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The Importance of Slowing Down

Early last fall I got cracking on holiday soap projects, candles and the like. As time slipped by I began to feel frenzied, and worried about product inventory for the holiday sales events and opportunities I had on my calendar.  I ordered too many holiday fragrance oils, certainly more than I used., had supplies strung all over the house and attempted two projects I was unfamiliar with  (these were doomed to fail). 

 It all started to feel pretty STRESSFUL - like WORK even! 

The holiday season is always a bit crazy for us makers who also sell - that's to be expected.  But looking back, I feel I lost a bit of the excitement and passion.  I felt like a one woman assembly line trying to meet deadlines and the demands of holiday shoppers I had lined up, dying to get their hands on my soap. Sadly, they didn't materialize the way I'd envisioned.  In the end, my events kinda turned out to be stinkers-  without throngs of soap buyers.  So what did I gain:  overspending and overstock plus some disappointment and wasted supplies - it didn't feel good.


Now that we're in mid January I'm beginning to gain some perspective.   I'm striving to streamline my process to be as efficient as possible.  For me, a big part of that is just slowing down, in both my thoughts and actions.  I tend to get ideas and jump at them...often hastily and typically by spending some type of money.  Although sometimes I get darn lucky, acting in haste doesn't seem to produce my very best results.


Refocusing on the artistic beauty of soapmaking is my aspiration, because that's what I love most about it.  I love soaping and sharing - building an empire is not a requirement!


So I'm making myself some new promises.

1.  Pull back on the reigns a little.  The work I'm most proud of was born of thoughtful research and consistent, organized prep work.  "Work smarter not harder".  


2.  Stay organized (this one's gonna be tough!)


4.  Commit to using supplies already on hand as much as possible.  I'm a late night impulse buyer and, like any other addict, stopping cold turkey is a must (of course, this will begin after I receive my pending shipment from Mad Oils!).   As a result, I probably have enough fragrance oils (my big weakness) to make soap for at least a year or longer.  


5.  Quality not quantity.  This is a mantra I should be repeating to myself as often as possible.   Allowing time to really let ideas steep awhile and fully develop before jumping in = Patience! 


Can anyone else relate or is it just me?  I bet it's not........


Comments

  1. I hear you! I got super busy making lotions to keep up with demand felt very frazzled. I put my foot down and only take orders weekly-life got better once I did that! Now I make them once a week and have time to catch up on soaping! :) As for supplies...well, my weak point is fragrances I admit. Nature's Garden has over 800 and I love ordering samples and more and making new lotions and soaps with the new scents! LOL! I have 75 scents and 30 essential oils-kinda insane I guess!

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    Replies
    1. I'm with you on the fragrance...sigh. But we sure smell good! lol

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