Effective Business Systems
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I began jewelry beading and stamping cards
about two years ago. I have collected many
supplies for each craft. All of my supplies seem
to have meshed into one large disorganized
mess.
I am currently using a spare bedroom to store
all of my supplies. I hate to enter the room due to the distraction
of so many supplies. I have a large open bookcase where I fill
plastic containers with jewelry supplies and paper supplies.
I have a beautiful table I use as a work site and I also have a
large desk with two storage bins on top with many small pull-out
drawers to hold small jewelry supplies.
Every time I begin a project, I gather the supplies needed and
before I know it I have gathered a table and desk top full of stuff,
and I lose my desire to work on my craft. I'd love to make this into
a small home business. Thank you.
--Sandra Saldivar, Salinas CA
That’s fantastic that you have an entire spare room to use for your
crafting! First of all, sit down with a piece of paper and jot down
the different types of crafts that you do. Under each category,
make a list of the types of supplies that you have or use for that
craft. I would then separate the supplies according to which craft
they will be used for. Store those supplies together.
When you do decide that you’d like to begin a craft, you will want
to prepare what chefs call your MISE EN PLACE. This translates
to everything in its place and refers to both the cleanliness of your
workplace (clear and free of other distractions) as well as a
gathering of all needed supplies.
Be careful not to over-prepare. Only take out what you need. If
you take out more supplies than you need for that project, your
work area will soon feel cluttered.
Be sure to leave yourself a few minutes at the end of your project
time for clean-up. Not taking the time to clean up your current
project will only make you feel overwhelmed before you start the
next one.
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