Keeping Organized

Last week a friend of mine came over and saw the workshop for the first time. She was pretty amazed by my organization of everything and told me I should teach other people how I do it. I remarked that there was only two problems with that 1) every one's brain works different so what is good for me may not be good for you and 2) just because I teach you doesn't me you have the internal capacity to keep it organized, some of us are just born organized and some of us aren't.

But I will run down an few tips and tricks I think will work no matter what you make (almost).

1) Inventory. Figure out a level of inventory you want to keep, get there, keep it there. Sounds easy, but the execution is very hard. For example: I need to keep 200 bars of Oatmeal soap in stock to be able to meet demands at peak times of the year. I split these 200 bars into 4 boxes of 50. Every time I sell a box (50), I make a box (50). The theory is that by the time I sell all 200, the next ones will be ready for sale.

2) Everything in it's place. I have designated spots for soap, lotion bars, sachets, supplies, you name it. Everything is in boxes or cabinets, and neatly marked with what is in it. Basically I could blindfold you, stick you in my shop, remove the blindfold, and ask you to find something and it wouldn't take you more than 15 minutes to accomplish the task. I don't think I would even have to point you in a particular direction. Yes you see the labels, no it isn't like looking in a magazine, but yes anyone can help me without too much direction.

3) Supplies. Figure out what you need, who you get it from, and where else you can get it in an emergency. I keep a list of all my supplies and the top 3 or 4 places I can get it (price wise and geography wise). I hate to say it but in what has seemed like a constant stream of emergencies, this is becoming a necessary thing. I get most of my supplies near home or on the East Coast. Who expected Sandy? But with my handy emergency list I had places in the mid-west I could get Cocoa Butter from right away. and what if they have an emergency, not me. A warehouse fire could shut down a major supplier for years if not forever. That shouldn't mean I have to stop making a best seller.

4) Don't be afraid to reorganize, to make changes, to streamline, to take the time. Nothing is worse than getting bogged down in a system that doesn't work because you claim not to have the time to fix it. The time you spend now will be caught up on later because you will feel better and be better at what you do. Each year I take January to do this and pretty much take the entire month off. I inventory, clean, reorganize, re-evaluate my product line, rework the web site, do lots and lots of paperwork, and come out ready in February to hot the ground running and have a great new year.

Hope these tips and tricks help you. have any of your own??