612. “I want to reach $15k a month in sales, but I’m so overwhelmed and burnt out of my business.” | Coaching Session

Oh my God. I would dread getting an order because now, you know, you gotta make it instead of, ooh, I sold something, you know, and so I am having trouble having the confidence to, to make everything I can have sales after. And there's ways, you know, there's, there's ways to get rid of inventory and, you know, I know it's possible. It's just like having the confidence to like, let me make everything, let me put my money into it and do it.

Hi. Hi. I'm Jacqueline Snyder and this is the Product Boss podcast. I've helped launch and grow thousands of product based businesses, even one of my own. And over the last 20 years, I've seen behind the scenes of businesses just like yours. Whether they are makers, manufacturers, artists, or food and beverage businesses. I have spent so many hours studying it all. I've discovered what makes them successful, what mistakes they could have avoided, how did they turn their ideas into successful business? And what are the strategies that they have used to make more sales and be discovered by more customers? And this is what this show is all about. Whether you're just starting out or you're looking to become a million dollar product boss, I'm here to give you the permission to chase your dreams no matter how big or small. All you need is the right mindset, a little courage, strategy and support, and you too can be the next million dollar product boss. Let's do this. Hey, friends. All right, we're back with another awesome coaching session for you today. I love that you are loving these episodes so much. I love that you're loving the coaching and keep those podcast reviews coming in because one, they're awesome. Two, I know that you're loving them. So thank you for letting me know. And if you haven't done so already, make sure to follow the show. So you got these episode delivered straight to wherever you listen to your podcast. Okay, so jumping into today, I am chatting with Karina of Better in Black company who sells spooky wear year round. Okay, so just think Halloween year round. Now, Karina originally started selling hippie clothing, but she never truly felt aligned with it, which led her to creating this business out of her love for Halloween and all things spooky. Something she's always loved and cared about and it is a very cool business. So Better in Black is just over a year old and while Karina is on track to be a six year old figure business this year, I am so proud of her. She's a multi stream machine student. She's like, I was doing this and I started, you know, doing what you say, and now she's going to hit six figures selling Halloween products year round. I know. Amazing. Can't wait for you. Listen this episode. But she's also. What comes with that, right? What comes with this rapid growth is that she's actually also struggling with a lot of burnout and overwhelm, and she's not quite sure how she can reach those $15,000 months that she dreams of without burning out. Right. Which. Without this overwhelm. So that's what we're going to dig into today. We're going to dig into how she can have easy ease and a life she dreams of and imagines and make that kind of revenue monthly. All right, so let's get started. All right, Karina, I'm really excited to dig into your business today, to really get into this coaching call and to see how I can help you get clarity and some next steps forward. So to kind of kick off, what I like to do is start my coaching calls with really kind of just getting a background on what you make, what you sell. So tell me a little about what you make and sell and where you're currently selling it.

I. I originally was my sunflower days, so I had, like, a hippie shop, and it was, like, wild and free things and that. I started that company as soon as I had my daughter. I was probably, like, two months postpartum. I was bored. So she was a really good baby, and I already knew she was gonna be my wild child. Just. I don't know, my karma, I guess. So I started that company, and I made hippie teas, and then I was really making things for everybody else. So I realized that, like, that was a thing a couple of years ago, and, you know, it would sell. It started selling really well. And then just recently, probably, like, maybe I've only had this company maybe a year, I'd say. So I. I'm a Halloween lover, and I've always loved Halloween. My baby's born in October on the 13th. So I was like, you know what? Like, I want to. I want to rebrand everything. So I basically was like, what do I like? You know, because I feel like you're. In order to, you know, go far with your business, you have to be into it, too. And it has to, you know, be something, I guess, that resembles yourself as well. And, like, I never wore my tees when I had the other business. So I was like, how can I, you know, sell these things if I'm not rocking it or, you know, what I mean, so I started Better in Black Co last year in the summer and it was doing really well for starting over and rebranding. I didn't make a new Instagram or anything, but yeah, so I rebranded it and kind of threw it out there to my customers and they were like, oh, we love it. You know. And I did notice during Halloween, even with my sunflower days, that was my biggest time of like, everybody loved it. It did really well during October season. And I was like, oh, hey, you know, that's something to look at too. So anyways, started this company and it just took off. I joined MSM back in January and I did a couple modules and it's so much information. I'm so glad you can go back to it. But I took a couple things that I could because my business was taking off and I applied it and yeah.

So here I am. Okay, that's amazing. And I love all of it. And like, I love that you said like you can finally wear the stuff that you make because it shows kind of, not that we're all our ideal customer, but kind of the out of alignment perhaps that you were in and like your hippie phase. You're like, let's just make this. But the thing is, is I think when we, when we're building these businesses, we have to have an anchor into them. We don't have to be our ideal customer, but we have to care enough about it because things are going to get tough, things are going to be tricky and we want to know why, why we're in it. So knowing that this is like a Halloween company, is your intention that it's going to be a seasonal product only or are you thinking of expanding?

