Employee or Business Owner - Which are you?

Employee or Business Owner - Which are you?

Honestly, the vast majority of us fall somewhere in between, but there is a distinct difference. In our entrepreneurial society, many people want to own their own business, but do they truly have the mentality for it? If you do, you have that mentality whether you are working for yourself or working for someone else. I hear it said all the time, "it would be different if it were my own business." I doubt that.

Here are some classic traits of an Employee Mentality:

• I work for a paycheck - period.
• I do not give more than I have to, otherwise the company will take advantage of me.
• They are lucky to have me.
• They owe me because I work here; because they need me; because I'm better qualified; because, because, because, because, because...
• I only do what is in my job description.
• I only work the hours assigned. I will work overtime only when it suits me (and when I need the extra money).
• I do not like change. We've always done (or we tried that before) and there's no reason to change.

Now look at the traits of a Business Owner Mentality

• I work for the good of the business.
• I give everything I have in order to grow the company.
• I am lucky to have this opportunity.
• I only receive the benefits of my effort, if I want more I have to work for it.
• I do what is needed, regardless of my job description.
• I work the hours necessary to complete the task, even if the overtime is an inconvenience.
• I am open to change. I think outside the box and consider all options, whether we've tried it before or not, traditional or not, I am always looking to improve. 

Now, we all want and need our paycheck, and we are all working for that but for the employee, that is where it begins and ends. For the business owner, the money is the reward, not the substance. It is the end result of countless hours of effort, often uncompensated effort.

Do you already have a business or want to start one? Are you willing to do what it takes to grow your business? Great! 

Are you still working for someone else? Hone those skills where you are, because if you're going to start your own business, it's better to take those fully developed skills into your new venture rather than try and flex those weak muscles when you branch out on your own.

Never plan to have your own business? Have an "Owner" mentality anyway, you will be the most valued employee in the company. Rewards follow. 

Christmas Sales, when does it begin?

We're all frustrated with "Christmas Creep." You know, when we start seeing all things Christmas as early as September. It's just too much! Let's let each holiday stand on it's own so that we can enjoy it, rather than the pressure of Christmas buying choking out everything in between.

That said, Christmas is the bread and butter of everything retail. If you're in retail, you know that all too well. That's the reason for the "creep", to help get the most out of the sales and to lengthen the buying season. The wisdom of that can be debated, but the reality of spending quite a bit of time planning for the Christmas season cannot.

We want sales all year long and should have a yearly marketing plan that we can implement for each holiday that will culminate in the Christmas buying season. Christmas, however, will be your biggest season for sales and deserves the bulk of your attention. So when do you begin focusing on your Christmas sales? Ideally, December 26th of the year before. Yes, that means having a plan for Christmas all year long.

If you're a crafter, you need to start building your inventory by at least the beginning of August so that you have enough to last the season. We all have seasonal obligations, so scrambling to make product during this time is counter-productive to your business, and your mental health. It really can suck the joy out of your business. Having ready-made inventory and focusing on sales is your sweet-spot and where you want to be spending your time and energy.

Shipping Deadlines - If you sell online, you realize that this is important year-round, but during the holiday season you need to be especially mindful of those deadlines. This also shortens your holiday season. Unless you have a buyer who is willing to pay the exorbitant over-night rate (and most aren't), then your holiday sales will end about a week early, so be prepared to start those plans early as well.

Craft Shows - if you present at craft shows, those will start sometime in early October, with some shopping for themselves, decorative items, and of course early Christmas shoppers. Craft show attendees are generally dedicated handmade shoppers who understand the value of handcrafted items, so presentation and quality matter. The cost of table set up has drastically increased, so it is important to have sufficient inventory to recoup those costs and make a significant profit. Some of these shows run well past Thanksgiving, so you can hit the traditional buying season.

