The AllyBeth Shop | END OF YEAR REVIEW 2019
The end of the year (ahem decade) has literally just passed, and I’ve been feeling heavily introspective since just after Christmas. The last New Moon of the decade also coincided with an eclipse, and coincidentally, they both fell over my birthday (December 26th). If you’re into the cosmos like I am, a pull like that makes it impossible not to be introspective.
And well, like many others I know, I also found 2019 to be an especially trying year. If you’re feeling drained and exhausted as the year comes to a close, don’t be too quick to feel disheartened or disappointed in yourself. Instead, take a few minutes to acknowledge everything you have experienced, worked through, healed and endured. We (myself included) are so quick to downplay the challenges we’ve walked through, and still blame ourselves for not doing, being, or achieving more.
Much to my disappointment, I’m learning that self employment is not always linear. After a few years of growth, and triumph as I set goals and worked towards them, I learned that each year may not always be higher than the last. Working hard + crushing goals is an amazing thing, but if you find yourself plateauing or moving backward for a year (or two) you are not a failure. These fluctuations are part of my journey, they’re my story, and I have full faith that I am exactly where the universe has meant for me to be.
Before I get into a full detailed review of my 2019 year, I wanted to share an honest look at some of the numbers in my business, because I know y’all are probably curious. I love the idea of being transparent, not only during the good times, but also during the challenging ones.
So with that, here’s a look at the goods.
2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 Goals | |||
Email List Size | 300 | 400 | 1510 | 2200 | ||
Pageviews on AllyBeth Shopify Shop | – | 5452 | 5730 | 8000 | ||
Pageviews on AllyBeth Etsy Shop | 25,702 | 20,360 | 20,930 | 25,000 | ||
Pageviews on AllyBeth Blog | 2989 | 7217 | 32,920 | 50,000 | ||
Blog Affiliate Income | 180 | 500 | 1200 | 2500 | ||
Weekly Hours Worked | 30 | 40+ | 25 | 30 | ||
Stockists Carrying Product | 3 | 4 | 4 | 6 |
Some quick thoughts on items that impacted my year overall:
- My email list and blog views increased dramatically in 2019! I switched from Mailchimp to Flodesk this year which has made it 100x easier for me to create emails and newsletter signup pages. I’m looking forward to creating a proper email sequence for my subscribers in 2020.
- I continued to increase my Pinterest game, which is the primary traffic driver to my blog, website and Etsy pages. I started using Tailwind when I converted my Pinterest account to a business account, and am still committed to using it, a year later. This year, I am considering using it for my IG as well.
- I scaled back on wholesale orders dramatically, I just wasn’t able to keep up mentally + physically and so made the conscious decision to scale back on this part of my business. I’m looking to get back onto expanding this part of my business in 2020, and am in the process of setting up AllyBeth on the wholesaling platform, Faire.
- I got frustrated with Shopify. #unpopular opinion, I know. I struggled a lot with it. I am still going to try again in 2020, but with hopefully with a more concrete plan and strategy.
- I was more selective in the courses I took this year. I was very happy with the ones I chose (Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing, Creating Digital Printables and Productivity Masterclass, Creating a System that Works. That last one is on skillshare, but you can get 2 months free here if you don’t already have a subscription).
2019 End of Year Review
My theme word(s) for 2019 was:
Persevere
This year, I accomplished:
⋒ Paid off all debt to secure financing for our house. This was a huge undertaking and such a stressful time. Looking back now, I’m so proud of both my husband and I, but there were a lot of frustrated tears shed along the way.
⋒ Redid the design on my blog + shopify site to better align with my goals for 2020
I did not accomplish:
⋒ My overall revenue goal for 2019. It was frustrating, and I still feel defeated. But looking back in review, I realize I was focused on all the wrong things. I was being motivated from a place of desperation instead of inspiration, and that doesn’t serve anybody (abolishing debt in short timeframes will do that to a person, which had to be our priority for the house).
What got in my way was:
⋒ My health – I constantly feel like I am choosing between going hard and chasing dreams or forcing myself to slow down because my body needs rest. In 2019, I felt exhausted much of the time and experimented with resting instead of pushing through it. The verdict is still out on if it helped.
⋒ Wrong perspective – I stopped enjoying the journey and added too many ‘oh this could work’ ideas to the pot. Not enough time spent being creative.
I am most proud of:
⋒ Getting accepted to Make It, an exclusive and juried show here in Vancouver that I’ve been applying to for the last 4 years.
