There are often times that we, as business owners, have great ideas and plans for the future that somehow fall by the wayside. We lose focus, finances change or the idea doesn’t take flight the way we thought that it would. Don’t get discouraged! Take the next step by looking at what did or did not work for you in that situation. Did you have a clear vision for the project or program? Was there a budget or did you think about what obstacles there could be in doing such a project? Who could you have talked to get insight for this project?

Maybe you did have a vision and a well thought out plan but you still were not able to complete the project. Don’t fret. Change is the one thing that we always must be ready for in business. (I know you are trying to figure out how someone can ever be ready for change) There will always be times when we come across opportunities and obstacles that will make us take a detailed look at what we are doing as an entrepreneur. You can be the business owner who always complains that they can never keep up or you can be the entrepreneur that is better equipped to handle change. It’s starts with your vision and along the way there will be times where revision is necessary. Let’s take  look at revision. I believe there are a few areas that consistently are in need of revision. – Quality, Expenses & Marketing.

Merriam dictionary defines revision as:

– a change or a set of changes that corrects or improves something

Don’t start to get discouraged when the opportunities arise for you do a revision. It is not a shot to your ego, more like an opportunity to fine tune what you have. An example of this is from when my youngest daughter who is my little flower child. Yes, I do believe that she was born in the wrong era. lol. She loves any and everything where she can be creative. From cooking to drawing, my youngest tries to have her hands in just about everything. So it was no surprise that my curly girl decided that she wanted to create her own hair bows. It fits her personality to a T! She can choose different colors and designs that she liked or that matched her colorful wardrobe. She was given the opportunity to sell her bows at intermission during a play that a family friend was doing. Yes she was definitely excited. She saved up her money and bought her own supplies. She did the research and found out different places that had the materials she needed. Then she went to work.

Problem number one – It’s better to prepare than to repair

My daughter in all her excitement didn’t take an inventory of her supplies. You can only imagine the look on my 10 year olds face when she realized that she had run out of glue for her hot glue gun. Almost at the brink of tear she called her uncle who jumped to her rescue. (My kids are spoiled, not rotten, but spoiled lol) My daughter had run low on funds after finding some really pretty ribbon during one of her shopping trips but her uncle purchased more glue for her. My daughter learned a very valuable lesson. When you don’t keep track of your inventory you can end up spending more money in the long run. When she originally bought glue for her glue gun, she found some very inexpensive at a local dollar store. When she was in dire need of the glue the dollar store had run out. She would have paid $2 – $4 more for a pack of glue. That is a lot to a ten year old but that can really add up for an entrepreneur as well.

How are you monitoring your inventory? When do you do inventory counts? Have you noticed the connection between keeping track of your inventory and your expenses?

problem number two – it pays to research

Another lesson that my daughter learned when it came to her expenses was that doing research can save you money. On a regular trip to Walmart I found a huge selection of ribbon in different colors, sizes and designs that ranged in price from $1 -$4. That is right in daughters price range. I would pick up ribbon on my trips to the store or when I saw sales on ribbon. I found a huge surprise on one of my trips to Walmart. Their ribbon that coincided with the holiday colors were only a dollar during the season but after the season they were reduced in price. Some went as low as ten cents.

Are you monitoring the best times to purchase your supplies? Have you looked at the prices changes according to seasons or are you simply buying it when you need it?

Every bit counts and every bit helps. – AP Business Consultants