I was talking with a client today and she mentioned that one of her items sells well but she really hates making it as it is fiddly, time consuming, and has a lot of breakages in the process.
She was thinking that because it is her top seller, that she couldn’t stop making it. But then she said that she suspects that she is even losing money on it.
My answer to her was, if you really don’t like making it you don’t have to, especially if you’re losing money on it. Find another item to replace it that you do like making. It is your business and you are the boss.
She looked at me and went huh, I have never thought of it that way.
What she was thinking was that because it was a top-seller, she had to keep making them. It was like she needed someone to give her permission to do something different than what she’d always done.
We then went on to talk about alternative solutions, like doing bigger runs of that item for better economies of scale, and scheduling the making of them for when she feels like doing it so that she is not feeling ruled by her work/passion.
We also talked about putting their price up and creating a marketing message around them that they are only going to be available at a certain time of the year, so get in quick then.
It is about thinking outside the box and sometimes a random conversation will have the answers you need.
Everyone is your teacher. What do you need to learn today?
Sometimes you do have to do things you don’t like, but if you are not following your passion on a consistent basis then you will start to resent the work you are doing.
If our business is not filling us with excitement and passion should we be doing it?
Something for us all to think about.
Bookkeeping is often one of those tasks that business owners are not excited about. Get in touch and we can help you to free up your time to do the things you are passionate about.