It’s my favourite time of year. There is something about it that really gets me feeling creative and happy.
I guess Autumn is the time to feel cosy and renewed. And can’t forget the gorgeous colours that are starting to arrive. I love walking during Autumn, you can feel the freshness in the air.
Now that Autumn is here, it is time to launch a new range of Autumn-themed products for 2025. Why not take a look below and tell me which one is your favourite?
Autumn 2025
Celebrate the beauty of autumn year-round with this bookmark. Features digital illustrations of leaves, a hot drink and white text describing the perfect autumn vibes.Features a sleek frosted glass exterior, with a hand-drawn ghost design in a wolly hat and scarf holding a hot drink. Text reads “Boo! But First Pumpkin Spice” with “Boo!” in an autumn-coloured tartan design. On both the front and the back.Celebrate the beauty of autumn with this charming A5 aluminium wall print, featuring a hand-drawn wreath of seasonal foliage in warm, earthy tones. Encircling the wreath is the gentle reminder to “take time to catch the falling leaves” — a poignant sentiment that encourages mindfulness, rest, and appreciation for life’s fleeting moments.My adorable Witchy Black Cat Tote Bag was designed and pressed here in Kent by me. It features a digital illustration of all things pumpkin and cute. This includes a digital drawing of a black kitten with a brown witch’s hat sitting inside a pumpkin surrounded by leaves.
I offer wholesale as well as individual sales, so if you’d like to order in bulk or make a special custom request, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
You can purchase from my Etsy shop. I also have many other Autumn designs to choose from.
Which one is your favourite? I personally love the Cat tote bag, I now have one for myself.
I am currently working on my Winter/Christmas range. Make sure to follow me on social media for the latest works in progress and updates (As well as everyday life of a mum stuff)
Thank You
Thank you for taking the time to visit my website and read my blog. If there is something you would like to see more of, then please comment below.
It’s been a busy few months here with new product launches and navigating my first school summer holidays (I survived). I am now getting back into updating my blog and website.
Sadly, the latest post is not a positive one. But it’s a very important update that I need to write.
This is a follow-up on my previous blog post on the USA Tariffs.
Overview
Earlier this year, the Tangerine Tyrant imposed tariffs on various products and countries. It caused chaos, confusion and anger among many people. Especially small businesses that wouldn’t know if their products would receive extra charges or not when entering the USA.
At the time, the “De Minimus” was still in place. It allowed products under a certain value from anywhere in the world to enter the USA without extra charges. China was removed from De Minimus a few months later. For a while, customers in the USA were reluctant to make online purchases in case they received extra charges. But thankfully, that picked up again as the year went on.
However—
On the 30th July 2025, the “President” of the United States announced the removal of De Minimus. This was to take effect on August 29th 2025.
Now we all waited to see if he did one of his famous TACO manoeuvres, but sadly, no. It went into effect on the 29th of August as promised. This now means that ALL products entering the USA, despite cost and country of origin, will be charged extra customs fees.
What is De Minimus?
De Minimus is basically legal wording to describe something too trivial to worry about. In this case, cheap products are not worth taxing or worth considering taxing because it would be too much money and time to do.
Most countries have this in place. For the UK, anything under £150 is exempt from customs charges. For the USA, anything under $800 wouldn’t be taxed or have additional customs charges. That is no longer the case.
What Happens Now?
For the Cheeto President to keep his promise that exporters will be charged the tariffs, not the customer, tariff charges must be prepaid before the product can leave the country. If a product arrives in the USA without the tariff being prepaid, it could be rejected and returned at the seller’s expense, destroyed or sold at auction.
As a result, sellers have had to increase their prices to cover these charges. Mostly in the shipping costs, which is what I have done for my cheapest products.
I do have to give Royal Mail credit here; they did a huge amount of work to set up the ability for anyone in the UK to be able to pre-pay the tariffs, and in just under a month, too. Some other postage companies had to stop sending to the USA completely (unless it was a gift), Royal Mail only paused shipping to the USA for 48 hours and then came back up.
There were some teething issues, but I think they have been mostly rectified.
So yes, I am open again to selling my cheapest items to the USA, but with a huge increase in postage costs.
How is it calculated?
