Date: 2009-06-30 18:35 Subject: One month as a milestone Security: Public Mood: accomplished

So, on June 1, I opened my new Etsy shop. I did a lot of scrambling in May to make it happen, and a lot of scrambling in June to keep it up. Here's some of what I did.

1. sourced wholesale yarn to bring my costs down and quality up.


2. registered my small business with the state, so I can resell (I was already registered with an EIN through the fed)


3. purchased advertising on Ravelry.


4. set up as a yarnie on Ravelry.


5. unified my shop, advertising, and label design.


6. created the new shop with the shop name as the url, so there’s no confusion, and connected it with my old shop so I still have a reputation, etc.


7. purchased a whole lot of incidentals I needed, and built a lot of stuff including a work station.


8. streamlined my process, dyed up a whole lot of yarn, and took a whole lot of pictures, and figured out how I wanted the postings to look and read.


9. standardized my process in how I’m packaging, shipping, etc.


10. reviewed my policies and revised them.


11. decided not to branch out into not garment related items so I can avoid the trouble of sales tax, since my state doesn’t require sales tax for things which are clothing or going to be made into clothing.


12. reviewed my shipping based on actual figures and revised them. This is ongoing.


13. And I’ve also considered consignment in order to get more of my yarn in people’s hands because it looks so much more beautiful in person. It’s a lost leader this way, but as a new entity, exposure is key. People need to see and handle my yarn to know if it’s the good stuff. So I’m going to do it, but only a little.

I've done well enough to justify to myself at least ordering more yarn and buying some additional dyes in primaries I don't currently have. By doing well, I mean I've broken even on the cost of the yarn and the fees I've had to pay on listing and using paypal. And enough to cover the very reasonable advertising. I haven't actually figured out how big a chunk the free shipping has eaten, and there are some other costs that I haven't calculated (all sorts of supplies, mostly), but I'm still pleased.

My new batch of yarn arrived yesterday, so it's back to the reel and dye pot for me. I need to sit down and organize my dye recipes before I start dyeing again, I think. And decide what I'm going to try to reproduce, and how much off the cuff dyeing I'll do.

Post A Comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend | Link