To do........

How we work

After Jess's blog on behind the scenes i thought it might be nice to just share with you how we work on a daily basis.

I (Kayleigh) work full time 5-6 days a week so am normally the person making jewellery and answering orders ect. 

Jess (my sis) works 2-3 days packing orders and working on her collection A+E and sometimes helps answer customer emails and facebook messages.

We've also just had Martha who runs Martha and Hepsie join us a couple of days a week to help with running our online shops & the website (Folksy, Etsy ect).

So the whole point of this blog was just to let you know how we work day to day. 

Below is like the sort of plan we stick to.

• 9:00 Post office drop off 

(We drop off all the packages we made the previous day and pick up tracking numbers for the day before)

• 9:30 Get to work

After battling through traffic on the parkway i usually get to the workshop around 9:30,. Turn all the equipment on (computers & laser cutter) and most importantly make a large cup of tea.  

• 9:45 Print all orders off & Answer any emails

We sell on loads of on-line platforms so it takes us a little while to go through and check for new orders and print them and address labels off.

•  10:00 Start making orders.

If Jess is working i'll make, she packs if not i make and pack them all once i'm done. We try to get all orders done (or left to set overnight if they have resin on) for about 2pm 

• 14:00 Work on new items

We try and spend our afternoons working on new items and have a weekly plan for new collections.

• 18:00 Finish

We normally finish about 6pm, sometimes its later when i'm in the middle of something and don't really want to stop or if we're really busy like at Christmas we're normally done alot later, 3am before!

We make pretty much all our jewellery to order that's why we don't offer next day postage because we don't just pick and pack, we actually have to make it.

If your thinking about working for yourself this might be useful, We've found that when we've got a plan of action then its always alot easier to get stuff done. You can check off what's been done and have a look at what's left. 

Below is an example of a to do list we sometimes use when we've got alot going on.

We also have a monthly plan for new collection's and targets to try and hit like alot of other workplaces.

Hope this sort of helps people understand us a bit better and help anyone who's setting up a small handmade business.

Kayleigh 

www.sourcherry.co.uk

x x x

Our Day at ASOS!

Hi! Last month i was sorting my emails and found a very interesting one from ASOS Marketplace!
We have an ASOS Marketplace boutique, so were invited ASOS's seller summer school. It was a really fun day where we had some talks on how to improve our boutique and ultimately make more sales.

 

Jess

Kayleigh (me)

We had to get the train pretty early from Sheffield to London (like 6:25am! yikes) but we kept our energy up by scoffing chocolate and sweets on the train.

When got to ASOS and got a cute goodie bag with note book & usb stock with a seller tips pdf on :)

We had talks on how to set up a business (which we did many a year ago) Then a presentation from a photographer on how to take better photos, something i definitely struggle with. We also had a little update from the guys and gals behind ASOS Marketplace on what they're upto and what new features are going to be added to the site, all very exciting.

A quick break for lunch, mini fish & chips, hamburgers & cake pops! 

Jess going in for a cake pop!

Mini Fish and Chips and burgers!

  

Then we a social media chat with Gem Fatale a blogger and social media whizz that works for company magazine.

Later we had a chat with House of Jam, they shared there story so we could learn from what they've done, kind of like a case study.

Finally the day ended with a panel where we got to ask some questions. 

Wow so what a day, very inspiring, very exciting and defiantly very useful. I'd recommend this to any sort of handmade & vintage fashion businesses out there, we had a really good day and learnt lots, super excited to put some new ideas into Sour Cherry

Our ASOS Marketplace Boutique- Sour Cherry

-Kayleigh
x x x