What Does Moving Forward Look Like for You?

2020 - It IS kind of a big deal... New year, new decade, new start

What does 2020 hold in store for you?

More importantly, what can we here at the National Network of Embroidery Professionals (NNEP) do to HELP you move forward in your business?

What does moving forward mean? That will be different for everyone, I suspect. It could mean...

• Adding a machine
• Learning to digitize
• Mastering applique
• Opening a bricks & mortar location
• Moving your business from the basement to the garage
• Adding staff
• Letting staff go
• Paying yourself a living wage
• Paying yourself ANY wage
• Quitting another job
• Closing your business
• Selling your business
• Bringing your business home
• Retiring
• Getting a website
• Tackling social media
• Attending an industry event
• Teaching at an industry event
• Doubling your sales

The possibilities are endless. NOW is the time to pause and think about stuff like this. Where did you sit at the beginning of 2019, and where you at the end. Are you pleased with the distance your business traveled in those 12 months? Take a mental victory lap for the customers you won, the jobs you rocked, for the plot twists that you endured, whatever they may have been. You get an "atta boy" because you are still here, still in the game, and looking hard at 2020.

Note where you are with your business right now - in the easy to quantify ways, and in the not so easy to define ways. Where is your business located? What equipment do you have? What were your annual gross sales? How much profit did you make? Where are wages set? What other people are involved in the business? What skills do you have yourself, or have solutions in place for (such as a bookkeeper)? How streamlined is your business process, from when you meet with a customer about a potential order until the order is in their hands?

Now, look ahead to the end of 2020 -

• Where do you want your business to be located?
• What equipment do you want to have?
• What do you want your annual gross sales to be?
• How much profit do you want to make?
• Where do you want wages to be set?
• What other people do you want to be involved in the business?
• What skills do you want to develop yourself, or what solutions do you want to get in place (such as a bookkeeper)?
• How streamlined do you want your business process, from when you meet with a customer about a potential order until the order is in their hands?

And finally, what can you do to move from where you are, right now, right here, today to get to where you want to be?

Think of this as if you were going on a cross country road trip.

You are here.......  You want to get there.

You would look at a map (or an app) to see what roads to take. You would stop to get food, fuel and rest. Rinse and repeat. Eventually, you would end up there, at the desired destination. Moving your business forward to where you want it to be is not really that much different!

You are here... You want to get there.

Getting where you want to go does not happen by accident. You must make choices and decisions to navigate the journey so that you reach your destination.

The NNEP's mission is to help our members get from where they are to where they want to be. Members get sourcing help. Members get pricing help. Members get discounts from industry suppliers. Members have access to a 24/7 community of like-minded business owners who help each other. Members get marketing training and tools. Members get customer referrals. Members get a listing in the National Embroidery Directory. Members get connected to industry experts and resources as needed. And members get direct access to people who understand and relate to them as people, business owners, and apparel decoration professionals. We share the same passion for this industry. We cheer, we support, we provide a shoulder to lean on or a sympathetic ear when things go sideways as well as suggestions on things to try to correct the situation.

What do you need to do, learn, get or use to move from where you are to where you want to be in 12 months? And how can we as the NNEP help you get there? Please email me at jennifer@nnep.com or give us a call at 800-866-7396 (from landline) or at 330-678-4887) from your mobile number. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

All the best to you and yours in 2020,

Jennifer Cox

President