Sunday, November 13, 2011

One month in...

Here I am, one month in of being in business.  What can I say?  I'm working hard, learning more every day, and am pretty sure that I'm crazy.

Since it's November, some thanks are in order:
--Many thanks to my growing list of customers.  Your bags of fiber are kind of like presents to me:  I get to open them up, play with them and then happily give them back for you to enjoy.
--Enormous thanks to Mom, who believed in me
--Enormous thanks to my husband, who growled a lot, did the construction work, believes in me and is really sad that he can't park his truck in the garage anymore.
--Many thanks to my daughter, the accountant, who still thinks I'm crazy

Things I've learned over the last month:
--Label every bag, every tray, every bin.  No mix-ups have occurred, but as the number of in-process orders has grown, I can see where that would be a real possibility.
--Fine wools and exotic fibers take time to work with.  Settle down, relax and enjoy the loveliness of the final product.
--Even better, enjoy that product and learn to stagger the in-process fiber so that I can work on something else at the same time.
--Order form needs to be redesigned, no flow to it (but this is mostly done). 
--Need to finish flyers (again, mostly done).  Decided to make them "rack card" size (approx. 3-1/4" x 8-1/4") with pricing structure, contact info. and such on it. 
--Need to set up web page.  Must. call. Frontier.  New computer has templates built in.  Hopefully can just upload and be done!
--My stash was already extensive.  The front hall closet is entirely full of a lovely variety of fibers.  This is the additional stash created by purchasing fleeces to practice with.  Yep, 30 pounds of wool roving in various colors.
--A dog crate makes a pretty good "wool safe" and protects it from my small, naughty, fluff loving dog.
--Sweep often.  Dust bunnies are an understatement.