For six years I taught first grade and perhaps my organization stems from my teaching background. I use a three ring binder which would leave me lost if it ever disappeared. I do not have an Etsy store and my website (Monogramming Mamacita)is active but not set up as of yet so I do all my business through my Monogramming Mamacita Facebook Page. Since I get messages and posts on pictures as well as messages on my personal page it is easy to loose information, orders and customers if you're not careful.
My beloved binder. Once I fill out an order form and send an invoice, I use PayPal for that, the order forms go in the front pocket. I require payment in two days so it is easy to see which invoices need reminders by looking at the date I sent the invoice. For some reason my customers don't always see the original invoice but they always see the reminders. I have a spot on my order form for date invoiced, date reminded and date paid. My turnaround time starts once they pay so that is important.
You've got to keep it real. If you are collecting money, you are in business and therefore need to be paying your taxes. Since I don't have a store front I post my resale license in my binder.
I have the following tabs in my binder, this is what works for me.
- To Invoice - order forms are complete with all information and just need to be invoiced in PayPal. I am really trying to do my paperwork in the evenings. I was noticing loss of production time if I was corresponding all day and sending invoices during the day. Doing them all at once saves me valuable time!
- My Follow Up - order forms that have been started but customers are waiting on something from me. This can be things like: can I get that as a purple/white raglan shirt? what colors of boyish chevron do you have? etc. If I don't write it down I forget it! AND if I don't keep it in a safe place I may very well lose what I have written down! Can you relate? Keep it together in one tab of your binder and it will take minutes to follow up with your customers.
- Customer Follow Up - order forms that have been started but now the ball is in their court. Yes, I found that shirt in a purple/white raglan and have given them the size chart. Now I just need to know what size they want. This also helps me see which customers might need some follow up.
- Master Order Sheet - Every item gets logged into a spreadsheet (if someone orders five shirts they get five lines). Important information is here including my TA Date (turn around date). I can quickly scan these sheets to see how many outstanding orders I have and better plan my week.
- Invoices - My blank order forms go in this section. Once a customer has the ball rolling the order form goes into the To Invoice tab, the My Follow Up tab or the Customer Follow Up tab. Once invoices are paid I place them on a handy cook book stand. I have twin machines so the cookbook stand lets me separate which orders get stitched on which machine. It works for me. Once the invoice is paid I stamp PAID with a stamp purchased at Staples. I stamp COMPLETED once done, stamp also bought at Staples.
- January - December Tabs have two sub-tabs: completed master order sheets and completed invoices. I file every completed form into the proper month. The binder tends to get too full to keep twelve months worth of forms so at the end of each quarter I move each month to an accordion folder along with my PayPal reports and tax reports.
- Discount Codes - I used to be able to remember who got what discount. Now I can't even remember what I had for dinner last night. This really helps me! I don't do a lot of discounting but I like to remember when I do!
- Price List - This is posted on my Facebook page for my customer's reference as well as in my binder for my reference. I have found that by openly posting prices I don't get many people fishing around for the cheapest price. Be proud of your work ladies. What we do is adorable and time consuming and we put too much time, energy and love into our items to sell them for cheap.
- Font List - Again posted on Facebook for my customers and in my binder for me. I create this by merging/typing my fonts into my embroidery software (I use Floriani and BES) and then taking a screen shot and pasting into PowerPoint. Once in PowerPoint I can save as a JPEG to post online. It's works awesome. Takes some time but worth it!!
- To Order - My newest tab in my binder. I keep white and black baby/kid shirts in stock. Other items or colors I order as needed. In this section I keep notebook paper so I can write down what I need to order. Blanks, thread, stabilizer, sanity, you name it. Again - I have mommy brain and cannot remember if I don't write it down.
And here is a little extra nugget. A quick way to see what fabrics you have, where you bought them, etc. Make another binder ladies.
Thanks for stopping by, and now quit lookin' and start organizing.
~Randi AKA Monogramming Mamacita
