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Hi there.

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It's Sue and thanks for joining me for Tips and Talk

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Day. These are bite sized topics that I pull from community

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questions and things that I'm observing in the world of handmade

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small business.

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If you'd like to submit a topic,

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DME over on Instagram at Gift Biz Unwrapped.

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Before we get started,

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I'm gonna share a secret with you.

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One of my superpowers is the ability to get an enormous

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number of tasks and projects done each and every week.

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I easily meet deadlines,

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rarely forget to do something.

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I know at the start of each day what needs priority,

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attention and action type A personality.

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Yes, and a follow through on the Kobe assessment,

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which should have given me the clue,

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but it wasn't until people started commenting to me that I

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realized not everyone naturally knows how to do this.

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It's the biggest single contributor to the growth I always see

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in my businesses without spending hours and hours working either.

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It's about focus and doing the right things efficiently.

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Prompted by all the questions on how I do this,

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I went about finding a way to help you perform at

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a higher level.

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Two, I analyzed my methods and formalized my process,

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which is one many of my coaching clients.

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Now, also follow.

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You can use it too.

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It's all part of a tool called the Inspired Daily Planner,

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made specifically for gifters,

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bakers, crafters,

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and makers.

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Make no mistake,

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this is not your ordinary planner.

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First off,

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it comes with a video explaining my productivity strategy and the

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physical planner isn't dated,

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so you can start using it the second it arrives at

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your doorstep,

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and that's not all included for each day is a motivational

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or business building tip and plenty of space to capture and

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book in time for to-dos scheduled appointments and all those ideas

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that are now getting lost.

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You can watch the video for free and then get your

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inspired daily planner@giftbizunwrapped.com

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slash inspired.

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How many customers do you really need to reach your sales

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goals? Have you ever thought about it much less calculated it

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out for your specific products?

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Knowing this number can help guide your sales activities and reduce

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the overwhelm that comes with ambiguity,

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not knowing where you'll find people to buy your products and

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simply leaving things up to chance.

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This number is also the basis for gaining confidence in your

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business performance because you can understand and put in place various

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ways to get the number of customers that you need.

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As an added bonus,

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it may prompt you to re-look at your pricing,

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production, staffing,

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and even materials.

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My goal today is to help you figure out your own

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target customer number.

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It of course,

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varies by the product that you sell and your goals,

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so your required customer number can and most likely will be

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different from all the others.

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I've created two scenarios to demonstrate how to determine your number.

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I'm sure you'll be able to apply these examples to your

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own situation and figure out your own desired customer count.

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To begin with,

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I've made a couple of assumptions.

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First off,

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you've priced your products properly,

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so you've covered all of your costs and include margin.

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Second, I'm treating each sale as a single customer,

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so if someone buys from you twice in a year,

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it's calculated as two customers.

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Third, we're focusing here on retail.

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In other words,

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direct to consumer sales versus wholesale.

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Four, for this calculation,

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choose your best selling product.

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This will give you the most accurate ending number and one

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you can feel confident with taking action on five.

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All the calculations are set to the goal of $10,000

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in revenue a year.

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I chose this number because it's an easy one to multiply

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out based on your actual financial goals,

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and finally,

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keep in mind that this is an overall revenue number,

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not profit.

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Again, for ease of analysis.

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All right,

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here's scenario number one.

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The product is table runners.

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I picked this product because it's more likely a one-off sale

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versus a product that needs to be replenished.

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That's gonna come in our second scenario.

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What you're going to see demonstrated here is the difference in

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customer count as a price changes resourcing.

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Etsy, I found that custom made table runners go for anywhere

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from 15 to $50.

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Let's look at both price points.

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Dividing $10,000

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by your sale price,

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you would need to sell 667 runners at $15 and 200

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runners at $50,

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breaking that down into months.

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On average,

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you would need to sell 56 runners at $15 and only

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17 at $50 each month.

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Major difference,

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isn't it?

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Again, we're working here with an annual number of $10,000

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in revenue,

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so you'd multiply these numbers to match your annual goal.

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If your target was $50,000,

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for example,

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you'd multiply your number by five and so on.

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Having these numbers gives you a single product purchase customer count

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to reach.

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Another consideration that would lower your number is knowing what percentage

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of your customers buy,

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again, are repeat customers.

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In this case,

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maybe a certain number of customers want new runners for every

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season, or they buy products for gifts,

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things like that.

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This is one of the benefits of staying in touch with

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past customers,

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like sending emails to remind them about your products and trigger

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new sales.

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You'll note that in this scenario,

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the number of customers required is dramatically different based on your

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price. I mean,

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667 versus 200 is a lot,

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and remember,

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each sale comes with other time considerations over production too,

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like packaging,

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shipping, customer service interactions.

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Recently in podcast episode 393,

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we talked about how strategically pricing your product has ramifications throughout

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your whole process.

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It's actually a good one to listen to for a detailed

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pricing discussion overall.

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Now, let's look at scenario number two.

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The product I've chosen here is handmade soap at a $7

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and 50 cent price point,

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calculating the same way we did for table runners.

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At $10,000

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annual revenue,

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you would need to sell 1,333

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bars of soap or 444 each month,

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but hold on for products like soap candles,

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essential oils,

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bakery items,

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spices, and maybe yours,

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a single customer doesn't buy just one.

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For our soaps here,

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let's say that for most orders,

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people buy three at a time.

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That drops your customer count to only 111 for the year

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or 37 a month.

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Am I opening your eyes here?

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37 customers a month?

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Gosh, that could easily be one craft show day.

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Of course,

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I know you sell a variety of items.

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Some months sales are stronger than others and some customer purchases

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will be more or less than your averages,

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but running your calculation,

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as I've just described,

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will give you a realistic average number to work with.

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Now, what do you do with this customer count?

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It's time to put a plan in place on how you'll

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attract these customers already.

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Have a plan.

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Compare this customer count number to the results that you're seeing

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with your current plan and make adjustments accordingly.

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Incorporating multiple ways that people can purchase from you will significantly

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push your sales in your favor.

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You don't need to do all the things I'm gonna list

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right here,

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especially if you're just starting out,

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but having your own website,

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selling through a Etsy shop,

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attending in person shows,

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promoting on social media,

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sending emails.

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All of these are some of the major streams.

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Revenue comes into your business.

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I know dealing with numbers isn't the most fun activity.

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I know it isn't for me,

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but having a grasp on what's required to hit your sales

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targets, gives you direction on ensuring that that will happen.

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It's the difference between hoping you'll get sales and new customers

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versus seeing it play out in real life.

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That's a wrap.

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I'm a get to the point kind of girl,

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and this is what you can expect from these quick midweek

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sessions. Now it's your turn.

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Go out and fulfill that dream of yours.

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Share your handmade products with us.

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We want them,

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and they bring us both.

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So much happiness.