Holiday Game Plan...?

Today's Silver Price: $33.79/t.oz.

Game Plan: None.

Am I supposed to have one?

During an online forum on Etsy I heard that for the holiday season you should plan for increased sales, therefore you must have increased inventory. The audience members were asking what the experts were doing to prepare for the holidays. The experts suggested simplifying your collection of merchandise- or editing down to the most popular items. Focus on creating items that are proven sellers. Hmmm, I guess this is no time for experimenting.

This makes me think of a presentation I watched on creating your own path to success. The presentation was entitled "Design Your Own Success." The speaker was Sharon Ann Lee who is a cultural trend analyst, writer and artist. The presentation is about 30 or 40 minutes and I highly recommend watching if you have the attention span especially if you are a small business owner. There's also some good life lessons in there. She explains the difference between when "your ass is broke," and when "money is coming out of your ass." Good stuff.

ANYWAY.... One way Lee says we can be more successful is to become more efficient in our work. Lee explains the 80/20 rule, or the Pareto principle. It goes like this: 20% of your work brings in 80% of your results (revenue), and therefore 80% of your work and effort only brings in 20% of your results. She states that you should cut out the 80% of your effort that is not producing maximum results, thus giving you more free time. Interesting theory, however I have yet to determine what 20% of my effort is most profitable.

If I were to compare painting to jewelry making, painting definitely takes more time and effort, and so far has been the least profitable. A painting may take 5 hours, 10 hours or more to complete. Usually a piece of jewelry takes 20-30 minutes to complete and maybe less. So perhaps I should focus solely on producing jewelry? Devote my time and money to creating as much jewelry as possible and put the painting projects to the side. I hate the sound of that. But it may be a sound business decision. Did I just figure out what the 80% to cut is???

And thus ensues the battle between heart and mind!