Breaking into Business: Cash Flow

The next topic that we covered in the workshop was cash flow. The basic questions were: What was your best month? What was your worst month? How are you adding income to your worst months?

For me, this is pretty easy. My best month is November. This is due to the fact that it's my largest show of the year (Barre Craft Show) and it's also Christmas purchase time. During this time of the year, I sell a couple of paintings, but a lot of prints. The worst time of year is generally the beginning of the new year. At this time, I don't make any sales, but I have to start sending in payments for craft shows that are running during the summer.

What do I do during the rest of the year? Nothing really. I hang my paintings in my office and sell a painting here or there to one of my co-workers. Nothing spectacular. So, I need to increase my cash flow during the rest of the year.

The first part of the plan is to increase the number of larger shows per year. Right now, I was doing about 2 - 3 large shows and a couple of small shows. I should increase that to a total of 10 large shows spread out over the year (Large shows are defined as having around 200+ vendors, 10,000+ people showing up and an average of $300 - $600 booth fee). To do that, I need to increase my range for shows. Vermont does not have many large shows, so I will have to include Massachusetts and New Hampshire into the list of available shows.

In addition to increasing the number of shows, I'll need to increase the marketing to those shows to attract more people to come and visit me. Not sure about how to do that. Most likely using press releases, coupons, and Facebook marketing. These ideas are still in the air.

The point is to create a market for my work prior to doing the show. We'll see how it goes.