2010 Goals

Did I just burn your eyes with that post?? It's only September and here I am thinking about 2010 goals...yikes! Well, I was watching tv the other day and someone said there were umpteen weeks left in the year...WEEKS!!! WEEKS?? You can't cut the rest of my year down into weeks! I need months, days, hours and minutes...those sound way longer no? But the fact is as a small biz, my life revolves around this impending end of year where the maximum of my sales happen. Drawer liners, tea towels, and whatever else I've dreamed up make a mad dash to the post office to make it in time to the homes of those who love the handmade. Phew! Then I crash sometime after Christmas and am still too tired by New Year's to do anything but watch the Honeymooners marathon. Oh, who am I kidding? I watch the honeymonners marathon every year without fail :)

But this year it's time to think about smart expansion. You see, I do everything by hand...everything I say. Currently I keep little to no stock, just fabric and print as necessary. That happened to be the best way to start, but now with a growing business it's time for the next step. You know, the one that will allow me to put on the other 10 hats I wear. Accountant, clean up crew, tradeshow display maven, customer service, etc. So with that said here are next years goals in order of importance... but the most important being to grow this little business of mine organically and independently.

1) Hire PR firm- very necessary

2)Outsource printing of fabric and possibly drawer liners

3) Tailor collection of prints

4)Do at least one major tradeshow, most likely NYIFG

Pricing & the small business...

So in developing an organic bath and body line I finally came across real pricing dilemmas. When I started Hammocks & High Tea (as a wee stationery line), I found it easy to compare it to other goods on the market. Most A2 sized cards are the same price, letterpress will be a dollar or two more expensive. Ok, lets look at tea towels. Anywhere from $8 / $10 to $18 / $22 per each tea towel. I took my measurements, looked at the amount of work and time it required to cut/print/sew each one as well as the ability to wholesale them, which was an important aspect developing my business. But I fell into a dangerous small business owner category. Will customers pay for this if it cost $22? The fact of the matter is that cheap moves quickly, and cheap and cute moves even faster. I was happy with my end retail price but wholesale was cutting it close, and when the cost of my supplies increased, I had to increase my prices. As my friend at organic clothing co. Earthy Beginnings told me (cause, really every small biz has been throught it), 'price your goods for what they are worth in the first place'.

So in developing Ilha Organics I was back in the price boat but with a whole lot more ingredients. Ones that come in tiny vials with high price tags..I swear I hold my breath while opening these oils for fear of inhaling the entire contents in a single breath. 20 roses for one drop of oil...aye aye aye! Could I have chosen not to go organic? Sure. But organic supports people like me for one thing, and pouring wonderful smelling, chemically processed oils into a product that goes on freshly washed, damp skin...ummm, just doesn't sound sexy to me. It's easy to write a thesis on organic vs. non-organic, and since I found plenty in my research for this line I'll leave it out of this post. But at the end of the day, I'm a small business trying to price fairly for great products (oh, please stop clapping, I'm embarrassed :), and I know for sure I'm not in this boat alone.

Ilha Organics Official Launch...really...officially..

Ilha Organics will launch on 9/14 but I was too excited about my new packaging and photographs to hold out until then. As this collection will only be offered online, I wanted the packaging to literally breathe organic luxury. The labels are a beautiful textured paper with an updated apothecary feel and a nod to the carib roots of the product...phew!
In other news, I'd like to embarrass my friend and photographer Rayon Richards , who got exactly what I wanted after seeing the packaging alone. It is what I wanted and then some...and I'm trying desperately to convince him to start teaching indie designers how to take amazing product photos...nudge, nudge.