How I organize myself in my Craft Business: Part 3 – Staying Seasonal

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The first part of this series is: How I organize myself in my Craft Business: Part 1 – Paper work.

The second part of this series is: How I organize myself in my Craft Business: Part 2 – Time Management.

Why be seasonal in your Craft Business?

A readiness be seasonal in your craft business will make you more relevant and hopefully more busy! Of course some businesses are more driven by the seasons and the holidays than others, but most of us can devote a percentage our inventory in order to capitalise on Christmas, Summer, Valentines, Easter, Winter, and so on. Periods such holidays put people more in a mood to buy because there is purpose to buy! So it makes sense to sell relevant items in order to anticipate their needs.

Start thinking, planning & preparing a Season in advance

So if we want our craft business to be ready for the upcoming holiday or season we have to prepare in advance. If you are busy making items for the Christmas holidays during the Christmas holidays than you are taking away precious time and energy from selling and marketing your items at the crucial time, thus increasing your chances of being left with unsold Christmas stock…urgh!

How I try to Prepare for the Seasons

In my experience I find it best to work a season in advance. So for example to be ready for Spring/Summer I start thinking about it in mid Autumn, I hope to have selected and ordered Spring/Summer stock by mid winter, and I hope for it have all delivered by the the end of winter. This gives me a couple of weeks after New Year to have all photography, product descriptions, and marketing ideas all sorted before we all turn our attentions to Spring/Summer in Feb/March. Well that’s the plan anyway, it doesn’t always pan out like that So my craft business focuses on craft supplies, but if your business is centered upon handmade items the principle is still the same. For example; the peak selling time for Summer goods is now over (and lots of sales are on so the Summer stock can be shifted to make way for next season) and by now you ideally should already be in production of your Autumn/Winter items.

Start Preparations with Research

One of the keys to staying one step ahead is research this is because in order to be ready for the next season/holiday a certain amount of prediction is involved. We have to hone our fortune teller skills by trying to figure out what key things, events, people, colours, etc. are going to have an influence on fashion or lifestyle trends.

Fortunately for us Goobers (that is Amy Butler’s term for folks like me (and a lot of you) who LOVE the internet and technology. I met and chatted her last week and she called me a Goober! I was so touched!) Info about what’s new, what is hot, and is going to be hot is never far away. Check out the blogs you love, check out the craft portal sites, and get a feel for what the crafting world is being influenced by. Other sources of research can include magazines, film, music, whatever! The secret is to not just copy what is going on, but to learn what is happening out there and then interpret these influences in your own special way. Here are some of the those sites (make a cuppa, get yourself some biccies, and get researchin’):

Understand the trading patterns within a season.

Another Key to staying one step ahead is understanding the trading patterns of a season. This will help you plan and prepare to make the most of the season you are working in and also plan and prepare for the following season. My theory is the busy-ness of a season can be typically broken up into 3 parts. If you take fashions stores to be an analogy:

The Lead-up period (transitional period) - we are coming out of one season (and we are all sooo bored of it!) and we are now entering the new season. There’s a buzz about the new season in the press and the media and we are beginning to hanker for the new stuff. During this time the previous season’s items will be greatly reduced in the last of previous season sales. Time to grab a bargain winter coat for next year, but also time to start thinking of pretty summer dresses and sandals.
The In-season to peak season period – we are in the full swing of the season and (the shops hope that) a majority of the in-season items are being sold (at full-price) during this period. There are no sales on at this time, (but there may be promotions to stimulate sales), and shops are not re-stocking any In-season items. Time to buy those pretty summer dresses and sandals.
The Peak season to end of season period - just after the peak season is over (almost half way though the season) the shops start reducing the price of their items and/or putting them in promotions. The further on you go into this period the more aggressive the price reductions. The shops are off-loading their season’s stock because the next season’s stuff is already ordered and soon they will start putting it on the shop floor. And before you know it, the circus starts all over again and we are back into the Lead-up period of the next season! Time to buy some timeless classics for next summer at reduced prices.