Goals

When I first set up my studio jewellery business I found it really helpful to set some goals and to actually write them down. It was a way of crystallizing my ideas of what I wanted from the business.

The way I wrote them down was as follows:

First I wrote down about three or four goals such as being featured in a magazine or having an exhibition or creating a new body of work or winning a grant that year. These were just larger ideas that I thought would be good things.

Second, I took each goal and broke it down into smaller pieces. For example making a list of magazines I might possibly be featured in, what kind of article; or where were possible galleries that might show a jewellery exhibition; or if I applied for a grant what would be some proposal ideas. I called these my objectives.

Third, I took each objective and broke it down into a mini action plan complete with a to do list. For example I would compile a mailing list and a press package for the magazine objective and then do a mail out. Once I did this for each goal it really made it all seem far more do-able, albeit a lot of work.

I did this goal setting exercise for at least five or six years while my studio business was growing and I learned a lot from it. For the past few years I think I have been running on automatic as I am immersed in production work and custom pieces and I have a pretty solid routine to follow each work day. But lately I have been thinking that I need to set some new goals and see if I can change the path my jewellery is taking. Time to shake things up...