I hate maths. It’s bad enough I have to do math for my taxes each year, but this was a whole new level of brain pain.
As I am UK-based, some of my products are only charged at 10%. However, as some of my other products originate in China, I will have to charge 30% on these products.
But why? If you make it in the UK then surely the UK tariff stands? No
According to the rules as set by the current US government, simply placing an image onto a product does not qualify it enough to be “UK Made”. If I imported the sheets of aluminium, cut them myself for my bookmarks and wall art, and then added the sublimation covering, then added my design onto it. Only THEN can I mark it as UK Made. But since I am a single person running a business out of my home and not a factory, that’s not an option.
So, here is my pricing breakdown: Price of item + 30%/10% tariff fees + tracked postage + Etsy fees + Royal Mail processing fees = New cost for USA customers.
Why not just charge the 10% tariff? How would they know?
Sorry. Not risking committing fraud for a few pounds.
And I know some of my products have been opened and checked by customs. I have had a couple of USA customers contact me because their package has been opened, and the item is either missing or damaged (thou why send just an empty envelope is a bit confusing to me). And a few products do say “made in China” on them. I’m just going to risk it.
And I am also not risking marking them as “gift” for the same reasons as above. They are checking items at customs.
How Is it charged?
For the time being, I am charging the tariff fees via shipping costs. Etsy is currently working on creating a country-based pricing system so it’s easier to manage (as well as avoiding paying them more fees), but that will be months away, so for now it’s in the cost of delivery.
Conclusion
I have yet to make a USA sale since the De Minimus ended. And looking at the costs. I am not surprised.
I lost the ability to sell to EU countries last December, and now it seems the USA is almost impossible to sell to. Another nail in the coffin for small independent businesses.
I love seeing how everyone says how great small businesses are to the economy, but then makes it near enough impossible to actually make sales.
If you are based in the UK or outside the USA, or outside the EU. Please consider buying from a small/independent business this Christmas. We are all suffering, and some have already closed shop.
Support small this Christmas.
Thank you for visiting my website to read my blog, make a purchase, or follow me on social media. Your support is greatly appreciated in whatever form.
If you have any questions, please use the comment section below or one of my social media channels. If you have any ideas or feedback, please share them in the comments below.
Welcome again to my blog. If this is your first time here, take a look at my other posts on the blog page.
I have been away doing lots of product planning and designing lately. We are now in June/July, with this in mind, my thoughts turn to Autumn/Christmas products (Yes, I know, tell me about it).
First, let me show you what I have been working on for the summer. And then what you can expect to see in my store in the next few weeks.
Planning
I have gotten into a routine of planning my weeks this year. This is mostly to work around my son’s school hours/days and get what I need done. This has allowed me more magical time to do more drawing and designing.
This year has been a quiet year for sales so far compared to last year. As a result, it is important to regularly update my listings to boost visitors to my site. However, I am very excited for what is coming.
Book Themes
My ‘Drink Tea, Read Books, Repeat’ coaster became popular, especially around Christmas. Thus showing that Book-themed products are always popular. Inspired by the phrase “I should BEE reading”, I had decided that this image is to be hand-drawn on my new magic drawing tablet.
‘Simple’ was key in my mind. I often would overwork a design, making it too busy, so I wanted to ensure that I wouldn’t go overboard while creating the images.
Below are the final results that I was happy with. I couldn’t wait to see how they turn out after being sublimated.
Holiday Themes
I became inspired by some seashell patterns I discovered on Pinterest. As summer approaches and people start preparing for a well-deserved holiday in the sun, it could be a product that works well for this time of year.
I returned to Pinterest to seek colour inspiration for the pattern and began working on the illustrations to be depicted. Below are the final results. I didn’t have an end product planned when I started this, but looking at it, I felt it could work well as a makeup bag or bookmark.
Coming Soon…
Below are the new upcoming products that will be in my Etsy store soon. Remember, you can follow me on social media (see links at the bottom of the article) or favourite my Etsy store to get notified when these products go live, along with unique special discount codes. Tote Bags is a new product line I will introduce this year.
As mentioned, my thoughts are turning to the ‘Ber’ months. Being a small business, I need to think and plan several months ahead of time.
