how I stay organised (part one)

one of the hardest parts of being self-employed, and running a small business all on your own, is definitely staying organised. I'm a pretty anal person at the best of times - I make lists for absolutely everything, I love colour coding, I have an unhealthy collection of stationery. so it seems natural that these traits would get incorporated into my business, and I thought I'd share how I keep on top of things and keep myself organised.

I actually have three diaries altogether! I don't carry them all with me all the time - in fact I normally only ever take one out of the house. but I found that I couldn't keep track of all the different things in just one diary. I have;

- an A4 sized week on two pages diary with vertical columns (mine is a black hardcover one from WHSmith)
- an A5 sized day per page diary (mine is a metallic silver leather soft cover one from Paperchase)
- an A5 sized week on two pages diary (mine is a spiral bound hardcover one with a triangle pattern on from Calendar Club)

first up, the A5 sized week on two pages diary. in this I keep general events - I don't write too much detail in here, usually just events, appointments, meetings, that sort of thing, along with any important deadlines. this is the diary I carry round with me most of the time as it's the smallest and lightest, and it has all the important dates and such in it so I can check it on the go!

next up, the A5 sized day per page diary. I write all the important info, such as birthdays, events, markets, and the sort, at the top next to the date, so I can spot it easily. the rest of the page I use to write my to do lists - I write a full to do list for each day either first thing in the morning, or the evening before, but I will also write things in as and when they come up. so if I am doing a market on a Sunday, I will make sure to write in on the Friday before that I need to pack and organise my bags ready for the market. I always write in pencil in here, so if I don't complete a job on the day it was originally written on, I can rub it out and pencil it in on another day.

I've found having a diary like this means I get less stressed - if I have a really busy week with lots to do, I will sit down and write all the things I need to do on a scrap piece of paper, and then transfer this list into my diary, so I can see which jobs need doing more urgently, or need doing on a certain day.

finally, I use the A4 week on two page diary, which has super handy vertical columns for each day, to keep track of blog posts (what I'm blogging and when), social networking posts, events, deadlines, collection launches, that sort of thing. I write individual things on little pieces of paper, and colour code them using patterned washi tape. this means I can move things around easily as the washi tape unsticks easily, which is particularly handy for blog posts - sometimes I need to move blog posts to a different date for whatever reason, so this means I don't end up with lots of scribbled out bits on every day! it's also handy for planning my year ahead - I can provisionally put in launch dates for new ranges throughout the year, and then easily move them nearer the time if needs be.

I do a rough plan for the month ahead at the start of each new month, and then each Monday morning I take an hour or so to plan my week ahead, dividing up jobs according to how urgent they are, as well as working out any things that need doing for any events coming up (so if I'm launching a new collection I know I need to make an email newsletter, take product photos, work out a promotional offer etc.) it probably sounds like a lot of fuss having three diaries, and writing things down three times, but I have been doing it this way for two years and actually find it easier! it's automatic for me now to write things in all three diaries.

how do you guys stay organised? do you have any top tips for being organised and staying on top of things? obviously my way won't work for everyone as everyone is different and works in different ways, but I hope that it maybe helps some people! I also have a second post coming about how I keep track of ideas, what I want to do and when, keeping on top of social networking, so look out for that!

top 5 books for setting up a small business

when setting up Ladybird Likes I bought and read a LOT of books about starting, running, and growing a handmade business. and a lot of them were a bit rubbish. there seem to be SO many books out there about the subject, and they cover a lot of the same stuff, so I thought I'd share my personal top five (yes, I know there are actually six here, but two of them are part of a two part series, so thought I'd class those as one. plus, five just sounds better.) I wouldn't recommend necessarily buying all of these, as there is quite a bit of repetition between them, but I've tried to give a little summary of the main areas they cover so you can see which would be the best fit for you....

1. The Handmade Marketplace and Grow Your Handmade Business by Kari Chapin. Although these two books aren't directly tied together as a two part series, they follow logically on from one another. Handmade Marketplace covers the basics for starting selling your handmade items online and in shops, with some really interesting Q and A type sessions with people from within an appropriate area of the industry (so when talking about applying for and selling at craft fairs, they interview Alison Gordon who runs Boston Bazaar Bizarre.) This means you get a real insight into what goes on behind the scenes, and get tips and tricks specific to the industry. Grow Your Handmade Business goes on to discuss 'how to envision, develop, and sustain a successful creative business.' So this book is for when you have your business set up, and you're ready to take it further. It's set up in the same way as the first book, but it goes more in depth in areas that only really crop up when your business is more established, such as budgeting, licensing, loans etc. It helps you to start evaluating what aspects of your business need work, what's good and what's bad.

2. Craft Inc. By Mateo Ilasco. This was the first creative business guide I ever bought, and it's still one of my favourites. It helped me so much when I was just starting out, and working out things like wholesale and consignment, and pricing. I'm not sure why this has only got one review on Amazon, and that's a one star review. It's true that it does contain some information that is specific only to America, such as taxes and copyright laws, but the majority of it is general information that would be applicable in any country. I really love this book, as it's broken down into really logical sections - from creating a business plan, to branding, to marketing and publicity strategies. Each chapter contains handy bullet points and often little checklists so you can tick off when you've done something, which I find extremely fulfilling! There is also a real life casestudy for each section, featuring lots of big names such as Lotta Jansdotter, Renegade Craft Fair, and Design Sponge.

3. Handmade to Sell by Kelly Rand. Written by the directors of Hello Craft, a nonprofit association for crafty entrepreneurs, it's clear these guys know what they're talking about, after years of working with small business owners. Set out in much the same way as the other books, with different chapters covering different topics, this book is packed full of some really useful tips on a huge range of areas. Great for anyone just starting a crafty business.

4. The Craft Business Handbook by Alison McNicol.  This is probably the most 'basic' of the five books - a lot of the areas seem dumbed down quite a bit, but not necessarily in a bad way, just in a way that's obviously meant to make them easier to understand. It does have some useful checklists at the end of chapters, with a mini sort of 'to do list' to cover before moving on to the next chapter. Alison has also authored a book called Craft Business Heroes which is pretty much just 30 awesome creative business owners sharing the stories and tips and what they've learnt. It's not so much a handbook type book, but it's so interesting to read, and I actually found it more inspiring than a lot of these 'how to' type books - after all, what better way to learn something than from those who've tried before you and succeeded?

5. Etsypreneurship by Jason Malinak. As you can probably guess from the title, this book is aimed at people selling craft items on Etsy. It does include information that is applicable to other online marketplaces, but if you're not selling on Etsy as your primary source of revenue, I'd probably give this one a miss! That being said, if you do sell on Etsy, this book covers a lot of ground, a lot of it ground you didn't even know existed. While some of the information seems a bit out of date (my edition is from 2013 but already stuff has changed on Etsy!) most of it is still relevant. Great guide if you want to know more about selling on Etsy and growing your sales on there - or if you just want to know lots of facts about Etsy!


So there you have it folks! I hope this post has been of some use to someone out there! Also, it's worth noting, there is a TON of amazing free information and business guides out there on the internet too - you don't need to go out and buy a book to get this information, but I'm just a bit of a bookworm (and a total geek) so I like to cosy up in bed and read up about how to make my business better!

Oh, and if anyone else has any business type books to recommend then please do!