A Perfect Wintery Rainy Day with My Daughter

One of the best advantage of working at home is the joy and opportunity to have fun with my daughter.  A very boring and gloomy day turned out to be fun.  My almost 2 1/2 year old Shirin was so happy to pose for mommy for some fun and playful time.

 

Shirin pretending to call Daddy in the phone.

Happy Holiday from our Family

Preparing our Family Holiday Greeting Card Photos

We had a great day today.   My whole family drove upstate New York to Croton Dam and took some photos for our annual holiday greeting cards.

October 5, 2009: Multi-Tasking Again

Just like what happened last week, I've been working on many existing projects.  I had a wonderful relaxing weekend with my family and I feel recharged to start another week.  Here are the updates:

Cbeads.etsy.com

Took pictures of some new crystals from my friend.  I will be selling these wonderful crystals soon both on my etsy shop and my own online shop.  I should be able to start posting them before the end of this week.

www.cbeadsinc.com
Working with Rakel and John from Ingero to finish my website.  I went over the content and items that would be available in my store: Czech Glass Beads, Pearls, Crystal, Gemstones, Handmade Beaded Chains, Wholesale Shop, Jewelry, and Findings.  I also had to write down introduction, policies, and other customer service related issues.

Mother-Daughter Project

My Mom sent me some fabric swatches that she wanted to sell online.  I picked up some styles for my mom, so she could purchase some sample yardage today.  I will receive those samples by next week, then I could photograph the fabrics.  I have to help my mom figure out a name, setup a paypal account, setup her etsy shop, and more.  This is our first major collaboration together that's why this is really special to me.  I'm glad to be able to do this with my mother even we are miles apart.

New Home-Based Business Venture

I got my business starting kit today.  I will start using the products tomorrow and will document it on my blog.

The Business of Multi-Tasking

I'm doing so many things these days that has been very rewarding and exciting.  Many business decisions to make and reevaluate the success of my home business.

Here are my current projects:

• Finally working on launching my own website: www.cbeadsinc.com.  I will be selling more varieties of beads like czech beads, pearl, crystals and semi precious stones.  Creating your own website is very difficult but I got some help from Ingero, who designed and will host my site.  A lot of work is involve, but I am definitely ready to branch out on my own website.
• Starting a business venture with my mother from the Philippines.  We will be selling apparel fabrics at etsy in the next 3 or 4 weeks.  My mother, a very successful business women, is my hero and inspiration.  Since leaving my country 11 years ago to pursue my studies in fashion marketing and design, my mother and I been brainstorming how we could start and mother-daughter business.  We decided to collaborate on this so we could do something together.  We might even start a clothing line in the future.
• A very close friend --who happens to be a bead supplier-- and I will partner up to help sell her inventories in my etsy shop and in my new upcoming online shop.  I got some samples today, so I could photograph them and start listing them at cbeads.etsy.com.  I will also sell her pearls in my new online shop very soon.
  
• My best friend Jas and I will temporarily stop taking custom orders on our clothing shop at topsycurvydesigns.etsy.com.  Jas is expecting her first child this month.
• Started a home-based business with my friend since grade school.  I've been reading and studying more about this new business venture.  My instinct tells me that this will be very successful.  I will try the products next week and experiment if they are effective.  I've shares this business opportunity to many of my family and friends, and many are interested to start this business with me too.  Made a lot of phone calls, emails and text messages.

As you can see a lot of my projects involve either my family or friends.  I am fortunate to be surrounded by many successful, motivated, adventurous, and exciting people.  They are very influential and supportive on everything I want to accomplish.

Stay at Home Moms: We are not alone

I came across an interesting discussion in the etsy forum the other day and I would like to share them with you.  It's really wonderful to know that a lot of individuals out there are having the same experiences like me.  I don't feel so alone.  Juggling everything from housework, children and my small home-based business is really difficult but very rewarding.

Here is the link to the forum
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6301883&page=1

My Inventory: How I pick beads

My idea on picking the right items in my shop is simple:

• Offering quality products and finding the best reliable suppliers are very important.
  
• I primarily sell firepolished Czech beads.  I like to set up my shop as a collection.  It's a good idea to have a specialized collection on the inventory instead of selling too many things.
• I only have four major types of beads: Lentils, Donuts, 4mm firepolished beads, and Teardrops.  Also, I sell handmade beaded chains.
• Having fewer types of beads help me organize my inventory and helps a lot when shipping many orders.  Less containers and bins when organizing.
  
• I have at least 20 colors per types of beads.  Lentil beads are my bestseller, so I have more than 50 colors in stock.
• I recently moved my ring and earring collection from my jewelry shop to my supply shop, because managing more than one shop became difficult.  I also manage my clothing line at topsycurvydesigns.etsy.com.
  
• It is really important for me not to have too many different types of beads.  I like to specialize on only four types of beads then load up on the number of colors.  This way, my shop is more organize and buyers wont get overwhelmed browsing.
• Bestsellers category helps my customer get a quick look on items that's very popular in my shop.

• Wholesale lot gives my customer greater discounts when buying in bulk.
• I wanted to offer unique items that is not offered at etsy, so I came up with selling Handmade Beaded Chains.  Perfect for designers, jewelry makers and crafters. These ready-to-use linked beads are perfect for their beautiful pendants, necklaces and bracelets. The sections can easily be taken apart. 
•  It's very important to stock up on classic and basic plain colors like black, clear crystal, bronze (brown), amethyst, green, and blue.
• I find it very successful to have multi-colored strand beads instead of having too many plain colors.  Example is my picasso mix donut beads.
•  Keeping my shop fresh is important. To do this, I introduce many new colors every month.  If an item did not sell quickly, I usually restocks them after three months; however,  I immediately restock on hot items.