Grwaaaourgraaagggrrrrraa!!!

...continued from Farewell my businesscard...

 hrough the hallucinations of the high fever, I made plans and rethought many, many things about my wee little business... and believe me... sometimes feverish thoughts are the best..heehe :)

The most important drive was to give everyone one thing that seemed important during the festive sale: lower prices. On everything. With absolutely *no* compromise in quality.

I'm more than happy to work more for less if that brings more smiles around the world.  I really saw though, during the maddening time briefly described in my previous posts, that going low on prices is not the most straightforward thing. First there are material costs of course but, surprisingly, one of the most expensive commodity for me proved to be “time”! Always slipping away from me and never enough even though there is a constant supply! ;)

Between the choice of using my unexpected earnings to get a bit out of debt, get Mr Bear a new leash or using them to invest and bet that the future will be kind to me, I chose the gambling!! There was no way I could have dropped my prices to where they are today if I hadn't invested pretty much everything back to my little business. And I think I can drop 'em a bit more too! One step at a time!

So I spent my time in bed to prepare my moves and study hard too. If you want to save money while still maintaining quality there is only one hard way: become *very* technical and accurate in production (to reduce waste and hasten everything) and buy what you need bulk from good stockists (to reduce material costs).

The first action was part excitement, part frustration as I had to delve really deep into the science of digital production. I will certainly have to make a post some time in the future about digital colour management for anyone that is interested in printing things. For now, suffice to say that my house has become a well balanced colour crazy lab! I will really have to show you my spectrocolourimeter at some point..... :D Actually Mr Spectrocolourimeter prefers to be called Dr Spectrophotometer which to him sounds a bit more fancy but anyway, I digress...!

So, with amazing colour matching technology now in my hands I can work both quicker and with better precision which will mean more and better art and products.

The smart stocking of materials meant mindbogglingly boring hours of research and exploration but it really turned out well as I managed to reduce almost all my expenses quite a bit and I also managed to find quite a few great local suppliers which is always good for the community :)

There's also bound to be some outsourcing on small items, like postcards and such, but the printer-men will really have to try and impress me because offset printing is nothing close to my giclee prints :p I know though, that it is more important to my playmates to get an affordable and expendable postcard at reasonable quality and if you need a postcard sized best quality giclee print to frame you can always try my new series of M i n i Prints! :)

I'm closing this post with Mr Bear's favourite quote: "Grwaaaourgraaagggrrrrraa"!!! This translates roughly to "I promise that the next post will have pictures in"!! :D

Till next time fellow bear lovers!

Warmest bear hugs,

x♥xEloisex♥x

Comments

[Sunni Standing]

I think you are so creative and I can sympathize with production costs. I did the same thing, thinking my time wasn't valuable and working myself to death and never getting ahead. Alas, I feel your pain and am glad that you are able to lower your costs and hopefully your time on production!

[Jillian]

I do hope you do a post in the near future regarding your digital color management techniques. I've been trying and trying to perfect the world of digital color for a while now and can't seem to find the ticket. I've often wondered how you do it so well! ~Jillian

[waterrose]

What a great and realistic way to look at your business. I am struggling with my pricing and worrying that most people will not be able to afford my creations. Thanks for speaking about it publicly since I think that most people are also considering this.

[denise lever]

Is it possible you could contact me regarding your work quite soon.
Before the end of March would be ideal.
I would like to discuss showcasing for you.
Your work is beautiful.
Kind regards
Denise

[Hidden Eloise]

I can certainly say, having worked under the new conditions for a couple of weeks now, that my productivity has increased quite a bit and there has been a decrease in waste too! Less wasted time on errors and less wasted materials.

The better colour management really makes a difference! I will definitely write about my adventures in digital colour but it's quite an undertaking so i will take it one step at a time. So many things to right on the subject and it's mostly boring and technical staff too!! I want to help though and i know that simple guides about colour management are rare.

I'll certainly keep writing about my adventures and sharing whatever may be helpful to anyone else! The age of trade secrets is soooo yesterday you know ;D

Bear hugs,
Eloise xxx