Last updated on February 9th, 2011 at 09:36 am
I can't read my own handwriting. That's what computers are for.
As I was preparing my Christmas list, I thought, Isn’t there something I was planning on selling for Christmas?
Oh yeah.
I launched a jewelry site several months ago as part of my entrepreneurial dream of having multiple streams of income. Did I prepare the site for holiday sales and promote the jewelry for Christmas presents?
No.
It’s one thing to launch an entrepreneurial dream; it’s quite another to pay attention to it so that the streams of income keep flowing to a bank account.
How did I forget to create a plan for selling my jewelry over the holidays – or even on Cyber Monday? Is it that having so many streams of income ideas keeps me too scattered to focus on making just one successful?
Or am I afraid at being successful? Or is it that I am just not well-organized and I need a better plan for staying on top of my entrepreneurial dreams?
What can we learn from my big entrepreneurial mistake?
1. Put it on the calendar.
This sounds way too obvious. You know December is coming, right? I know I’m not the only one who is a bit surprised that the year is almost gone. The sales-season sneaked up on me.
2. Take a look at what’s holding you back.
When I finally dug out my list of jewelry that had photos and prices I immediately got overwhelmed. I needed names and descriptions for several new pieces of jewelry. That required a creative brain cell on a Saturday after shopping. In public. With people. This task proceeded to eat up 16 hours of my weekend.
3. Get organized.
Of course if I’m coming up with all these details, I might as well get it organized in a spreadsheet. This makes sense to me for several reasons. I’m comfortable with spreadsheets (nerd) and I eventually want to get this information into the online store. This is WAY easier if I already have the information already in digital format (not paper).
4. Find your motivation for getting things done.
Although I can’t say putting major gift holidays on a calender; looking at what work needed to be done and getting organized resulted in putting more products online; I can say it motivated me to get something done on my dream and helped me recognize my own self-sabotaging habits.
Sometimes you need to talk a good hard look at your dreams and make sure you are on track. Needless to say I am looking successful jewelry sales in 2010. After I take an aspirin.
Heather
Heather’s dream is to have multiple streams of income, starting with launching an e-commerce website that showcases her one-of-a-kind designer jewelry, which are crafted by her. Heather’s post day is Friday.
Heather Montgomery is a fitness writer, triathlete, and serial entrepreneur who is devoted to sharing what she has learned about becoming a triathlete after age 40. She uses her Metabolic Training Certification to help other women struggling to get fit in mid-life. She lives and trains in Santa Rosa, California, the new home of the Ironman triathlon. You can find her biking the Sonoma County wine trails.
Note: Articles by Heather may contain affiliate links and will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on an affiliate link.