Brick & Mortar Retail - if you have items in traditional retail venues, the buying season is extended through December 24th for the truly "last minute" shoppers. While that does provide a few extra days, those sales are far less than the ones that begin with "Black Friday" through about mid-December. You'll want to have plenty of inventory to replenish stock throughout the season. Keeping your inventory fresh is key. Too much and there's no incentive to get it right away, too little and it's just not an attractive display.  Traditional retail marketing has it's own strategy, similar to craft show displays, which is decidedly different from online marketing.  The take-away is to be prepared to have enough stock to keep the display replenished throughout the season.

So when does Christmas begin? It begins now.

Is Cash Still King?

How are you getting paid? We're not quite at a cashless society, but many of us no longer carry cash or even write checks, except for on the most rare occasions. Credit cards, debit cards, ApplePay, SamsungPay, PayPal and others offer many options for money transfers and payments for everything from groceries to rent.

In our retail locations, we have noticed a 55% cash/45% card transaction split with the number of card transactions continually rising. We're in a small town with a high retirement population, so I often wonder what those numbers would look like in a more urban setting. My best guess is that card processing would be north of 70%, but that's speculation. If you have hard numbers, please feel free to comment with your experience.

There are so many options, some more popular than others with different demographics. Just to name a few:

• Traditional Merchant Services/Credit Card Processing
• This is the standard terminal, contract with your bank and negotiated rates that have been the standard for businesses for many years. Many of these newer services either integrate into this or seek to replace it. ApplePay & Samsung Pay are simply a convenient phone-based link to a credit card on file that integrates into your existing terminal (if you have upgraded your hardware). There was a time that merchants were at the mercy of the banks and processing companies for their rates, but with the expansion of some of these other options, that is now changing.  
• This is what everyone is used to. Young or old, no one bats an eye at this and it's just what we've come to expect when we check out at nearly any store.
• Mobile Processing (Square, Paypal & others)
• These new companies have entered the marketplace and allow even the smallest of businesses to accept credit cards anywhere you can grab a data connection. Convenient and portable, with rates that are competitive with traditional processing, these companies are quickly becoming the mainstay of small businesses. They are certainly the savior of craft vendors and other mobile businesses that no longer have to turn away a sale because the customer didn't have cash, or risk the dreaded bad check. Again, who writes checks anymore?  
• For in-person transactions, this is still fairly new, and many customers find it somewhere between cool and convenient. There are quirks. Some cards just won't read. But for the convenience, no contracts, and decent rates, most of us won't complain. And we get to sign our name with our finger - something most of us haven't done since pre-school fingerpainting, or at the beach in the sand.
• For internet transactions, Paypal was one of the pioneers in this area, as any eBay seller can attest. Etsy and others have their own direct checkout, but PayPal has been there all along, quietly processing credit card payments for eBay sellers and website stores for over a decade. Square offers a free online store and the ability to integrate their processing into your website, giving PayPal a nice little dose of competition.
• Person-to-Person Payments (Square Cash, Paypal, Venmo, Google Wallet & others)
• These app-centric options are becoming a popular alternative to traditional bank transfers and personal checks for individuals as well as providing an option for businesses to accept payments as well. Most of these services keep funds in the app for instant transfers, or you can transfer it to your bank, which may take anywhere from one to ten days. Ten days? Really, Google? Typical transfer times are one to three days, but that's something you really want to check into with your favorite money app before you decide whether to leave it in the app or transfer it out.
• You'll notice Square & Paypal are listed twice. Well, that's because they are playing for both teams here. They both have the nice little card readers that work with your phone or tablet, but they also have the P2P market. Paypal, one of the first players in this game, started with this method and then ventured into the card reader processing. Square started with the card readers and then added the Square Cash option. 
• These apps are wildly popular with millennials, less so with older demographics. Still, you can split the check, send birthday money, or pay for just about anything and leave your card at home. Just use your phone, because it never leaves your hand anyway. 
• Bitcoin
• I'll leave bitcoin alone as I have yet to venture into this volatile market. I'm intrigued, and perhaps it's worth exploring, but I haven't done so yet. 

This is just a simple view of the landscape, not a review or recommendation of any particular service.  I've used them all, and like them all for different reasons. For mobile processing, I use Square & PayPal interchangeably depending on my needs. 

