Little monster of a project – my secret revealed.
I have not been active recently on Facebook, my blog or Twitter and for that my dear fans I apologize. I do have a valid reason for my absence.
Here it goes:
After continuously getting lost in the array of spreadsheets, papers, recipes and statements for my products and supplies I decided that time has come for little organization. Also, since I have my own site, and stores on Etsy, Zibbet etc I find myself going back and forth between them to see what products I listed where. So I end up spending more time at the computer than doing what I really want to do – create. Those of you in the handmade community can probably relate to some degree.
So off I went to search for a product that will help me deal with my dilemma. I was looking for a program that will not only store the information about my supplies but also help me in tracking my own inventory. In addition I wanted a something that will assist me with pricing of the products, keep track of consignments and allow me to create line sheets for wholesale without much rework. I found only couple of programs but neither of them did all that I wanted. Yes, they integrate with QuickBooks, but I don’t use QuickBooks so why pay for it. Since I am on a pretty tight budget I decided to take the matter into my own hands, put my software skills to use and create something myself.
After I started designing my little application and listing out the features that are important to me I began to wonder. The software I found is targeted specifically to jewelry designers which is fine since that’s what I do but what about all the other folks. What if an artist creates dolls or pillows or anything else for that matter. Hmm – nothing out there to help those guys. Or is there and I just haven’t found it? So my dear fans that is what I have been doing lately. With the goal of not spending so much time at my computer I ended up spending ALL of my time at the computer LOL.
Some of you may think I am wasting my time and should just purchase what is out there. Yes that would probably be the easy way to go, but I don’t like to take the easy route. Plus this has become a challenge for me.
I would be interested in hearing from you – especially my Link Love fans since you are artists yourselves, if you currently use a program to help you stay organized and if not do you think you would find it useful.
If you are using a program already can you share what it is or what features you like. What is missing? Anything you wish was included in your program?
I will continue to work on my application because I already found that it has helped me greatly. Where I go from here is still a big question mark but once I figure it out you will be let’s see, second…no, third ones to know.
I've included a couple of screen shots in this post from my first draft. Colors, background, buttons and spelling errors are subject to change :) Let me know what you think.
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