, so I’m currently putting my newsletter on hold until spring break. My plan for my third blog was to write about if my e-mail list has grown, how I created my newsletter, and if my newsletter created any traffic. Instead I’m going to write about some of the set backs I’ve experienced due to lack of planning, organization, and business experience.

During my internet marketing class my teacher mentioned two kinds of business plans, but the one that stuck with me was “The Napkin Plan”. My teacher, Mr. Anderson described it as, “the idea that you can just jot something down on a napkin at dinner” and pretty much just wing it.

In my text book, E-Marketing, I read, “These ad hoc plans sometimes work and are sometimes even necessary given a stodgy corporate culture, but they are not recommended when substantial resources are involved. Sound planning and thoughtful implementation are needed for long-term success in business and e-business.” This is basically saying that the napkin plan sometimes work and are fine for businesses to use this type of planning, but it is not for businesses that would like long-term success and have a lot of money invested. The napkin plan stuck because that is exactly what I did. I wrote an idea down on a napkin and I just went for it, but I didn’t really plan anything out or think anything through.

I want to be successful and even though my plan is an example of the napkin plan, it needs to be organized if I want to be able to continue to sell my products and for it to be worth my time and effort. Something I really had to think about was the price of my rings, earrings, and friendship bracelets. I had some anxiety attacks on what my prices should be because I was afraid that people wouldn’t agree or think that my products aren’t worth the price they’re going to pay. The price ended up being the least of my problems with my customers. One of the things I did do was ask my friends what they thought my items were worth and it helped me come up with a reasonable price that both my customers and I could agree with.

My biggest problem has been friendship bracelets, my best seller. Believe it or not friendship bracelets are a hit. I’ve been making them since I was six years old in summer fun and I’ve never thought of selling them to make money, but when I started this whole “Flee Market Business” I thought friendship bracelets would add variety. They’ve been adding a lot of variety and causing me a lot of problems.

The PRODUCTION of friendship bracelets has become my problem. I have honestly put my newsletter on hold because I’ve been trying to keep up with all the orders of friendship bracelets. I can make about three-four bracelets each day, but the fact that none of the bracelets I make sell, has created a problem. My customers only want costume friendship bracelets, which makes it hard on me because I can’t make bracelets until they order them or else I’m wasting material. SOOOO I have to wait…This last week I have been absolutely bombarded with orders.

The variety of patterns I am able to make is also causing problems. Some patterns take longer then other patterns, but I haven’t figured out how to price them accordingly. Do I price them by how long they take? How thick they are? Are they worth the price? Am I making back the money I spent on the materials? These are all questions that have crossed my mind and I’ve have to address. Unfortunately, some of the harder patterns I’ve decided not to make because they take too long to make and they don’t make back the money it takes to make them.

Some of the ways I’m trying to fix these problems is by doing my own research. It’s called Primary Data. Primary data is data collected by ones own self. In my E-marketing book it is explained as, “information gathered for the first time to solve a particular problem.” (131). Some of the pro’s of businesses doing they’re own research is that the research is current, relevant to the specific problem, and it won’t be available to competitors. The con’s of primary data is that it is time consuming and can be expensive. In my case it is very easy to log data because I don’t have a lot of customers and I’m by no means a small or big business. I keep a spread sheet of all my data in Microsoft Excel. It helps me to stay organized and it’s easy to use. For example, I log all the different friendship patterns that I sell. It helps me to know which bracelets I should make more of and which bracelets I should make less of. Another example is ring sizes and types of rings. I like to write down the ring size a customer buys, so that I know which size rings I should order more of and which types are selling the best.

I think the research I’m doing will really go a long way. My last change that I think will help is by using my Facebook. One of the girls on my soccer team gave me the idea when she wrote a friendship bracelet order on my Facebook. Facebook is easy for me to use and easy for my customers to contact and communicate with me. My phone is really unreliable, so I’m really pushing customers to write the friendship bracelets on me Facebook, instead of texting me on my cell. Hopefully, this helps me to become more organized. By my next blog I think I’ll be able to compare and contrast my newsletter from my Facebook idea. I’ll see which one works the best for me and I’ll go from there.
Thank you World for reading my third blog. Peace and Love