2019 Goal Review
Last week I did a deep dive into my goals and numbers in 2019 to set goals for 2020. I usually do this every year, but this year I was inspired to share it by Yardia’s year in review posts. I also get tons of questions about my business, so I hope this will be helpful to someone who’s getting started or just curious.
2019 Goal Review
Goal #1 and favorite goal achieved: Take off more time in 2019 to relax, have fun and not work.
Goal Highlights:
In April, Mike and I stayed in a converted WWII bunker on the Olympic Peninsula (it was a mix between camping and glamping) when our plans for Vancouver BC were thwarted.
In May, we took an 8-day trip to Rarotonga, the largest of the Cook Islands in the South Pacific.
In June, I took a 4-day girls’ trip to San Diego with one of my BFFs and visited two of my college softball teammates.
In September, we took an 11-day trip to the East Coast to visit family.
On that same trip, we went on a 3-day cruise to the Bahamas to celebrate my brother-in-law’s birthday.
In December, I shut down the studio and took a 2-week staycation. My other brother-in-law visited us for five days and Mike and I used that time to rest and enjoy downtime… I’d love to do it again this year!
Steps taken to reach goal:
I blocked off the time I wanted to take off in my calendar- nights, weekends, vacations.
Blocking out vacations ahead of time was crucial! We didn’t always know what we’d do or if we’d travel but knowing we had an upcoming break gave us something to look forward to.
Takeaways:
Overall I spent more time with friends and family and got to enjoy more nights and weekends off.
Because I’d made this my primary goal for the year, I soaked it all up guilt-free, and that was a big deal.
Things that helped reshape my idea of rest and taking time off:
I discovered The Nap Ministry on Instagram towards the end of 2019. The person that runs the account has some powerful messaging that encouraged me to rest and to never feel bad about it.
At a recent coffee hang with Elizabeth Person and Kimberly Mattson, the topic of sleep came up. We’d all concluded that since we’re all artists in charge of setting our work schedule, we should feel confident about prioritizing sleep. We should take advantage of the benefits afforded us in this artist life and sleep and rest are pretty darn good benefits!
Goal #2: I want to pay myself and for Cat Snapp Studio to be profitable.
ACHIEVED!
2018 was the first year that my business was profitable and it happened by accident because I didn’t know how to handle business finances beyond planning for taxes. I also didn’t know how to pay myself after years of putting all my income into starting up my studio. So being profitable in 2018 was a technicality. Since starting my business I’ve learned that owners not paying themselves is way more common than you’d think, but I needed to make changes to make this a sustainable practice for the long haul.
2018 was also the year I worked with an advisor at the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and learned a lot about foundations of business. This was a big key for me moving forward and I saw the biggest changes in 2019 as a result.
So my goal in 2019 was to pay myself regularly and to have Cat Snapp Studio make a profit. And by profit, all I mean is that I wanted my business to make more money than it spent to run it.
Steps taken:
I read Profit First by Mike Michalowicz and Profit First for e-Commerce by Cyndi Thomason and began implementing the principles in both. I set aside 30 minutes a week to read and implement the teachings until I finished the books. This paired with working with SBDC has made ALL the difference for me when it comes to understanding and planning finances in my business. Profit First helped me to build and adhere to a zero-based budget for my business where every dollar earned has a plan and purpose. It was a big challenge at first, but every week I learned more about the financial health of my business and made adjustments as a result.
Profit First was recommended in The Paper + Craft Pantry’s newsletter a couple of years ago and I immediately added it to my reading list. And since then I’ve had a great support group in Yardia & Honeyberry Studios, two Seattle stationers who also use Profit First.
To maintain business cash flow, I decided to pay myself on commission only. This means that I only paid myself based on what I sold rather than an hourly wage or a salary. With my overall goal being to pay myself more and regularly, paying myself on commission allowed me to pay myself regularly while dialing in on my business budget and accounting. I want to eventually move away from this model, but it worked well this year.
Profit to me equals opportunity for growth and a healthy business.
A big lesson I learned about profit is that your business can be tiny and make a larger profit than a massive company. A massive company might not ever make any profit. So once I comprehended that, I wanted to focus on maximizing what I could do with just me in the business for now.
Profit allows me to pay myself more, which at this stage in my business any extra income earned has a major impact on my personal budget.
Profit allows me to build a business emergency fund for slow months or unexpected expenses. This has been way more exciting than I thought it’d be. As a risk-averse person, it feels good to know that my business can handle the ups and downs a little better.
Profit allows me to consider adding equipment, invest in a new product line, or any number of things that cost money beyond a regular occurring business expense. I haven’t quite reached this point, but it’s looking like it can happen in 2020 if I work hard.
Goal #3: Spend 8 hours in the studio per week making new art.
DID NOT ACHIEVE
I fell short of this goal, but I don’t feel bad about it. My business made so much progress in 2019 that I’m proud of the goals I did achieve. I’m looking at what changes I can make to reach this goal in 2020.
Even though these don’t count as my intended goal, I need to give myself credit for the effort and time these projects took:
Released 17 new stickers (10 of which are currently in my online shop).
Working on the stickers reinforced my need to learn the Adobe CC programs in a formal capacity, so I signed up for Intro to InDesign and Intro to Illustrator at School of Visual Concepts in Seattle. Both are 5-week classes and the information and learning have been worth the drive to Seattle each week during rush hour.
I released a couple of big batches of handbound journals this year that were super fun to create and sell, but ultimately took up too much of my available studio time. I’m re-evaluating how to still keep journals in my line but reclaim some of the production time.
Lessons learned in 2019
Block out time for rest, fun, and vacation! This was successful for me and I will continue it in 2020.
Say no to any event where the organizer wants you there to “activate the space”, such as trunk shows or workshops in retail shops. Every single event like this to date has led to either canceled events or unsuccessful streams of income. And on that note…
I’ve had the best success in teaching classes and workshops at places where people go to learn. Sounds so straightforward, but sometimes you have to live and learn. :)
Setting a limit for pro bono and volunteer work has been supremely beneficial for my mental health. And it’s okay to be selective about volunteer work to say yes to.
Reducing commission work helped my business grow. It sounds counterintuitive, but it’s true!
Thanks for reading about my 2019 journey. See ya in Part 2: 2019 by the numbers!
This is part 1 of a three-part series. Check out all the posts via the links below:
Part 1: 2019 Goal Review (You are here.)
And an extra you might like if you liked this post: Resources that helped my handmade business