DG Designs

Monday, September 12, 2011

Good morning~!

For the past three years I have been on this whirlwind of building my business. I have been on the road constantly trying to create a presence and recognition of my company. Endless tradeshows and open houses, hours of networking, marketing and promoting and countless trial and error attempts to find my niche.

And just when I thought things were getting good, along comes the need for me to make a new number one rule. Have a plan B. I don't care how good things are, if you do not have a back up plan you are skating on thin ice, business wise. As is usual, it's the bottom line that concerns me. And not just how costs and expenses affect MY bottom line but how my resulting prices affect my customers because they are the ones who will ultimately carry the burden of rising costs.

Some things you just can't control but I feel strongly about providing high quality at an affordable price. I also feel strongly about who my business is associated with including my suppliers, my artisans and the promoter and venue that my products are sold at. They all reflect something on my business in the mind of the client.
If any of those influences begin to be out of sync with one another, it's time to make a change. In my case, it is time to reconsider which tradeshows to continue with and which ones to cut from my schedule without losing my customer base in that city. So, how do I fill the gap? Which direction do I take that will benefit not only my bottom line but my customer's pocketbook as well?

These types of decisions do not come with their own "time". There is little, if any, room for hesitation. It can mean the end to all the hard work put forth so far and starting over. Not an option for me. For now, I am cutting back on a few of the shows that have in the past not been great performers. I am also upgrading my own jewelry making skills by taking lessons in silver smithing to enhance the uniqueness of my products and I am investigating new options to bring affordable quality to my customers.

Hopefully, I will remain calm and rationale as I decide on a new game plan as far as the shows are concerned and not make hasty decisions that could be costly. So here is to taking time to grow. Let's hope it's not tooooooo bumpy of a ride~!

Monday, January 11, 2010

Power of Words

There was a very interesting thread on a special interest group that I belong to and last week someone started a topic that had some interesting responses. The poster introduced the idea of a "Word of the Year", using a single word as your inspiration during the coming year.

The members responded with a variety of words and a few even explained all of the areas and directions in their lives that their word could apply. Joy, focus, and vision were just a few that were shared and the application of even just one of those words could be expanded to motivate them in so many ways. So it really made me stop and think about the power of words and how desensitized we have all become to the impact that some words have. We toss out labels on things without a second thought as to how they are perceived by others.

Take the word "friend" for example. Webster's defines friend as someone you know well and regard with affection and trust. A friend can also be a supporter, lending their efforts and backing to a particular cause, as in "Friend of the Art Community". Quakers, from my understanding have never called themselves Quakers but are members of The Religious Society of Friends.

One might, with a cursory glance, conclude that the word friend has many definitions and levels attached to it and that simply agreeing with others, or having the same goals as another classifies them as a friend, when in reality, if you break it down, it does not.

There is a requirement of commitment. Before calling yourself someones friend, shouldn't you have more than a passing knowledge of who they are and where they live. Shouldn't you actually care about the things happening in that person's life? Can you really be someones friend if you cannot accept or respect that person's commitments or struggles outside of their relationship with you? Wouldn't a friend take into consideration that there are bad habits, bad days, bad timing, or unexpected schedules that come along with the "friend package"? Or have we gotten so transient through the shrinking of our world via the communications explosion of telephone, television and Internet, that using the word friend is as common as saying gesundheit?

Have we truly evolved into a society that can easily toss our "friends" under the bus just because they stood you up for lunch? Even worse, is the utter lack of conscious some people have in proclaiming to be a friend. How can you call yourself a friend when you could care less about anything that is going on in that friend's life beyond how it affects you? Does anyone care at all how they make another human being feel by calling them a friend and then trashing them to any one who will listen when that person cannot center their life on them? Sure, we've all had these kinds of "friends" but we can change that. We can be more responsible in who we call a friend. When you regard someone as a friend without really knowing them, you open yourself up to being taken advantage of. Don't hang that title on someone after meeting them the first or second time just because you did not pull each other's hair out. Personally, I would be very leery about anyone who called me a friend after a meeting or two. I would wonder what they wanted from me. I, for one, will never, ever again assume that because I considered someone to be a friend (in the true sense of the word), that their use of the word carried the same committment.

There are so many words and phrases that are treated just as lightly in today's society. "How are you?" is one. Everyone asks but the majority would be shocked to hear an honest reply. They do not want an honest reply. They want to hear that everything is fine because anything else requires a commitment from them.. a commitment to listen, to sympathize or console, a commitment to care, even if only for a minute or two.

I believe that this year, I will use the word commitment to help define and shape my life. I think it is time to commit myself to friendships of value, of reciprocal understanding. To growing myself and my business with trusted alliances instead associations who cannot thrive if they are not the center of attention or who may, :: GASP :: have to come second once in awhile. Also, committing to accept when my friends have to put me second. Hopefully, I will end the year with a stronger circle of acquaintances and business peers that are committed to the same goals. I might even make a few new friends.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

How Do You Spell Relief?

Remember that commercial? R-O-L-A-I-D-S. Let's try a non-chemical relief. Let's spell relief "K-O-I P-O-N-D". I love spending time at my koi pond. Even with the house barely 15 feet behind me, when I'm at the pond I am the only one around for miles.

It really is a world unto itself. Living in the country, I have always lived among wildlife... deer, possum, skunks, boars, vultures.. not to mention the daddy long legs and scorpions. I usually let the bats take care of those critters. .

But the pond is mine. My special "end of the day let it all roll away" place

There is a small pool behind the sun where the birds play and use it as a birdbath. It drives my dogs nuts seeing the birds in "their" pond.

The newest members of our family, little chihuahua sisters named Thelma & Louise, love exploring while I sit and relax.

Thelma is determined to find one of the two turtles that keep a low profile. I have tried for two weeks to photograph them myself but every time I see them, they scurry back to their cave before I get the camera set.

The fish, the older ones anyway, are so used to me they will come up to the very edge where I am sitting and look at me with those fish eyes and wait for me to feed them, but I guess the turtles are too cold blooded to be friendly... (no pun intended). No matter, I know they are there and thriving, so it is what it is.

It has become such a neat little environment since we put it in. Attracting all sorts of new wildlife to the area. Including a migrating crane that thought it was his own personal buffet for a week or two then happily went on his way with a full belly.....
During the summer, it is the first place my rottweiler runs to when I let her out of her kennel. She heads for the very middle, sits down and bites at the water as the fish swim around her. After she cools off, she climbs out and gives the rest of us a shake bath before running off to the far ends of the property.

I noticed soooooo many new fish this spring. Sometimes, when feeding them, I'll sprinkle some of the food near the lily pads. The little guys can get to it easily while the big boys prefer munching in the open areas.

I always see something new or observe a new habit of the fish. And once in awhile, when I lose myself in the quietness and total peace of the moment, I am rewarded with an opportunity.....