VitaVygovska
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VitaVygovska
ParticipantLisa,
i’m so glad that you’re applying what i you saw to what you already have AND to what your personal needs are!
that was exactly the point!!!
and you’re 100% right – process flows are the foundation for how you set up the airtable.
that’s why it’s the 1st module – that’s where it all starts.regarding calendaring: i’m sure there is a way! it’s a matter of asking the people who are intimately familiar with how the back-end programming works. Kathy sounds like a wealth of knowledge, so let’s see if she can help. if not, there is an AirTable forum that’s full of experts.
xo,
v.VitaVygovska
Participanthi Olga,
such good question! i used to keep the left-overs.
over the years, i accumulated, TONs of them.
i felt bad throwing them out.
i kept thinking, that one of these days, i’ll make a pillow out of this beautiful fabric.
that my friends would want to use for their house.
That day never came.
left-overs kept getting dustier and dustier.
And every time i looked at them, i felt stressed out.
the energy was draining out of me.
so one day, i just donated, gave away, and threw out.
it broke my heart temporarily, but i felt soooo much better after it was all done.now, we donate or throw out the leftovers.
i want to collect nothing.
the only exception is if it’s a solid. We use solids as piping on valances and cornices.
it’s a nice addition and designers like it.hope this helps!
xo,
v.VitaVygovska
ParticipantGood Saturday Morning!!
Happy to answer your questions!
1. COM, CFA’s. we have the picture of fabric attached to the estimate (i’ll show you in the next class). So that’s your permanent record of what it looks like.
Once the order is complete, is there a need to hang on to COM’s and CFA’s?
2-3. we, too, cut off a little piece and attach it to a packing slip or whatever label vendor inserts into the bolt. We keep those in the folders. we now have 3 filing cabinets of these folders, accumulated over the last 16 years. my plan was to go through them and have my 12year old son scan them in. as i think through more, i do wonder the validity of doing it though: for the 1-2 instance where we would refer back to a physical snippet, he would spend hours scanning. is it really worth it? I’m coming to a realization that perhaps the physical snippet is not needed at all, provided the fabric spec and picture is captured either in the estimate or in the PM system. Would love to hear everyone’s thoughts.
4. We use an app called Measures. It’s been working great, however, it does not sync with OneDrive. So in order to get it off the ipad, we have to manually upload it. It is one part of the process that i’m not happy with. while i have one person creating estimates, it’s been ok. but it will rear it’s ugly head, when one person takes measurements and another has to put together an estimate
5. Airtable is a central repository of information. You can upload images, files, etc. So keep on drawing, then upload it: either in AT or OneDrive (or where you keep your files).Let’s talk about paperless for a second. i do not hold ourselves to a super high standard of paperless. i know some do. i don’t. i just take this unrealistic expectation off the table. Make it easier for myself. if i don’t need to print, i don’t. if i do need to print, i just do. i will be making an better effort to scan all future paperwork, so that we don’t accumulate files, once the order is complete. but while, it’s pending, having physical snippets, CFA’s, confirmations sometimes is helpful.
where i feel strongly about paperless is with Project Management System. As many details as possible, should be cloud-based. Primary reason is so that someone else, NOT YOU, can update, manage, follow-up, etc. YOU, as the CEO, can keep track on what’s happening, while you’re vacationing in Paris 🙂
hope this makes sense!
xo, v.VitaVygovska
Participanthi ladies,
great job on sharing your “why’s”!!! now, you didn’t think i was going to let you off easy, did you? :-). More probing questions, here we come…Freddie, how much $ do you want to make? do you know that number? get specific about it. Who do you have to have in place to start travelling? Do you travel now – how much more travelling would you like to do? For your goals to be meaningful, they first need to be specific. While they stay nebulous, you’ll never know if you achieved them.
Vessie, how do you define ‘success’ for your business? is it revenue $, net income $, number of people, number of projects? How much time with your family.
How many dates with your hubby? What quality time with your kids? Get specific. Put out into the universe exactly what you want. That’s your 1st step.Kathy, i love that you want to help people! It’s noble and commendable. Are you willing to work 80hours a week for it? Are you willing to go on 4 appointments a day? are you willing to bring down your pricing? what does “lifestyle that provides inspiration” mean? i love the corporate-speak b/c i myself am a corporate drop-out :-). Talk to us like we are 3-year olds. what makes you giddy? what makes your soul zing? what do you want to do for yourself and your family, once you are a success? and how will you know you got there?
Alejandra, what does “balance” look like to you? is it days, hours? is it travelling? is it going to a movie? is it shutting down at 5pm? is it taking Fridays off? What does “me” time look like? How much of it would you like to have? Let’s start here.
you guys, the true WHY is deeper than ‘streamlined systems, etc’. Streamlined systems is HOW you get to your why. The ‘why’ needs to be so strong and compelling that when it gets hard, when you have to make really tough choices, there is no other option than to make them, b/c that’s how badly you want to make to your ‘why’. Keep digging, ladies 🙂 I’m here for you! xo, v
VitaVygovska
Participanthello kathy,
thank you for your questions!
1. do you mean “what if the price ends up being higher after the site visit?”. We give them the higher price citing that site measurements are higher than what we were given originally.
2. we do EVERYTHING possible to not visit the site. We give preliminary budget based on designer emailed specs, pictures, etc. If this estimate aligns with their financial thinking, then we go. This is not always possible, i.e. a whole house of shades, weird window configs, certain motorization jobs, new designer and she has no idea, etc. If it’s not possible, it’s not possible -then we go.
