When I started my first company,
I actually created a JOB for myself, all
the time thinking I had started a
business. It took me awhile but
I finally discovered there was a huge
difference between creating a JOB and
creating a Business. And until I became
aware of the difference my company grew
slowly and I could not figure out why
that was. I had a great product and it
seemed like everyone loved it? Why was
it not growing faster?
A big light bulb went on in my
head when I landed my first big order
with Nordstom. I arranged for a
meeting with one of their buyers to show
my line of knitted hats for the fall
season. When I arrived with my samples
there were buyers from 3 different
departments! I was completely surprised.
And what happened next was magical.
The buyers asked if I could make
sweaters too! I said yes (even though I
had no samples and had to make up prices
- making quick calculations in my head)
and I walked away with a $40,000 order
to be delivered in 4 months.
As a design entrepreneur you can
imagine my delight if not pure joy! And
you can also imagine my dilemma:
I had no yarn ordered, no sizing or
patterns made up for the sweaters, no
knitters (except me) and only a
rudimentary understanding of how long
this process was going to take.
I learned very
quickly I needed to become a Business.
From that moment I knew I was driven by
the design process, inspiration and the
vision of the company. If I was ever
going to make the money and have the
profit I wanted
I had to get out
of my own way and work on my business
not in my business.
Here are 5 Simple Steps I took
immediately to turn my JOB into a
Business so I could do what I wanted to
do by being the Visionary and the
Designer:
1. Wrote
instructions on all the patterns.
As each pattern was created (by me at
the time) I wrote down step by step
procedures. In my case it was machine
knitted sweaters or hats. I created a
basic pattern template and then sized it
up or down.
a. Each size had measurements drawn
out in a FLAT pattern
b. Each sweater had directions for
pattern placement
c. Instructions were written for
each basic body style with
clear directions
d. Color charts were made for each
design
e. Photos were taken of any process
that might not be clear
f. Photos were taken of the final
finished product
g. Swatches were knit of to give
the knitter a sample of gauge
2. Created
Instructions for Finishing Techniques.
Since finishing was a separate process
from knitting (or creation of the
product) I clearly defined finishing
procedures and expectations. This came
with photos and descriptions of how the
finished product needed to look in order
to pass inspection for quality control.
3. Quality Control procedures
written out and documented.
4. Set up Accounting procedures
in Quick Books:
a. Created a chart of
accounts with the help of my accountant
b. Wrote out procedures for using
QBs for creating purchase orders for raw
materials; receiving goods from vendors;
creating inventory for finished goods;
order entry; billing customers;
receiving payments
5. Shipping and Packing
instructions
a. Instructions on how
items were to be packaged whether
using plastic bags, tissue paper, adding
hang tags or other materials used in the
process.
b. Creation of the shipping label
and documents
c. Special instructions for
certain high volume stores - as
Nordstrom
d. Shipping procedures for each
shipping company i.e. USPS or UPS etc.
What I know now that I didn't
know then was that I was creating
systems. Systems for all the
actions I could either do myself or
delegate to someone else without
explaining the process each time I
delegated a job. I could just hand out
the printed sheet for that particular
process and say,
"..here, this
is how we do it!"
Later on we developed all sorts
of other systems and a complete company
Operations Manual. I credit
this first realization with how I went
from cottage industry to Multi-Million
dollar sales in a relatively short
period of time considering I had no past
business experience.
You can easily apply my model to your
business. Even though you may think you
are too small to implement this, I
encourage to you to test it out and
guarantee it will save you TIME & MONEY.
You will be amazed at your
results and how easily you can learn to
delegate, which is the only way you will
be able to create a business instead of
a JOB.