I already have a design idea around the phrase “Pumpkin Spice and All Things Nice”, in addition to a ghost theme. I also have another witch-themed coaster that has just been added to my little notebook.
Meanwhile, I started work on a cherry blossom design, but it might make it into the 2025 range or may have to wait until 2026. Similar thoughts with a design idea I had for strawberries on a tea towel. We will just have to wait and see.
I also have a design idea for a velvetiser station sign (to go with my hot chocolate station sign) and possibly a Christmas-themed design for a tin lid.
Conclusion
In summary, a busy summer ahead for me.
Sometimes I will have an idea, and it won’t work out. If I am not happy, it won’t get pressed and won’t be available to buy on my Etsy store. It is just the way things can go, but it doesn’t mean I won’t go back to it to fix and update for another time.
With the school summer holidays coming up, I do need to get started on most of these ideas soon. So keep an eye out on my social media accounts for updates and regular WIP Wednesday posts to watch how these new designs come along, as well as new product launch announcements and special discounts.
Thank you if you have visited my website to read my blog, buy from me or follow me on social media. Your support is greatly appreciated in whatever form.
If you have any questions, please use the comment section below or one of my social media channels. If you have any ideas or feedback, please comment below.
And it can be hard to juggle that and be a parent. So, for fun, I drew up an infographic of most of the hats I have to wear daily.
It may be hard, and sometimes you have to wear multiple hats at the same time, but it is worth it when that sale comes in while I collect my son from school.
Conclusion
Which hat is your favourite? Do you agree with it? Did I miss something?
Welcome back to my mini-series about how to start a Sublimation business. In Part 3, we will be discussing marketplace platforms. You can catch up on the previous instalments here:
So, you now have all the equipment you need to start a business. You have developed or are developing some designs you want to sell. But where or how are you going to sell it?
Where to begin?
Grab a coffee and a choccy biccy, and let’s take a look at marketplace platforms
Marketplace Platforms vs. Your Website
First off. What is a marketplace platform?
Marketplace platforms are websites or apps that allow businesses to sell products to customers. Some examples of marketplace platforms include Sharetribe, Shopify, and Amazon
Marketplace platforms make it simpler and easier to list items without the need to learn how to build or manage a website. A lot of marketplace platforms also handle tax fees, which, again, makes it easier to manage your store and finances.
The majority of these places will have some initial start-up fees, listing fees and subscriptions, so it’s very important to have a good look and research their fees, both one-off and ongoing, as they can vary wildly.
Some places, such as Not on the High Street, you need to apply to their platform to sell as they vet everyone and don’t want too many of the same thing being sold and are less likely to have scammers or drop shippers.
You also need to consider digital footfall. Etsy and Shopify are well-known and established, and as a result, they attract more shoppers to their sites.
With your website, you avoid these extra marketplace fees and you just have the annual hosting and domain name fees. So you tend to have better take-home pay. However, you will need to keep an eye on taxes, mailing costs, etc. Marketplaces cover things you wouldn’t normally think of. You also have a lot more work on social media to get shoppers to visit your website.
Fees
Yup. Fees. Sadly nothing is free, especially with the online marketplace hosting. Even with your own website you would have to pay for web hosting and domain name price. These tend to be annual, but some places offer monthly payment plans. No need to pay extra for listing fees, processing fees, etc., that some other platforms charge.
Other platforms such as Etsy, have several little extra fees that they have. You can opt out of some features, such as Etsy off-site advertising. But Etsy has a small list of fees, including listing fees, operating fees, processing fees, VAT fees, etc. They are small amounts but can build up over a month. But no fees or subscription payments.
Other sites such as BuyIndie or MadeMe don’t have listing fees but offer a subscription service instead. Many find this preferable compared to the small multiple fees charged by Etsy. But research the digital footfall on these sites, as you would need to work hard on social media and additional advertising fees to pull in customers yourself.
Advertising
Setting up your shop isn’t the last of it. You will need to bring in customers.
Etsy offers in-site advertising at an extra cost; They charge you by click-throughs. This is optional. Etsy automatically adds your listings to off-site advertising (on Google, Pinterest, etc.), and they only charge you when you make a sale.I have been told that you can opt out of this as well. I’m not sure about the other sites, but my understanding is that you need to bring in customers yourself or pay extra for them to advertise for you.