3. We have a standing Monday afternoon meeting where we go over every line item on the project management report. Additionally, every time there is a mistake, issue, or a challenge, i always ask: is this user error or do we need to change the process. usually, it’s both, so we adjust our process accordingly.
hope this answers your questions,
v.VitaVygovska
Participanthi Vessie,
i hear you, sweetheart, i hear the angst, frustration, exhaustion – all of that in your voice.
i soooo want to help b/c sometimes at a bird’s eye view, things are so much clearer.
let me take it step by step.
1. retail vs. to the trade. What FEELS better for you? 3 options: retail, trade, both. Take some time, pray on it, journal, do some soul-searching. Then make a decision and stick with it. Just go with how it feels to you personally. there is no right or wrong answer. just whatever you prefer. it’s your business, you do what you want. you won’t go wrong with either decision. Where you will go wrong is if you continue vacillating. it is when we are unsure of something and keep going back and forth, that it takes the most bandwidth and tires us out.
2. start charging designers pricing that is commensurate with your service. Ask yourself: “At what price will I enjoy working on this project/with this designer?”
3. Instagram. have you asked designers to tag you? just a simple ask. Conversely, do you tag them on your IG?
4. Be ok with not chasing every designer and every projectBase your decisions on what will make it simpler for YOU. One price is simpler than two. One target audience is simpler than two. it is simpler for me to ask for what i want and get a no, than to not ask and always wonder (i.e. in case of IG tagging, charging a higher price, etc).
there is so much more to say, but let’s leave it at this for the time being,
xo, v.VitaVygovska
ParticipantWe are about 40%-60%- hard goods-soft goods.
My seamster Boris works a lot – by choice- it fits with his lifestyle right now.
So in normal work hours, my fabricator role is more like 1.5 full time people.
And we outsource about 10% of our total, that he doesn’t have time to do.
It’s not so much based on size, more on complexity and deadlines.
I hope this answers your question.
I’ll look into some of these percentages more to make sure I’m accurate and should have it done of the “people’ module.VitaVygovska
Participanthi Nikki,
great questions.
i decided to go to the trade only around 2013, when my daughter was born.
for me, it’s a simpler business model.
i’m used to dealing b2b from my previous corporate experience, i’m more ‘business and to the point, less ‘doesn’t it look wonderful and you’ll feel amazing in the space’ :-). Plus, the back-and-forth on pricing and being shopped around felt really bad for me.
so for those reasons, the decision was kind of organic and it felt right.
i charge retail pricing to the designers.
for example, 1WOM is around $150. plus lining, plus trim, plus hardware, plus install.
the pricing covers multiple estimates, etc.
i think you should do what makes financial sense for you. And also pursue what feels good and simple.
This business is too complicated to make it even more so 🙂
xo,
v.VitaVygovska
ParticipantLadies, SOOO happy to hear you loved my flow charts!!! i’m such a geek when it comes to this stuff. Sometimes i think only i care about it. Hearing your feedback, just reaffirms it one more time how valuable it is to put our processes into a visual representation.
Nikki, thank you for the resource!
Flow.DrawIo files are uploaded under week 1 resources.
now let’s all strive for NO yellow!!! 🙂
VitaVygovska
ParticipantOh, my goodness, i just logged in and saw how active you guys have been here!
here’s what we do:
1. if retail customer, charge the fee $250, applicable towards their order should they place one
2. if designer, we do not charge a fee
in all cases, we do EVERYTHING possible to give them a budget estimate before driving anywhere.yes about the revisions – the struggle is real! but we do not currently charge additional for them.
our pricing is pretty high though – you guys will see in class 3, when i show you some of our estimates.xo,
v.VitaVygovska
Participanthi Nikki,
these are so great!!! i will give you the roadmap for how i do it, so you can implement it for yourself.
let’s take a deeper look at your life-balance goals and revers-engineer your work to fit them.
1. if you were to pick of the five, which one would you want to focus on as your first priority?
2. which day during the week would you want to do it?
3. can you see yourself block that day? if not full day, could it be half day?
4. what would your work look like if you blocked that time for yourself?
would love to hear from you!
v.VitaVygovska
Participanthi Myrna,
thank you so much for sharing your perspective on the first class.
You’re 100% correct: the process flow charts are the foundation for how we execute many other things in our businesses.
I love them because they visually capture every step AND because I, as the owner and CEO, can see at a glance what role performs each of those steps.
would love to hear how you’re going to apply these to your business!
VitaVitaVygovska
Participanthi Lisa,
so great to hear that you’re seeing the potential!!!
thank you for asking for the flow chart files and i’m really glad that they piqued your interest.
i’m happy to share those ONLY if you promise to do something with them 🙂there is a terrible statistic that says that only 20% of students actually act on the material and do something with the handouts and resources.
how sad 🙁
let’s beat this stat, shall we?
-vitaPS. i’ll send to Diana (university director) to upload into the resources.
VitaVygovska
Participantoh, Sweet Julie! i hear you. i hear the frustration. The angst. The defeat. You are a beautiful person. for what you are. And for helping your family. There are no magic bullets. i will have a few helpful tips for you tomorrow. My heart goes out to you. i’ve been where you are (at half the volume! but it felt the same). So i know it’s possible to dig yourself out. please keep the faith. you are in my thoughts. XOXO
05-10-2021 at 5:41 pm in reply to: Post a review for Vita’s “Scale Your Small Business” class #19136VitaVygovska
ParticipantThank you so much Jens!
you’ve hit the nail on the head: my version of the american dream!
-v -
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