April Goal Status

Happy May, everyone! Can you believe April is already over? I sure can't! So, last month was the inaugural Monthly Goal Meetup hosted by Jena from Modish and Modish Biz Tips. But before I reveal my May goals, let's see how I did with April, shall we? My goals for April were:

1. Research galleries and shops that may want to carry my plushies and reach out to at least 3 of them. Status: partially complete.
   I did the research and made a list of galleries and shops I want to contact. But I have not made contact yet. I am low on inventory and figured the only thing worse than a shop telling me "no" was a shop saying "yes" and wanting more than I can deliver right away. So I am going to build up my stock first, and then approach the shops on my list.


2. Research online ad venues. Status: complete.
   I'm not sure yet if I'll take the plunge, but at least I now know which venues I'll contact and how much they cost. A question for those of you who do advertising: has it increased your sales and/or traffic? I read so many mixed messages on this issue and I have such little cash to spare, that I'm still very unsure.


3. Purchase accounting software and begin to use (I'm actually embarrassed that I haven't done this yet). Status: modified.
   I had my cursor poised on "purchase" QuickBooks Pro so many times I lost track. But something kept holding me back. $200 for accounting software feels too spendy right now, especially considering that the reviews for the Mac version aren't that positive. Also, it's a lot of software. Do I need that much? Is there a simpler, cheaper program I could use? Since I couldn't arrive on a satisfactory answer through my own research, I decided I would consult with an accountant before putting any cash down.


4. Purchase color printer/scanner. Status: complete.
   I bought a Brother MFC-6490cw. I chose this model for a number of reasons, the most important being its 11 x 17 scanning bed and its ability to print 11 x 17 as well. I haven't printed much yet, but so far I'm very pleased with my purchase.


5. Make at least two pieces to submit for consideration to the Mortal Plush exhibit. Status: complete.
   I managed three pieces: two sea monsters (excited and fury) and a bigfoot (ennui). Now I wait to see if I was accepted. Fingers crossed!


6. Make at least two pieces to submit for consideration to the Lock, Coif, & Barrel show. Status: discarded.
   I decided halfway through the month that with everything else I had going on, it wasn't realistic to submit pieces to two different shows with the same deadline. Plus, I was having a hard time coming up with anything I liked that fit the theme. And by not keeping this show on my list, I was able to submit an extra piece to Mortal Plush.
   
   Total accomplished: 3.5 / 6.

I feel pretty okay with this. Could I have done better? Of course. But should I have? I feel confident in the decisions I made to modify or discard goals that didn't feel quite right. And when you're trying to make a small business successful, isn't being nimble just as important as setting and accomplishing goals? Or am I just letting myself off the hook here?

How about you? How well did you meet your monthly goals?

Stay tuned tomorrow for my list of May goals!