2018 Etsy review guide
I must stop avoiding the nasty/boring end of my business..
So. The end of 2018 was hectic. I was organising Etsy Made Local, my youngest was graduating from primary school we started a renovation and well, Christmas, birthday, new year’s festivities etc, etc. I placed my Etsy shops on holiday mode. (Even though I wasn’t actually on holiday) I couldn’t service my customers and was refunding 50% of my sales because of that. Things got on top of me. I wasn’t upset by it.- Its just how things go. no sweat. But I want to start again this year, and I’m reluctant to unless I have a plan!! I have goals - these are life goals and dreams, why I started my business and indeed why we all work in the first place like - ‘To save for an annual holiday, to allow me to buy those special ‘extras’ like fancy clothes, shoes, makeup etc. To have extra income for when we furnish our renovated home, and to create a luxury garden (again once we renovate)’ SO... I wanted to start with a plan. I purchased the digital copy of the makers business toolkit (www.makerbusinesstooklit.com) and Im working through that. (Highly reccomend it) One section that really stood out was the section I avoid because it makes me apprehensive, I need to look at numbers and numbers & money are evil (not really, but thats how I feel) BUT... It wasn’t that bad!! These are the steps I took: Slight adaption from the Makers Tool Kit which is set out all nicely in workbook format and looks more attractive and easier than this! Find a notebook, or copy and paste the following into a word document and write it down!!
SALES + PROFITS
What were my total sales in 2018? What were my total expenses (difficult to judge if you sell elsewhere if not just using etsy but useful) What were my total profits? How do I feel about these numbers? - better, worse than I thought? Where did all my $$ go!?
CUSTOMERS + FOLLOWERS
How many people visited my Etsy website in 2018? (use Etsy stats, click traffic and set the date range to 2018) How much did this number change from 2017-2018 (use Etsy stats, click traffic and set the date range to 2017) How many people are on my mailing list? How much did this number grow in 2018? How many followers do I have on my main social network? How much did this number grow in 2018? How many followers do I have on my secondary social media site? How much did this number grow in 2018? How do I feel about these numbers?
MY PRODUCT RANGE
What product is my ‘best seller’ based on my gut feeling or knowledge of lines (dont cheat, just put down what you think) What products were VISITED the most in 2018 on Etsy? (use Etsy stats, click Listings and set the date range to 2018) View the VISITS column. click the column and sort to highest What products were ORDERED the most in 2018 on Etsy? (use Etsy stats, click listing and set the date range to 2018) View the ORDERS column. click the column and sort to highest What products gave the most REVENUE in 2018 on Etsy? (use Etsy stats, click Listings and set the date range to 2018) View the REVENUE column. click the column and sort to highest For the highest revenue product, How much profit do I make each time I sell one? What percentage of sales come from my best selling product? What percentage of sales come from my most profitable product How is this different to your initial gut feeling? What products didn’t work well this year? (repeat same exercises as above only reverse the order) Do I know why these products didn’t do so well? How do I feel about my product range? - DO I have to many, too few, a range of price points (High medium low) is too much of my income and social media efforts tied to a low profit product?