Square has a nice referral program, so if you're able to grab their free processing, then that's worth focusing on. The funds are deposited into your account the next business day, and their customer service has always been great.

PayPal allows you to have multiple log-ins with separate permissions for additional staffing, Square charges $5/month/employee for that. So, where I have staff, I use PayPal. PayPal funds stay in your PayPal balance until you decide to transfer it to your bank account, but they have a debit card that you can use so you always have access to your money. Their customer service has always been great too. 

So what is the best option? Well, that's easy. The best option is the one that works for you. The one that you're most comfortable with. And you can always use more than one. Heck, you can even use them all! 

Location Update

Wired Coast has made a coastal shift from our birth on the beautiful beaches of San Diego to historic Chestertown, Maryland. We brought plenty of beach stones & sea shells from San Diego with us, so you will continue to find our west coast creations here on the east coast. We will be adding some collections from east coast beaches in the coming months. As always, we are committed to upcycled , recycled & repurposed creations.

Our holiday calendar is filling out nicely, you can view our event schedule here: Wired Coast Events

Selling Online, E-Commerce Options

There are lots of online store options now. Some free, some not-so-free. I like free, so I will be checking out a few of them over the next few months. Stay tuned for updates.

I do limited credit card transactions, so I'm using the PayPal Here and Square Card Reader apps for the few sales that require it. Etsy has a card reader for offline sales, but it's been on backorder for over 6 months, so who knows when I'll have one of those to test out.

SQUARE
Square has launched a free online store, well, not completely free since it's subject to their 2.75% transaction fee for all sales, but free enough as there are no listing fees or additional commissions on sales. Square checkout is the only way to pay, you cannot select alternate payment options such as Paypal; however, you can select items for pickup and your customers can pay by cash or check if you are offering a local option.

Setup is fairly simple, and categories are easy to establish. Categories are simple and it's a one page site with organization more like an outline form. Everything will organize primarily alphabetically under your self-designed categories.

Photos are easy to upload, and it seems straightforward enough. You can set taxable and nontaxable items, I've even uploaded some yard sale items just because.

Square also doesn't really allow for digital downloads. You can set up an item so that you can email or send a link to another site for downloading, but you can't do an "instant download", at least not yet.

You can customize your web address, and there are promotional links for each item that you post and a nice script to enter on your website. Here's the direct link:  http://mkt.com/wiredcoast/

Web Analytics and SEO
Square has limited web analytics, and less SEO optimization. They do provide sales analytics, but there is no way to determine traffic.

Mobile App
You can list and edit items from the mobile app, same one you use for offline sales; however, when you list you can only upload one photo and you can't choose a category. Listing items is far better on the computer as the app isn't really designed for full-on store management.  I've only tested the iPhone app as I don't have an iPad and there is no app for the kindle fire. Android user experiences may vary.

Social Media Integration
Listings provide links that you can use for Facebook and twitter promotions. You can also use these links to drive traffic from other social media sources such as pinterest or google+. There is no real Facebook integration; however, they do have a store widget that functions as a storefront, which can be added to your Facebook page using a static HTML page app or on your own page using the coding widget they provide.

Get Free Transactions
Square has a new promotional offer, sign up through a referral link and get the first $1,000 in transactions free. Much like Dropbox's free space for referrals, both parties will get the free transaction bonus, so if you want to try Square for your online or offline business, click here and get some free transactions.

ETSY
Etsy isn't completely free, but the fees to start are fairly minimal. There is a 20c per item listing fee that is for 4 months or until the item is sold, whichever comes first. Then there is a 3.5% commission on each sold item, which is in addition to your credit card transaction fee. Direct Checkout on Etsy is 3% + 25c. They can also use Paypal, which has it's own fee structure. There is no monthly or on-going fee other than renewing your listings. Once you have a lot of items, you will have to determine the cost-effectiveness of the fee system.

