01-16-2018
Artisan Gifting Business Marigold & Grey Announces Goals for 2018
FILED IN: Behind-the-Scenes, M&G Happenings
Posted By: Jamie Kutchman
I'm not big on New Years Resolutions. Probably because I never keep them. But I do believe in setting very specific goals for the upcoming year to help guide the way we, as a business, spend both time and resources. I started making our goals public last year, perhaps you remember this post? After a whirlwind 2017 and significant growth (we more than doubled in size), I'm excited to dream even bigger and reveal some of our key initiatives for 2018.
More Occasions
A few years ago, we launched our Pre-Designed Gift Box Collection in our online shop with a small collection of bride-to-be and bridesmaid gifts. It's grown from there to include occasions such as housewarming, engagement, mom-to-be, thank you, and a few more. But as demand for our online collection grows, we realize the need to expand the collection again to include additional occasions such a birthday, congratulations, sympathy, and a few more we'll keep secret for the time being. We want to be your go-to for gifting for all occasions and this is just the next step in making this possible.
Improved Checkout
Quite simply, the e-commerce part of our website needs an overhaul. It's not the smoothest or most intuitive checkout process and that needs to change. While this is a major financial investment, we are ready to make this leap and are anxious to dig in a get started.
Re-Commit to Monthly Newsletters
We took some time to evaluate the content that we're emailing out to our subscriber list and until decisions were made, we decided to temporarily suspend The Studio Scene, our monthly publication (aka newsletter). However, when we polled our subscriber list, an overwhelmingly high number of people said that they enjoyed receiving our newsletter and never minded seeing it pop up in their inbox. So, we'll be re-committing to this format for delivering content in 2018. (To sign up, just head to our home page!)
Giving Back
I'm ashamed to say this but there have been several instances where we've had to throw food away, mostly snacks, because they've expired and we obviously never include expired product in our gift boxes! Some of these items do have longer shelf lives and so this year, our goal is to identify a source for us to consistently donate leftover foods items to long before they expire. Things like pretzel packs, trail mix, chips, candy, nuts and more. I'm a firm believer that business isn't just about making a profit but about creating jobs, serving clients well and also giving back to the community in which we operate. We frequently donate to various organizations throughout the year but we don't have an established program in place and so I'm super excited to get this underway in 2018! Once we do, I'll be sure to update you all on the details!
Further Scale Operations
In 2017, we more than doubled in size revenue wise, but didn't grow the team. We pushed our operation to the absolute brink. I'm proud of how we came together as a team and made miracles happen, but in the end, it showed me that it really is time to grow the team once again. So you may have seen that I hired Carla as a full-time assistant to support myself with sales, sales operations, marketing and administrative tasks. Kelly, Director of Operations, continues to run the logistical side of things. But if I'm being honest with myself and you, I waited far too long to hire Carla and I don't want to make that mistake again. Therefore, we are fully committed to growing the team once again in 2018 so we can continue to serve as many clients as possible who are a good fit for our gifting services. While some businesses take advantage of the scarcity factor by saying they're booked, this actually makes me sick to my stomach every single time we're forced to turn clients away. If someone wishes to work with us and are a good fit for our programs, then the goal would be to never have to deliver the news "sorry, we're booked". Maybe there's a lead time on starting a project, but never fully booked. A lofty goal, yes. But something we are actively working towards!
Now that I've put these in writing, we MUST do them. The pressure is on! What goals have you set for 2018? We'd love to hear! Reach out here. Happy 2018!
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