⋒ Recognizing when to take time to rest (2019 was a season of stepping back for me)
⋒ Working on friendships and relationships
I worked hardest at:
⋒ Bringing in income and reducing expenses. I purchased You Need a Budget and worked damn hard on changing my limiting beliefs around money and how it should be working for you. YNAB focuses on teaching you to only budge the money you already have, which was pivotal in adjusting my feelings around budgeting.
I failed most epically at:
⋒ My Shopify Site. I bought the fancy theme, the fancy images, signed up for all the apps ‘they’ say to sign up for. Paid my monthly fee. and nothing. There was so much pressure to have my own site, even though Etsy was working pretty damn good for me BUT I let myself be influenced before it was time for me to make the switch. I jumped from one workshop to another, and never really digging deep enough in one area. I admit it, I’m totally like a dog after squirrels.
And what I learned from this failure was:
⋒ Just because it works for someone else, doesn’t mean it will/can/should work for you.
⋒ Other people’s milestones and your ability to reach them does not determine your worth as a woman or business owner
⋒ Also, reaching milestones (like needing a standalone e-commerce site) does not equal success. These milestones come in different orders for everyone, and just because you haven’t done them, doesn’t make you any less of a person (looking at you instagram and your 10K mark).
What I would have done differently this year is:
⋒ Focused more on the orders already coming in, and really feeling the gratitude for them instead of worrying about scaling and growth.
⋒ Focusing on making the now better rather than anticipating the future.
The biggest lesson I learned was:
⋒ You can make all of the plans, and all of the notes, but if you are frantically trying to do better and achieve more, you will always feel frazzled.
⋒ Near the end of the year, I learned that sometimes, it will work out and sometimes it won’t – and it doesn’t always have everything to do with you, and what you did or did not do well.
⋒ I am learning that we are here – along for the ride. We need to have confidence and trust in the universe and in ourselves that things will come together as they should.
⋒ I learned that I can have confidence in myself – that I will make the right decisions when it’s time, and even if I don’t, it’s not the end of the world.
My biggest challenge was:
⋒ Dealing with unreliable suppliers. AllyBeth Design Co was born from solid wood home decor. In 2018, I started diversifying my product line and designed a line of printed products that complimented my handmade products. In 2019, my supplier and printer dramatically changed how their printing was done, and it resulted in a number of issues at the most inconvenient time. I’m in the process of bringing the finishing in-house, but it’s been a challenge!
The biggest risk I took was:
⋒ Attending the Make It trade show in Vancouver. This was a show that I have applied for multiple times in the past 4 years. Every year I was rejected, but this year I was accepted. The trade space was small, the registration fee was huge, and it was 5 long days. And unfortunately, it didn’t necessarily pay off. That’s ok though, I’m learning the differences between different types of show and met some great people along the way!
This year I tolerated:
⋒ Time wasting. Others wasting my time, myself wasting my own time. Anxiety wasting (stealing) my time. The Bachelor stole my time too, but I’m going to let that slide well into 2020.
⋒ Rudeness. I try my very best to be nice to everyone, and sometimes that borders on accepting behaviour that shouldn’t really be accepted. Near the end of the year, I began choosing not to tolerate it anymore, and am learning when to step back from situations and/or people who are not as compassionate as those I’d like to have in my life.
I kicked serious ass at:
⋒ Taking baths (for real, they are the best and that’s when the ideas come!!)
⋒ Juggling additional stress, new ideas, budgets and managing expectations
⋒ Moving. I was one organized mover.
I become a different person this year in these ways:
⋒ Learned to embrace more social interaction, to see the good in companionship, to open up to others
⋒ More confident in my abilities, strengths and standing up for myself
I learned this year that I am:
⋒ adapting
⋒ stronger than I thought
⋒ patient
I am über grateful this year for:
⋒ Friends. Due to mental + physical health struggles, my social circle has shifted a lot in the past few years, due to my own isolation. This year, I was fortunate enough to grow closer to a select few, and I am so grateful to have people who support me, even when (especially when) I feel like I don’t deserve it.
⋒ Family relationships. This year, I was able to strengthen my relationships within my family, thanks to some of my own healing, working on communication and having the uncomfortable conversations even when it was the last thing I wanted to do.
If I remember one thing from this year, I want it to be:
⋒ The feeling of moving into our house! It’s not business related, but it was a huge motivating factor in my business for the last few years. To know we achieved financial goals that at times seemed very, very impossible, felt amazing. True pride.
Well, that was so much fun! Do you do a year in review? Pop your link below if you do, or tell me what you were most proudest of last year!
love + light,