Having your website is different. You would have to work hard to bring in the customers, so putting some money into advertising on Google, or Facebook etc. is worth it. But it will require extra effort on your part to get your brand out there.
Traffic
As mentioned previously, a lot of well-established marketplace sites already have good digital traffic. Now, this doesn’t mean success; you still need to work on driving that traffic to your listings with good images, SEO and catchy listing titles to get that cha-ching.
With your own website and smaller marketplaces you will need to add in the extra work. You don’t already have that digital footprint that other well-established websites already have. Using your website takes longer to establish, so you really need to focus on your SEO and social media campaigns to start seeing those cha-chings come in.
Social Media
Social media will play an important role in generating sales and getting noticed. Whether you have your own website or use a marketplace, you will need a social media presence.
Make sure you have your website link or marketplace link in your bio as well as links in posts and stories to help drive people to your online store. It’s also a great place to announce sales and new products to help generate interest. Again, this will take time, and you will really need to work hard to establish your online presence. I would recommend looking at paying for advertising on Facebook and Instagram to help get your business name up there and bring in followers.
Eventually you may want to start an email/newsletter campaign, offer free items, competitions and more to help with engagement. It can be rewarding if you put the hard work into it.
If you have an Etsy store, make sure to use your share and save link so you get money back on your transaction fees.
Conclusion
In conclusion, if you are starting out, I would suggest starting out on a marketplace such as Etsy or Amazon. Establish yourself, gather reviews, and work on social media to gain visibility. Just make sure you take the fees into account in your pricing.
Now, depending on how your sales go after a year or 2, it would then be worth considering a professional website of your own and start driving traffic to it rather than your marketplace platform.
Starting your shop takes a lot of work, and it will not be a success from the start. You need to put a lot of dedication into it all before you start seeing those sales come in. Even after 4 years in business, I would not say I have been incredibly successful. Good enough to stay in business but not enough to say my profits are enough to cover my mortgage (still hoping).
But once you put the work into it, it will be worth it. Stay strong and believe in yourself.
Thank you if you have visited my website to read my blog, buy from me or follow me on social media. We greatly appreciate your support in whatever form.
If you have any questions please use the comment section below or use one of my social media channels. If you have any goal recommendations to make; then please comment below.
Happy Spring Time! It’s that time of year that many do the big spring clean. For many it can be a refresh of their wardrobe, a lick of paint in the house or giving the car a good clean. For me it means a review of my business brand.
And that’s what I did. I had been using this branding since 2021, when I started this little business (See my shops 4th Birthday Blog) and for this reason, it needed an update.
The Logo
I wanted to keep several things: Round shape, the Panda Character, Green colour.
The round shape makes it look nicer on social media profile icons as the most of them are round. For obvious reasons, the word ‘panda,’ needed to see it. The green colour would offer a colour that would stand-out more, compared to the usual black and white associated with panda’s.
I took to Pinterest and created a collage of colours that I loved and other Panda logo icons for inspiration.
I made 6 different variations of the logo. Picked my favourite 3. Refined them a bit more, including the font style. Selected it down to 2 designs and see how they work with the colours I was considering.
Many Colours…
I browsed Pinterest for branding colour inspiration.
As mentioned ealrier, the primary colour needed to continue to be green and to have a suitable colour that contrasts well with the green so things can be readable.
A good ‘highlight’ colour was required. Something I could use to emphasise something or to jump out a bit more on social media.
I found several colour palettes that I liked and worked out which ones would be best for myself and brand. As you can see I combined colours from 3 different palettes and felt like I have a branding colour palette that I think would work.
The next stage was to see how it would work with my final 2 logo designs and see which worked best
After exploring the colours, I decided that the logo on the left worked well like this, and I chose this as my new branding.
A Varity of Variations
A colour logo won’t always work, so I needed to create different versions of the logo that I could use when required. Finally, everything was ready to use.
I have already started using it on social media and my Etsy shop and I am getting some nice feedback about it. The website will soon display the new logo. I hope my web developer (aka my lovely, sexy husband) will soon find the time to help me do this.
So, what do you think? Are you starting out on your logo and branding journey for your new shop? Or possibly thinking of a rebrand? If you are, I hope this article helped you.
