About once a year, I find the need to “re-vamp” my jewelry business in one way or another.  Sometimes it’s a complete overhaul, other times it’s just a change in my line(s).  This time it’s not only an overhaul, it’s a complete tear-down and re-build!

I began by starting a business plan.  If you’ve ever written one before, you know it’s beyond tedious.  I think I spent about fifteen minutes on it before I decided maybe I should just write up a list of business priorities.  Much simpler.  Number one on my list?  Organize my finances!

When I started looking through all my receipts and paperwork, I was surprised to see that I haven’t prepared my California sales taxes for over two years.  I knew I was behind, but not that bad.  So I painfully went through each receipt, calculated my sales, and figured out what I owe for 2005.  Today I plow through 2006.

As it turned out, going through my receipts from 2005 was actually kind of a walk through memory lane.  Take these bangles, for example:

 
I sold these bracelets on eBay, and the woman who bought them ended up being a repeat customer.  In fact, we collaborated on a pair of custom earrings.

The earrings below are still in my own collection.  I include them here because they were made during the same time period and they are kind of different from my current style:

 
The necklace below is one of my all time favorites.  It is a hand-fabricated sterling pendant on sterling silver chain.  I don’t remember who bought it, but I hope they are still enjoying it.

 
One thing that struck me while I was “cleaning house” is how many sales I had in 2005.  Far more than I had in 2006 and 2007.  That’s my own fault, of course.  I’d like to get my business re-vamped in time for Christmas sales, and I have a time-line for that to happen, but I’m easily distracted.  I suppose I should just get these taxes finished and go from there!