nicoleskuse

[nicoleskuse]

Week # 12 Progress

First few weeks of the business have been moving along great! I’ve hit my break even point for sales, which is an exciting milestone  😄 I’ve decided to purchase new molds to begin producing more pieces for sale; I will be ordering   coaster molds. 

[nicoleskuse]

Week # 11 Progress

Sales are going well; Each week my technique for pouring is getting better- I’m looking for new design ideas every day! I’ve attached the two tags I’ve completed for this week:

I’ve determined that i need to order a second mold. I can currently only complete two tags of each size per week, but some designs don’t work the way envisioned and require re-pours. If i need to re-pour after 96 hours, it delays the pour of new orders. As i budgeted for two molds originally, I was waiting until the first ones were no longer useable, but will order now instead to help speed up production. 

I will be looking at new chains for the tags that are better for attaching to collars. Below is a little cutie with a finished size small tag:

[nicoleskuse]

Week # 10 Business Progress

This week has been great in multiple ways!! I have made progress on creating pieces, learned I over budgeted by a large amount and finally determined a project schedule.

After creating my first full batch (4 pieces), I have learned that I over estimated the amount of resin as well as powder needed for each piece; I am also able to use a basic lighter versus needing a torch. After recalculating my budget, my net profit potential has doubled 🤑!!

I have determined a 5 day turn around for each piece i sell: 15 minutes for initial pour followed by 48 hour dry time--> 30 minute final design followed by 48 hour dry time --> ready for pickup or delivery. 

I am hoping by the end of my current batch of tags I will have enough content to launch social media pages. 

Check out a couple examples below:

[nicoleskuse]

Week # 9 Progress

Here for the weekly update on SKSN Resin Creations? I won’t make you wait any longer! 

I have completed my first prototypes to test volumes, materials needed as well as timeline for creating each dog tag. 

Good news is I overestimated the amount of resin needed for each piece by 2x. I also have realized the materials i have will last about twice as long; minus the need for purchasing extra gloves. This means my cost of goods will be lower than estimated in my budget and will result in a greater profit.

Bad news is creating each piece is taking longer than expected. Although the amount of time put into each piece is shorter than originally estimated, it does take longer to dry. This means it may only take 5-10 minutes to create the tag, but depending on the design it could take up to 96 hours to be dry and ready to be packed. 

Now that I have a better understanding of the amount of time needed to create each piece, i am able to schedule my time for creating tags around my work schedule.

The business has got its feet off the ground and ready to see how many customers I can reach in the next couple weeks! 

[nicoleskuse]

My Progress- Week # 8

A quick update on SKSN resin creations. All supplies and materials have been purchased for my semester goal of selling 25 pieces! I have pre-sold 10 pieces and have begun working on those. My biggest obstacle continues to be TIME :/ Last week the small business I work for only had 5/8 employees available, which resulting in a long week for me; add on 2 hours of commute time a day, spare time to work on the business has been sparse. Although I am behind schedule on production, I feel the business is going good so far! I was able to get enough interest to reach my first milestone (10 pieces) and am looking forward to starting my social media page in the near future. 

I am learning that you have to create time when starting your own business. It takes sacrifice (sleep, social life, etc) in order to ensure all tasks get completed. I have begun looking at how to use the time I do have more efficiently through sketched designs to follow and creating more pieces in each session. I currently own one mold, but I have budgeted for second purchase. This will increase my daily output capabilities from 4 to 8! Here’s hoping to a productive week :

[nicoleskuse]

My Progress- Week # 7

what is working?

I have stirred up enough interest in my product to sell my first round of tags! I have 10 pieces pre ordered which will help me create great content for my social media! 

what is not working?

So far my schedule outside of the business has been very chaotic, I therefore have not had much time to dedicate to launching with products. 

how do you feel the project is coming?

The business plan for SKSN resin creations is strong and the goals that I have set for the 14 weeks are attainable. Due to catching Covid (unfortunate) and working a 40+hr week with 2 hours of daily commute, I have had difficulty finding time to start creating pieces. I have purchased all the materials for the first 25 pieces to reach my goal for the semester. So far I have been able to stick to my budget, which is promising!

what are you learning about running a business?

