Looking Back at 2013 - Goal Setting

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As January rolls on and 2014 starts to settle in, I want to take a look back at last year's goals as I start to finalize my goals for this year. I always like seeing how I did last year and reassess what worked and what didn't. It helps me to have a clear path of where I want to be this year.

Last year I broke my goals into Short-Term, Mid-Term and Long-Term Goals. In this post I just want to take a look back. And later this week, I'll post my goals for the rest of 2014.

Short-Term Goals

Heart Earrings

Stay up-to-date on my cost log and tax info: I will say that I did fairly well in this area. Since I started doing quarterly self-employment taxes this year, I pretty much had to stay up-to-date in order to have a close idea of what to pay for taxes. I didn't keep up monthly, but did keep up quarterly. (big exception in the 4th quarter!)

Learn about self-employment taxes:As I mentioned above, I did do these quarterly. They were actually pretty simple. I just pulled the numbers from my cost log and sales log and made the proper calculations. My tax preparer had printed off the vouchers for the entire year, so I had all the dates and addresses I need.

List the jewelry items that I have made: I'll give myself a B- here. I got a lot of the jewelry listed that I had on hand at the time. But I've amassed even more items that still need photographed and listed!

Mid-Term Goals

Ampersand Invitation

Make and list new wood invitation and wood greeting card designs: My goal here was to list 5 new invitations and 5 new cards. I completed the invitations very early in the year (woohoo!) and did a great job on the cards. I had some Mother's Day and Father's Day designs ready to make, but with family issues, never got them listed. So this year I have them all ready and will have them in the shop.

 Add wedding sets: Another goal only half accomplished. I actually made RSVP cards for several of my designs...even photographed some of them. But never got them listed in the shop...ugh. I did get some new table number designs listed. I really hope to get these up and running this year.

Organize my storage space and work area: Hmmm...if by organize, I meant take over the whole house...mission accomplished! As my business has grown, it's been so hard to find a place for everything and stay organized! Once my new studio is complete, I will have more space than I can ever fill (well, almost) plus some of the old space. It will be so much easier to stay organized with the proper space and shelving!

Long-Term Goals

Custom Ornament

1,200 Sales on Etsy in 2013: I'm so excited to give myself an A+ in this category! I totally underestimated my business (which is a good thing). I had 2,244 sales in 2013!!! And 376 in the month of December alone...holy cow! This totally blows my mind and makes me so happy all at the same time!

Learn about graphic design: While I did learn more about my graphic design software, I didn't take any formal classes like I had hoped. I seem to learn something new every day though, so I'm working toward my goal. I would still love to take at least an entry level class to learn more about the actual design process.

Overall, the year was an amazing success. There are still areas I need to work on, but I couldn't be happier with how my business did in 2013. Now it's time to look ahead and think of all the great things to come in 2014!