Opening a shop is super easy. Once you open the shop by listing a single item, you can then add to or manage existing listings through the app. Since most of my photos were on my phone, this worked great! Etsy has a powerful search engine and great web stats as part of their service. I've noticed significant web traffic that outpaced my own social media promotion. This is a great way to get your products noticed! Take a look here: http://wiredcoast.etsy.com/

Etsy allows for digital downloads, which is completely awesome! The 20c listing fee applies to the listing no matter whether you list it to sell one item or 1,000. The listing will need to be renewed when you sell out of the quantity you list or in 4 months, whichever is first. You will also incur an new 20c re-listing fee every time something sells (if you are selling multiples under a single listing). So, in essence, what you are saving by listing multiples under a single heading is the listing fee for unsold items. That's a help if things stay on your site for awhile before selling out.

Web Analytics and SEO
Etsy provides view stats for each item and the store in general, with additional information from traffic sources. They also provide a way to integrate into Google Analytics for more powerful stats.

Mobile App
Etsy has a new app for managing your store. For now you can't create a store with the app, but you can manage one. Looks like store creation in the app is a "coming soon" feature. With many people using phones and tablets for their primary internet experience, that will be a positive change in their app and burgeoning web presence. The app is fully featured and allows you to do some additional photo editing that for some reason can't be done on the computer (rotating images). A few minor quirks such as the inability to select a few search settings and shipping profiles for digital downloads on app-created drafts, but that's fairly minor and can be addressed at any time by editing the item when you get back to your computer.

Social Media Integration
There are free and paid apps to integrate your store with Facebook and plenty of social media promotion links. I'm using a free app, OrangeTwig, which I do love. The only drawback I have on this particular app is that it doesn't change your timeline to a storefront, you have to click on the store tab. Other than that it's nearly perfect.

Get Free Listings
Etsy also has a promotional offer to get free listings. Sign up with this link and get 40 free listings: http://etsy.me/1KzHh76 

Conclusion
Square really does win on the fee option. If you are selling anywhere, there's no downside to having your store on square. And you can sell anything you want.
Downside is: No digital downloads. Lack of customization. No web analytics.

Etsy wins on exposure. They have a built in customer base, great analytics and a fully functioning mobile app for store management.
Downside is: Fees. Those fees do add up, so price your products accordingly.
Product Limitations. Etsy is a handmade marketplace, so your products need to be handmade, vintage, or craft supplies. That's it. If you're selling anything else, then you will need to search other e-commerce options.
Also, some people will not want to "Join" Etsy to complete a transaction, or they just might not like them (it happens). Pay attention to any potential trademark infringement issues as any reports will get you shut down while they investigate.

There are other venues that I've looked at, but for now these are my 2 favorites. Where do you like to shop?

Uniquely Yours

When you are purchasing handmade items, the first thing that you might notice is the cost. The materials and time involved in production are calculated into the cost, and that's no surprise because labor costs are a part of every commercial item. It's a fact of business life.

Artisans can't compete with the prices you will find in mass production, but then again you will never have anything unique coming from mass produced items either. By the time something enters factory level production, all individuality is completely lost. It may be pretty, but it will never be unique.

The creative process involves a lot of research, and significant pondering, that goes into every creation. There more hours looking at the different parts trying to envision how they will come together as there are actually putting them together. There's also hours of research and years of practice that goes into every item you see.  I suppose there are a few artists that have ideas pour out of their mind at a moment's notice. I haven't met them, but they might exist.

Even those items that look similar are still unique because it's nearly impossible to duplicate you efforts exactly. That's the beauty of the artisan crafts, everything you own is uniquely yours.

Perfection.

Pretty in Pink Nespresso Collection

Facebook Giveaway - UPDATED!

UPDATE: We have a winner! Her custom designed keychain was mailed on 5/7/15. More contests to come, go like the page to be the first to know about the next one!

We're having a giveaway for a custom designed wine cork keychain over on the Facebook page to celebrate getting to 100 likes. We're almost there, so click on over and "like" the page to enter. If you have already "liked" us on Facebook, you are already entered.  The winner will be announced when we hit 100 likes and I'll show a picture of the prize.

More contests, sales and give-aways to come :D