Feel free to comment below or follow me on social media.
Four Years ago, on the 23rd March, I opened Panda Motion Designs on Etsy. I even made my first sale within a few hours of going live.
I honestly never thought I would run my business, let alone be selling for 4 years!.
How it Started
Before Panda Motion Designs became a shop it was the business name I was using as a Audio/Visual Designer Contractor. I specialised in creating onboarding and knowledge sharing videos for clients, mostly for banks and financial sector.
I then got pregnant, and as a contractor/self-employed person, I didn’t receive maternity leave, so I had to quit working entirely. And during my last few months of working and pregnancy, Covid hit and ended up locked up safe at home.
I wanted to return to work to help pay some income into the household. So, about a year after I gave birth, I decided I wanted to return to part-time work around childcare. However, most of my clients changed their structures and leadership during Covid-19 and they basically told me I was not required and part-time was not acceptable or offered the flexibility to work around childcare.
It was devastating. Feeling useless and I fell into depression. I cried a lot, wandering what to go and where to go for work. I had a few leads but all fell through when they discovered I had a young child. No one wanted to actually offer the flexibility they were advertising on job descriptions. Then one day, my husband had an idea.
Panda Motion is Reborn
My wonderful husband was sad and upset to see me struggle. But watching me draw and be creative with our son, he thought it was a great idea to sell my designs onto products such as mugs, coasters, etc. He did all the research into Sublimation and how it works and how to make sales on Etsy and showed it all to me.
To be honest, I was apprehensive. I tried this before in the past and failed miserably. It can be such a personal thing to sell your pictures, paintings etc. to the world. I eventually came around to the idea and got all the equipment and stock needed to start my own little business..
Panda Motion Designs was reborn as a online store.
4 years later, 1,860+ sales and a new website later I am still here.
I have had some ups and downs with it all. But at least I am feeling like I am contributing to the household in some small way. Enough to treat my son to an extra slice of cake and new clothes.
I am so appreciative of the opportunity to do this as well as all of the amazing customers who have bought from me and left me lovely reviews. Thankful for all the supportive people I have met and chat to on Instagram and Threads. It’s been an interesting journey so far, and can’t wait to see what happens next.
Happy March and Welcome Back to my Small Business Blog and online shop.
It’s been a slow couple of months no thanks to GPSR and cost of living but I plug on. The one thing I need to keep an eye on while running a business is the frequent changes to tax and customs charges. Which is almost a full-time job, let alone any other job a small business owner needs to do.
The most recent update is the 25% tariff fees on certain products that were introduced by the current US government on 12th March 2025. So let’s take a look at it and what it could mean to myself, fellow small businesses and US customers.
What Is It?
“The US tariffs of up to 25% will apply on industrial-grade steel and aluminium, other steel and aluminium semifinished and finished products, and also their derivative commercial products” Source
On March 12th 2025, the USA imposed a tariff on all imports of aluminium and steel products. This particular tariff is world wide (not just to Canada, Mexico and China like other tariffs that have recently been introduced).
This means that any product sold that is made from aluminium or steel that is sent to the USA will have an additional charge put on them at US customs. I’m not sure about items marked as “Gift” on customs paperwork if they are exempt or not.
Will it Affect Me?
If you live outside the USA, then no. It is only for imports going into the USA. If you sell aluminium and steel based products to US customers or buy steel or aluminium from outside the US then it will affect you.
How Will It Affect Me?
In a nutshell, US buyers will be charged 25% by US Customs. Unlike how it is reported by some, the seller will not be footing the bill for these tariffs/charges. It is even within Etsy terms and conditions that the customer is responsible for paying any customs charges/tariffs
It will mean delays to customers receiving their item due to customs awaiting the additional charges to be paid. And customers being unhappy because they were unaware of these additional charges.
How Will it Affect Small/Micro Businesses?
This could have an affect on businesses. Especially those who are run by one or 2 people, like myself at Panda Motion Designs.
The sellers will not be charged the 25%, but buyers will be put off buying items from outside the USA due to the tariffs. And of course there will be customers who were unaware of the charges and will not pay it or they expect the seller to pay it. Resulting in the item potentially being returned to the seller due to unpaid fees, resulting in loss of income.
