Okay, so I have a flair for the dramatic. I am not actually on my deathbed. I am, however, on my sickbed. For those of you keeping track at home, I've been griping about Death Cold 2010 since mid-December. I found out two weeks ago that Death Cold 2010 had morphed into Inconvenient Pneumonia 2010-2011. I found this out when my inability to breathe landed me in the ER on Boxing Day. I spent the afternoon with an IV in my arm, imbibing a tasty cocktail of cough syrup, albuterol, and antibiotics.*
It took an extra week at my parents' house for me to be well enough to travel, but I finally got the go ahead to travel back to Brooklyn. I still have to rest non-stop, but now that I'm no longer sleeping 22 hours a day I have some time on my hands to think about things that I would like to accomplish in the new year.
Very Sage's Totally Attainable With a Little Work New Year's Resolutions
1. Unravel the mystery that is New York State's destination-based sales tax system
Since New York prides itself on making things as difficult as possible, it shouldn't be surprising that this fair state's system for online sales tax is a riddle wrapped in an enigma wrapped in bureaucratic red tape. I'm not tax expert, but I know that I am supposed to charge people sales tax. Since my shop is an online entity based in New York, I am supposed to charge my customers tax based on their location. This means that I cannot act as though they've walked into my quaint little imaginary shop in Brooklyn; we have to pretend that I have traveled to the buyer's political district (yep, we can't use something simple like a zip code) to make the sale. Paypal lets you set up a tax rate for your own location, but as far as I can tell there is no way to automatically add tax based on the buyer's location. The only way to handle this is to process each transaction twice: the buyer purchases the item without actually paying, then I send the buyer an updated Paypal invoice that includes the tax amount, THEN the buyer actually purchases the product. Or doesn't, because maybe she's changed her mind during all this dilly-dallying. For a more cogent and less whiny explanation of this system, check out this great blog entry at Go to Great Panes.
Like everyone else in New York, I live in fear of the Tax Man. The last thing I can afford right now is to owe him money in April. Thus, I am officially going Nancy Drew on the System to figure out what I should be doing and when I have to do it. Also, wouldn't the powers that be be better off going after all those rich people who haven't paid income tax since the 80s?
2. Design fabric labels for my products to increase brand recognition
I know, it's funny to think that something I crochet on my couch qualifies as a brand. Be that as it may, tags communicate a message -- and I don't just mean nuts and bolts information like materials and place of production. A tag makes a handmade item look more professional, and thus more desirable. Maybe if your grandma had sewed a fancy tag with a brand name like Granny Millicent's Couture into your sweaters you wouldn't have given them all to the Goodwill.
There are a few obstacles to my label goal, the main one being that I am very, very cheap. I don't want to spend loads of money on something that probably won't generate much income. I also have very specific ideas about how I want my labels to look -- the last thing I want is to be stuck with the templates and fonts that the company offers.
I think that my best bet is to invest in some satin ribbon and iron-on transfer paper. It will be a hassle to make them one at a time, but I haven't found any pre-made woven labels for the right price.
3. Streamline the Inventory
I enjoy making lots of different styles of hat, but I definitely have two styles (ear flap hats with ties and jaunty newsboys) that are most popular. I like making both of them, and I hate the thought that I will get tired of them, but it makes sense for me to make these two styles in lots of colors and hold off for a while on other items. I initially started making pins, fingerless gloves, and small purses in an effort to introduce different price points into the shop. The fact of the matter is that they are not selling very well. I always thought it was a strength to have a lot of different items, but I'm starting to think that it is hurting my shop. I've done some research on other, considerably more successful shops that offer crocheted items. They tend to offer a few designs in many colors. Maybe if I made a dozen pairs of fingerless gloves in different colors I would be able to appeal to more people. I get the sense that if shoppers do not see the color that they want, they cruise off to another shop rather than going through the process of placing a custom order.
So from now on, I'm holding off on making anything other than hats. I want to spend some time perfecting a few core styles and widening my color offerings. The good thing is that I'm my own boss on this -- if I decide I hate making the same thing over and over again, I can change things up.
One good thing on being on pneumonia-induced modified bed rest is that I have plenty of time to crochet. My sweet mom was kind enough to restock my yarn stash for Christmas, and then to supplement it again as a "We're really sorry you have pneumonia" present before I left the nest, so at least I have a lot of great materials to work with.
4. Write It Down
People often ask me if I work from patterns. All of my work is based on patterns that I design myself (once you learn to crochet a basic hat crown in the round, the world of hatting is your oyster). But here's the thing -- I've never written any of my patterns down. On occasion I'll make something I really like, sell it, and then get a request for an identical item. The last thing I want to say is "Oops, I made that hat 3 months ago and have no idea how I did it." So far I've muddled through by looking at pictures of the original hat, but it would be really helpful to have it all written down -- especially the patterns for my tried and true designs so I can make sure I'm achieving uniformity.
This will be especially helpful when I develop amnesia from trying to teach myself NY sales tax law.
Happy New Year!
*A word to the wise: if you don't have health insurance, don't even think about getting pneumonia.
