Modish Biz Tips

7 things I've learned in my 8 years in business

Our wonderful guest contributor Caroline Devoy is normally our tax and money-related guru, but she's here today with a different sort of post that I think you'll really enjoy. She just celebrated the 8th year of her business, jcaroline creative!, and has been kind enough to reflect on the lessons she's learned along the way and pass some of those along to us. Take it away, Caroline!

{reflections : photo by Camil Tulcan}

Or "The things I have to remind myself everyday"

We just celebrated our 8th anniversary at jcaroline creative! and though I can't call the business an overwhelming financial success, it has survived eight years, which must say something. Though sometimes I wonder if it isn't a testament to my stubbornness more than my business acumen.

So, as I thought about where we've been in the last eight years, I came up with some themes that I need to keep reminding myself that might be helpful to you in your business, too.

1. Vendors can make or break your business

A vendor that rewards you with timely deliveries and a liberal credit line can mean the difference between your business having items to sell or not. Treat your vendors (especially your good ones) like they are your best friend because they are. Even the ones that are mediocre can usually be convinced to improve with a little sweet-talking. And don't forget to use your vendors as a strategic partner, if necessary. If you have an opportunity that could benefit both of you, discuss it with them and see how they could help.

2. Don't get upset about every little hiccup, because there will always be a hiccup

And if each one shuts you down mentally or emotionally for a day or two, you'll never survive.  Yes, some hiccups are huge and will give you pause. Just make sure you aren't over-reacting to the small ones.

3. Everything in business involves risk

Some you can avoid, but some you just have to manage. Think through the series of disasters that could occur and have some idea of how you will attack them as they arise. Then if the disasters occur, you'll be better prepared to address them. And don't forget rule #2.

4. Maintain some sort of work/life balance

August Goal Check-in & some Freebies!

Hi all! Sorry it was so quiet around here last week. I've been really pre-occupied lately with house hunting, and needed a little break with at least one blog for a bit. I hope you understand.

I wanted to be sure and pop in today though to give you a mid-month goal meetup reminder for August!

It's August 18th, you officially have 2 weeks left in the month to get those goals accomplished. How's it coming so far? If you haven't checked anything off your list yet, do so today! Just one thing. Crossing something off would feel sooo good, wouldn't it? You can do it!

Also, I've had a couple (super awesome and talented) readers email me recently offering some productivity freebies that I thought you might be interested in! 

FREE WEEKLY PLANNER

The 1st is Esther Coombs, an amazing illustrator who gives new life to vintage china with her hand-drawn embellishments.

She created a hand-illustrated little planner that she uses daily to keep track of her to-dos and organize her time. She thought it could help some of you stay organized too, so she's offered it here as a free download! Here's a mini-version of it so you can see what it looks like. Download the full size below and print out to use it yourself!

Retail: Brick by Brick- Good Presentation

{Photo by frippy.}

Its our last post in the Business Plan Challenge! We know a number of you are following along and writing as we go. At this point you have the bulk of your plan completed. Congrats!

After all that hard work, we have a few tips on how to present your Business Plan in a professional manner:

Use a staple, not a folder - It's important to put your best foot forward when presenting your business to a bank, but use a simple staple to keep your plan together. A folder creates more bulk and can become a nuisance instead of a benefit to the reader.

Title Page - The first page of your business plan should include the name of your business and your name and contact information. It should also state the date the plan was created or updated and copyright information.

Table of Contents - Located after the Title Page, a table of contents is included for the reader to easily flip to important sections.

Financial Statements - Your prepared Financial Statements are attached at the end of your business plan. They can be printed off as spreadsheets but need to be numbered and included in the Table of Contents.

Appendix -  The appendix is optional, but it can be used to include outside information that supports your business case. For our Business Plan we included a few articles from respected  publications that supported and clarified our business idea. The Appendix should be no more than 10 pages and is numbered and included in the Table of Contents.

We wish you luck with your business and writing your plan!

We've been working away behind the scenes on our retail shop, and we'll be back soon to talk retail with you!

Lili Nedved and Henry Sinha are opening a brick and mortar retail store in Vancouver, Canada. With lots experience staying up late and working on Lili’s handbag business, iglubu, Henry was recently promoted from an Electrical Engineer to Director of Fabric Organization. Lili hopes her Finance degree will give her the edge in the competition for Employee of the Month.

Starting Small, Growing Slowly

Today I'm pleased to share this fantastic guest post by Joanna Petrone of Ach Ach Leibling. Joanna started her jewelry business in 2006 while also working as a freelance writer and researcher. Her business grew slowly and expanded organically over the years, and is now how she makes her full time living, with sights set on further expansion of her studio by 2010.

She has learned that despite rearing-to-go intentions to dive in head first into things, success inevitably comes from trial and error, from looking before you leap, from learning by experience. Your business simply is not going to become an overnight success, no matter how much you may wish that were the case. It takes time, patience, planning, assessing and Joanna's advice on how slow growth leads to smart success. 

{photo by nelle100. Start small, grow slowly. Easy does it.}

For people who are naturally inclined to plan and organize, it’s probably a no-brainer to look before leaping when starting a business, but for others, myself included, it can seem impossibly frustrating to do anything other than roll up the shirtsleeves and just make a mess. But you can learn a lot through the trial-and-error of experience, and there are some definite benefits to starting small, in a part-time trial or hobby mode, and seeing where that takes you.

Starting small and growing slowly gives you the time to develop your skills, the flexibility to experiment with different styles, and the opportunity to test your products in the market. You can gauge customer response before you expose yourself to the pressure of relying on your business financially. And by growing slowly and reinvesting your fledgling business profits into tools and development, you can diffuse your startup expenses over a timeframe that is manageable within the constraints of your budget and your life.   

Even if your business is only in its seed form, making the effort now to put down a groundwork capable of supporting your business as it grows can save you hours, heartache and hard-earned dough down the line while preparing your business with the best possible chances for long-term success.