What is key here is to have good communication with the buyer. Letting them know about these charges they could receive early on in the order process so they could make a decision to continue or not. I already have a text template ready to send to a USA customer when an order comes in.
Which Panda Motion Designs products are affected?
This will affect my A5/A6 aluminium signs, aluminium bookmarks and the stainless steel water bottles.
Since the tariff covers industrial-grade, semi-finished and finished steel and aluminium products the items I have listed above will receive a 25% tariff charge at US Customs.
It will only be a couple of additional dollars required for US customers to pay. It will still be off putting for many. And since my most popular products are the aluminium signs I am expecting to see a reduction in sales sadly. I have read that the UK government are in talks with the US government to reduce or remove this tariff from UK products but it may be a while before that happens (if it does)
Conclusion
In conclusion, another set back for many small businesses. Especially those that are run by only 1 or 2 people like myself.
What’s the point? Well the aim is to promote US based steel and aluminium productions/sales. Wither you agree with this or not. It is here and it’s important to clearly communicate things between the customer and buyer to avoid confusion and anger.
I plan on messaging customers as soon as possible once an order is placed and I see it is going to the US and begin the conversation early as long as the tariffs are in place. Who knows what will happen later on down the line, will just have to wait and watch.
I will update on this blog if their are any changes. Please feel free to comment below or follow me on social media for updates.
Hello 2025. Now that the Christmas cheese coma is over, and I have watched enough Wallace and Gromit to quote it word for word; it’s time to set my sights on the upcoming year.
My business journey, so far, has had its ups and downs. But with every up and down a lesson is learned. And these lessons will help me plan my business goals for the year ahead.
Grab a cuppa, get under a blanket and dunk that biscuit and let’s dive into my 2025 business goals.
Financial Goals:
Just like any small/micro business I want to increase my income for this year. As I mentioned in my year in review post, 2024 was not the greatest so far since I opened my Etsy shop. So, to try and improve it this year I plan to invest a little more in advertising. Mostly Etsy ads supported with well planned social media captions and images. Possibly push a bit more on Pintrest and Threads.
I also plan to invest in more varied products and designs. Now that our laser cutter is up and running we have started offering laser cut products, I want to look into this more in 2025.
By improving reach I am hoping for more sales.
Lifestyle Goals:
Now that my son has started school I have had more time to work on my small business.This has resulted in me being able to spend more time with him around the school days and not have to worry about prepping for social media or trying to get an order out on time. It has been quite freeing.
The one thing I am going to be changing is having some “me time” this is time just for me during the week. No business work, no school admin, no listening to demands of a 4 year old. Just something for me. Being a mum is 24/7 and with running a micro business as well it can all be very mentally draining and it was feeling like I was getting that time to be me.
Taking time out to be me is a goal for me this year.
Impact Goals:
Since my website was launched last year I have seen an increase in traffic, mostly via the blog page. My most popular blog post being my experience of GPSR and the changes I needed to make to my delivery options. Followed by some of my tutorial pages.
I plan to continue with this but into how to run a micro/small business from home and bring updates that would affect other fellow businesses.
I love being creative. Just this weekend I made my son a pizza with toppings out of a cardboard box so he can make himself a ninja turtle pizza.
Creative Goals:
I love being creative. Just this weekend I made my son a pizza with toppings out of a cardboard box so he can make himself a ninja turtle pizza.
I wish to continue to refine and experiment more with digital illustration and design for 2025. I often find this quite relaxing to chill and let a design flow naturally without much of a plan. Improve my knowledge of Adobe Illustrator so I can get the most out of it.
I also have 2 books about drawing everyday and I hope to get back into those as well.
Optimization Goals:
I feel I have improved with SEO and listing optimisation since last year but still something that requires refinement.
I regularly update my listing SEO and images to keep on trend and up to date but finding the right words can be difficult. Even using EHunt was helpful. I still feel this is something I need to remain on top of. Especially with my blog and finding the right keywords so I can be found in search engines.
Also using social media stats to work out the best time to post in order to reach more potential customers will also be a part of my goal.
Reputation Goals:
I am going to take some time in the first quarter of 2025 to review my branding and refine it more. I have been consistent with my branding this year but feel it needs a slight change to keep it fresh and interesting. It’s not going to be a big change but enough to keep it creative throughout the year without being boring and to just give it a spring clean.
