Planning for next year.

I'm getting close to the time I have to decide what kind of budget I want to live with next year.
I figure I still have a couple of months to get the lay of the land. To try to figure out where I think it's all going.

When I do this, I keep asking myself the same two questions.

What have I done that I shouldn't have done?

And

What haven't I done, that I should've done?

On the first question, I think I've probably bought too much non-essential product. There have been good excuses -- either really good deals, or trying to establish new product lines for the future. But by January 1, the future will be NOW and there won't be any room for experiments.

Thing about experiments, about trying new material, is you really don't know sometimes what will work until you do it. You really don't know if stuff that doesn't seem to be selling well might be having a bigger overall impact than you think.

I'm trying to establish a kind of tone -- mainstream, but quirky. Slanted to the fantastical, but with enough stuff that would appeal to the average person.

On the second question, it's mostly that I realize I've been taking a lot of time off. I'm cool with that, but I'll have to pay close attention over the next couple of months to see if I can continue that into next year.

I've been extremely generous with the budget, and intend to keep that going through November; but if I don't see good solid results by Thanksgiving, I'll need to cut back to essentials and recoup over Christmas, and hopefully go into next year with a fresh slate.

This is just where my thinking is, right now. I'm enjoying the store a lot right now, because I'm having fun bringing stuff in. But I can't pretend that sales have justified the effort, so far.