It takes ALOT of time and effort. You have to be extremely organized and have very strong time management skills, especially when running a business on top of working full time and completing classes on the side. 

what are you learning about yourself?

I have learned that my time management skills are strong, but definitely need a bit of a boost :/ But I am also learning that I have the ability to do this and am willing to put in the effort to get there. 

[nicoleskuse]

Financing SKSN

Initially, I will be investing $50 of my own money towards the start-up of SKSN resin creations. I have also received $250 in gifted money that will be put towards start-up costs. With the initial funds I am able to cover all expenses for my projected sales for the 14 week period. If budgeted properly, the sales from my first 25 pieces will create enough revenue to cover the cost of new molds (phase two of business plan). In the future, when moving to larger pieces that have higher cost of goods, I may have to apply for a small loan in order to pre-purchase material. At that time I would compare bank loans to find the lowest interest rate.

[nicoleskuse]

Business Operations

Let’s set this business in motion; what is needed to begin operation? As I plan to sell my product online, I have to create my selling space online. I will launch on Instagram, there is no cost associated with creating this account; as the business grows I will move my selling space to Etsy.

In order to create my product I will need to purchase many smaller materials, but the most important purchase is the resin itself. Smaller materials will be purchased from the dollar store or Amazon. I have sourced multiple Canadian businesses to find the most affordable resin company, Resinate, which offers flat rate shipping of $5 and arrives within a week from purchase. This quick shipping will allow me to plan when I need to make my purchases in order to ensure customers receive their product in an reasonable amount of time.

My goal would be to sell five dog tags a week, after selling about 20 tags I should have created enough profit to buy molds for my second phase of the business (coasters, key chains).

[nicoleskuse]

Ideal customer

Persona of two customers that would be ideal for purchasing a customizable, one-of-a-kind dog tag.

1.Rachel;

32-40 years of age

Dual income $150,000

Dog owner

Married with children

Loves to spoil family pet

Looking to adopt a second dog

Active on Facebook

2. Jenny;

21-32 years of age

Single income no kids or double income no kids

Dog owner

Active on instagram with engaging followers

Posts on social media about their dog frequently (posting/sharing)

[nicoleskuse]

Local Competition

Local Competition for Resin Art is very scattered, Most businesses operate through social media and will ship products to buyers. Today i will be looking at three businesses that sell resin pieces in the Greater Toronto Area. 

Resin Blondie focuses her work on ocean inspired pieces, heavily showcasing her work with live edge wood. She creates high quality, unique pieces that look like the ocean waves. Her biggest strength is her social media presence on Facebook, Instagram and Tik Tok. The owner posts videos of her creating some pieces which is great for customer engagement. Her prices are reasonable for handmade live edge work $135-$184. But her website is currently under construction and you can only view a couple pieces. This would be her greatest weakness at the moment as customers cannot purchase any pieces and she does not have a product launch planned.

SL Design had the best reviews in a traditional sense. Her Etsy page had a big five stars at the top of the page and below the products you could see her reviews. People were very please with quality of the product as well as her customer service. She uses her Etsy site for sales, which is easy to navigate and can easily purchase the product from the home page. Her only resin piece, a dog tag, is priced at $13, which is reasonable. The businesses weakness really lies in the lack of social media presence. There is a very large untapped market for this business. Overall as a small side business, the owner has created a great product and a stellar reputation!

Resin K.O definitely has the best all around package for small resin art in the GTA. They create unique pieces and have tons of reviews posted to their instagram story highlights. The owner is photographer so all their product phots on instagram are amazing! They take all inquiries through instagram and show the available pieces in story highlights as well. They do not have any prices on their page and customers must inquire to get these. Their biggest weakness is not having a website that customers can easily see what items are available for purchase and at what price. Going through the extra steps might discourage some buyers.

I believe there is space in the market for a new business if they are able to specialize in a few high quality products and market using the proper social media streams. Without a lot of local competition prices can be determined by the few selling in the area. Overall, there is space to enter this market and be successful.