Maybe add some more animations along the way as well.
Other Goals:
Last year I wanted to be in front of the camera a bit more on social media. Although that is still a goal, I feel this has been covered in an earlier point above. This year I want to be more engaged with other fellow small businesses and have met some really lovely people. I want to focus on expanding this, sharing, commenting and discussing more to build on good relationships and help buy from small businesses more often and encourage new customers to engage with my profile.
Conclusion
So, that is my business plan for 2025. Some of these are going to be more difficult than others and some I may not complete. I look forward to finding out how things work out. I invite you to share yours or link to your business plans in the comments below.
Let’s all support one another and make 2025 the year of small/micro businesses.
Thank you if you have visited my website to read my blog, buy from me or follow me on social media. Your support is greatly appreciated in whatever form.
If you have any questions please use the comment section below or use one of my social media channels. If you have any goal recommendations to make; then please comment below.
WOW. It’s the end of the year already. I hope you are enjoying the festive season and hopefully having some down time after the busy Christmas period.
It’s time to have a review of the year. I made a blog post about my Business Goals for 2024 so I will be reviewing what has happened. The good and the bad.
So grab a mince pie, a festive drink of any description and let’s get started.
Financial Goals:
As with all businesses of any size, having a bit of a profit is always a goal. For the past 2 years I have turned a good profit, especially at Christmas. Sadly this year has not been as profitable. Most likely down to the cost of living crisis, resulting in not many customers having the funds to support small businesses.
Which is very fair. I am very grateful for those who have decided to spend some of their pay money in my little store. What has been successful was advertising. I have managed to increase visibility on Etsy, especially at Christmas and get quite a few sales, favourites and followers. So the year hasn’t been all bad.
Lifestyle Goals:
Now that my son has started school I have had more chances to expand my business. But also balancing it with the school run and various school events. While we are still hoping to expand our family I believe I have achieved a good work and life balance.
Impact Goals:
The website was launched this year. One of my goals was to give back and use the blog page to share various articles about starting a small business and basic sublimation tutorials.
I have written 3 tutorials (along with 2 videos). 7 articles about starting and running a small business as a busy mum. It is hard to stand out from the crowd with many sublimation tutorials out there but in my first year I don’t think I have done OK.
Creative Goals:
Despite not achieving getting back into watercolours or other creative outlets; I have tried new sublimation materials and laser cutter designs.
We started offering laser cut and etched items during the autumn. I also started sublimating onto tea towels over Christmas and it was a learning curve and received a lot of help on the Blanks Sublimation community page on Facebook and is now an item to buy for my store.
I did try a makeup bag but the design needs a bit of refining but hoping to add it to my store in 2025.
Optimization Goals:
SEO is not a strong point for me so this was a goal I really did need to focus on. I started using the free version of EHunt which has helped me optimize my Etsy listings and identify potential issues with my listing. I am regularly updating my listings keywords depending on the time of year and most popular search terms on Esty to help increase visibility and sales.
The blog has also been a challenge in this as I tend to write how I talk so I often have to review and change my sentences in order to add in keywords. It’s hard but I think I may be getting there.
Reputation Goals:
I have been focussing on my brand this year a bit more. As I have said previously, my son started school in September so I have had more time to focus on various details of my brand look and feel. Giving my social pages more of a flow and ease of reading.
I have also made sure my customers have had a good experience while shopping with me and I have had very few requests for returns or issues with missing items resulting in a lot more 5 star reviews on Etsy compared to the previous year.
Other Goals:
It took me a while to get brave enough to show my face and voice more on social media and I did a few Instagram stories and tutorial videos with my face in front of the camera. I am still not 100% comfortable with this but I am happy with the amount I have done so far.
Conclusion
So that is my year in review. And although I didn’t reach all of my goals I think I have done well so far in my little business.
As the year comes to an end I will be reviewing my goals and what I want to achieve in 2025 for myself and my business.
Thank you if you have visited my website to read my blog, buy from me or follow me on social media. Your support is greatly appreciated in whatever form.
If you have any questions please use the comment section below or use one of my social media channels. If you have any goal recommendations to make them comment below.
Until then, have a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. See you in 2025.
