Reflecting on 2024
Hey Curly Top Jewelry Fans!
I wanted to take a moment and extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who supported me this year. Be it from sharing my posts on social media, helping me find markets to sell at, or purchasing from me, this first year in business has been an adventure. I’m grateful for each of you.
Long term, I want Curly Top Jewelry Design to be a full time job and provide for both the business and my living expenses. For 2024, my primary goal was to have this business cover its own expenses. And while I haven’t sat down to calculate the financials yet, I believe I was able to accomplish that goal. I always had enough in the Curly Top bank account to cover my vendor fees, material costs, booth upgrades, and fuel. Did I turn a profit? Probably not, but I also am not drowning in unpaid bills associated with the business. For this I’m grateful.
I’ve learned so much this year! Here’s a quick rundown
Less is more- Putting out a ton of products didn’t equate to higher sales. In some cases I think it actually worked against me. I found more success later in the year by pairing back my offerings
Presentation and lighting helps- I’ve been upgrading my displays through the year to improve my booth and I consistently hear how professional my set up looks these days. This has helped me have better sales than neighboring vendors at several events this holiday season. The LED display lights made a huge difference for the look of my jewelry at indoor markets.
Make Friends with the other vendors!- Seriously, the biggest highlight of the year for me was getting connected with other vendors in my area. I’ve met some really awesome people who have helped hook me up with other markets, given me tips about my booth and displays, and even made some of my marketing and branding materials! I wouldn’t have gotten in to the largest holiday market in our area without a vendor I’d made friends with over the summer, offering to split booth space with her. We are all helping boost each other’s businesses on social media. It is awesome. I am seriously looking forward to spending time with these amazing folks in 2025.
Sales on my website are directly affected by how much I promote it on social media. Since my website launched in 2023, I have not had huge numbers of sales (less than 20 to date). However, the analytics show that when I’m active on social media, it is driving traffic to my site. Unfortunately this is the area that gave way when my day job schedule got super busy, combined with markets every weekend. I had no time to keep up with posting, let alone keeping my website up to date with new products.
Not every market is going to be worth it. I had many markets that were duds this year. Those were hard and disheartening. I did learn to persevere through the slow markets. But I’m also being more selective in 2025. I really burnt myself out in 2024 by doing too many markets. The juice wasn’t worth the squeeze so to speak. While markets are fun and I will always do them, I need to focus more on getting online sales if I want to make this venture a full time gig.
In 2025 I’m shifting my focus a bit:
Fewer markets- as I’m more aware of the markets in the area, and what works for me. I’ll be doing fewer markets, and being more selective in where I go. I want to avoid burn out, and also focus on what will make money.
More Online Presence- While I love doing in person markets, the ones I can do while I’m still working full time at something else, will not allow me to make enough money to transition to running my business full time. My website is what will do this. My website can reach a global audience if I give it the appropriate time, attention and marketing. I will be spending more time making content for my socials to market my business and drive sales. As that grows, I plan to invest in some advertising. it is definitely going to be a learning year for sure.
Make time for loved ones- My husband has been a saint this year. I had a period of time this summer that between my travel schedule for work and My market schedule for the business, he barely saw me. It was rough for both of us. I also missed out on spending time with my long time friends and family members. Finding the balance between running this business, work and family is challenging and will continue to be so for a few years. But ultimately I’m trying to get this business going so that I can have a bit more freedom to spend with the people who are important to me. I’m not doing markets at all in January and February to give myself some time to recover.
Making this business a full time gig is a marathon, not a sprint. So pacing myself will definitely be key. I’m looking forward to what 2025 has in store for this little adventure I started for myself. I hope you and yours have a wonderful new year as well!
