This has been one of my favourite quotes since this song was released (I think it's been a while!) and I thought it was most fitting to share on here today!
With the amazing growth of my business I have had to do some thinking about how to run things more smoothly. This is an ever-changing process, a fluid motion, and I am learning daily how to find balance in my business life.
You will NOT hear me complaining that I have too much to do....that would be ungrateful and, well -foolish -on my part. I am beyond blessed that I have the following that I do, and that I have an abundance of requests for custom orders. I am a lucky woman!
You WILL hear me complaining however, that I don't know how to manage my time well enough! I love every part of my business and have a hard time delegating or saying no. My business is my life, and sometimes I forget where my personal life ends and my business life starts...they are just so much integrated into one another.
SO, with that being said, I am going to try to adjust my store structure, etc, slightly - in an effort to still serve everyone in the best way I can, but to allow myself to be more productive and energized (and creative!). I know I will not be able to please everyone (I have learned that well over the last year or so!), but I am hoping that the majority of people will be supportive of what I am trying to achieve.
Instead of having regular store hours, I have reduced the hours to as follows:
Tuesday through Friday BY APPOINTMENT - Clients are most welcome to come and do pick ups and have consultations during these times, I will be at the store, but it will be closed to the general public. Please message me or call me to set up a time. This will allow me to get more custom work done and get pieces stocked for the weekend.
EVERY SATURDAY I plan to run a STOCK SALE, which means that all the new finished and as is pieces will be available on Saturdays from 10 am until 4pm.
PREVIEWS will be posted on Friday evening which will include pictures and details of finished pieces that will be debuting that week and will be up for grabs.
TO PURCHASE pieces on the Stock Sale Day, you can either come in person or call to purchase.
There will not be any holds on items, and no pre-sales, as this is not fair to everyone else (and I will have to stick to my guns on that!). Payments will be via Cash, EMT, or PayPal. Credit card accepted in store, may be subject to a 2.5% service charge.
IF PAINTED PIECES DO NOT SELL on that week's Stock Sale, they may be put online for purchase or auction in order to keep inventory moving.
AUCTIONS will still be run periodically throughout the week for smaller items and/or leftover stock sale items.
REMINDER that if you are interested in something that is available on Facebook, I cannot hold items based on messages or comments - this is not fair to me when I have others interested in purchasing an item, and I am waiting for a response from someone online (I never know how long a response might take - yes you might plan on getting back to me right away, but I don't know if it will be 1 hour or 24...). I know it stinks to have items "sold from underneath you", I really really do get that, but please understand that this is my business, and I need to keep pieces moving as I rely on that income. I cannot risk a sale, as I have been burned many times while waiting for someone to decide of they want something, or to send a payment.
Therefore, standing rule is that a piece is not considered sold until Payment is received - FIRST PAYMENT, FIRST SERVED, just like in a regular retail store, on Etsy, etc.
I appreciate the vast majority of you who are very understanding with this process, thank you!!
Again, I am very blessed to have such awesome clients/fans - please give me some slack while I do some restructuring, and try to find some balance :)
Have a fantastic week!
-A
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