So I was watching Jerry Maguire the other night and was inspired by his memo…I mean Mission Statement…sorry Jerry - a passion filled, gut wrenching, true blue, conviction filled Mission Statement!
As a result of his Mission Statement he was chastised, ridiculed, fired, called a loser , beat up by his fiancé, lost every client to Sugar (love him!) and destroyed his reputation. Naturally, I thought it was a great idea to do the same for Brava Boutique…even if she hates it I am pretty sure Natalie won’t subject me to the same fate Jerry met.
As we emerge from the funk of designing, sewing, and NOT selling our Fall ’09 Collection we have mustered the energy and wherewithal to formulate a plan...to set a goal...to move forward. Ok, so maybe it’s not an earth shattering mission statement but here are the goals of Brava Boutique for 2010.
Custom Orders Only
In the past we have stuck with the same formula…design, buy fabric, sew entire collection, and finally, sell collection. I am exhausted just thinking of continuing in that direction. Our husbands (1 each) and our children (4 each) will trade us in for a more available, fresh, present wife and mother otherwise. All orders will be processed through our Etsy store
http://www.bravaboutique.etsy.com/.
Design a Line of Accessories
We are pretty confident that we can sew just about any type of garment; however, accessories are not our forte. This year we will take a step back from garment design and construction to make fabulous, unique, ‘can't live without’ accessories. In the works are some great ideas and we can't wait to share them...stay tuned.
Publish a Pattern
...everyone else is, why not us!
“Twitter” Our Own Horn
At one time we were just seamstresses…now we wear many hats: designer, Etsian, ‘facebooker’, blogger, photographer, and coming soon, “Twitterer” (or is it Tweeter?). When the choice comes down to it I am sure you would rather us sew than Twitter. On the converse, without these awesome tools we wouldn't have anyone to sew for...balance must be achieved.
The only way to really measure progress in this area is to watch our fans/hearts/and followers grow...as I write this we have 205 facebook fans, 58 Etsy hearts, and 25 blog followers...let's see where we are at the end of the year...if we are sewing amazing things that you love these numbers are bound to skyrocket!
Simplify
For many reasons - that are in and out of our control - we did not realize the success we had hoped for our Fall ’09 Collection (more on that later). We felt a little like Jerry Maguire did after he wrote his Mission Statement; however, like Jerry we will lick our wounds and move to the next thing.
Jerry was forced to start over from rock bottom. Instead of being a great agent to many clients, he became an amazing agent to one. Together they simplified by getting back to what they loved and as a result achieved success beyond their wildest dreams. Without all the Hollywood drama, we are adopting the same philosophy. Become fabulous and focused with a few amazing designs and get back to our love of creating!