Oh, so right now what I do, which is pretty cool, and I actually like got the idea from, you know, like you do look at your competition and you see what's out there. Because my Sunflower days was so opposite that I was like, well what, who's. Is this even a market? You know what I mean? A year round Halloween shop. And so I would look at other people and what they would do and then, you know, I start looking at the designs because I was looking at a totally new market and I found that there's things called Springoween. So these are things you offer in, you know, March and April, which is spring ghost stuff. And like it's, there's tons of things out there by the way, so it's, it's pretty cool. And then they have Valloween, which that's Valentine's So I found that I'm able to keep this business year round by offering basically adding spooky to every season that there is. I had a Mother's Day launch that was like a motherween one. So like, yeah, the market's there. It does really well. So it was like spirit spooky skeletons, but it was also like mom shirts and things like that. So I kind of found that I'm able to do this year round with just incorporating it in the seasons.

That's really cool. And I did not know that. So it's people who really just love to stay in this sort of vibe and feel.

Yeah, like the spooky year round, basically. And because when I first started my business I was like, oh, like I love Halloween, you know, but like there has to be something that I can do more throughout the year to kind of bring in that Pete that, you know, that stick to your niche, but seasonal. And you still have like a, I guess a really good business year round instead of just Halloween. But from July to October, we're hitting it where it's my busiest time.

And.

And I had a really good January though too, like with Valloween and you know, Valentine's Day, doing the spooky theme. And my January sucked, like even with my sunflower days, like they weren't that great. And you know, having that niche down to like girls who like the spooky season, they just loved everything that I've brought out and it's only gotten better.

All right, so then tell me your best sellers.

So right here I have Black is my happy color.

Okay, like it, it's.

I actually have four on the website and then I have another one that says self care isn't selfish. And it's like this green looking girl in the tub. It's super cute. I kind of have to show you it. You'll see it if you look at my website. And then the other one is a vampire lip that's kind of dripping down on a gray shirt. That one sold really well.

Okay, amazing. So really mainly you're selling T shirts.

Yes. And so I. Right now that's kind of like what my base has always been. Shirts, sweatshirts and shirts. And just recently I've always wanted to do manufacturing because I find that yes, you got to come up with money up front. You know, you can have pre sales and things like that. But I found that I don't have to make it, I just gotta buy it and sell it. You know what I mean? So it takes that weight off of me. Pressing each individual shirt. So I started making pajamas and they've actually did really well. And I did a pre sale because I didn't want to invest a whole bunch of money. And you know what I mean, it flopped or something like that, so. But my blankets do really well.

Okay. I love it. This brand is so cool. Good job. And you have a great following on social media and you just started a year ago. All right, so getting into your questions for today and kind of where you're at, sounds like you said you recently had one of your biggest launches. You made about $13,000 in sales, seven days. And it was called For Summerween. I love it. And you said you use some steps from multi stream machine to help you do this right now to kind of get to where you want is that you want to keep building this without the burnout and you're looking to make the business bigger and reach those $15,000 months. But it sounds like you're bringing up burnout a lot and overwhelm a lot. So is that how you're feeling right now? Like you're hitting overwhelm and burnout?

Yes. So I work out of my office in my home, and it's not that big. We did just clean out my garage and we're like, okay, what can we store in bins? You know, airtight. Make sure nothing gets messed up that way. I have an extra area because it's going into my hallway now. And the more I listen to your podcast, I hear that I'm not alone.

You're not alone in any of it. I may or may not have been crying 10 minutes before we met because I was feeling overwhelmed. So we'll just start with that.

Yeah, no, yeah, it's. It's a lot, you know, and like, it's your, you know, your biggest dream and it's coming true. But it's like, oh my God, I didn't know that it was going to be this heavy. So. Yeah, it is. You know, I just had a baby six months ago or seven months ago. I have a seven year old, but she's very helpful in the summer. Okay. So this was my main thing too, is I just shifted over to everything pre made basically in my launches. Because when I did it the other way, I remember listening to another one of your podcasts. It was like, oh my God, I would dread getting an order because now, you know, you gotta make it instead of, ooh, I sold something, you know, and so I am having trouble having the confidence to. To make everything I can have Sales after. And there's ways, you know, there's, there's ways to get rid of inventory. And you know, I know it's possible. It's just like having the confidence to like let me make everything, let me put my money into it and do it. And after the Summerween launch, you know, the, the confidence shot up a little bit, but it's like, okay, I gotta maintain that confidence, you know?

Okay. So confidence is confidence. I think no matter what and no matter what success level you're at, we're always going to run into these trip ups again because sort of like every time you level up, we have to stabilize and then level up and then we have to stabilize. So if you make these big quantum leaps, we still have to go back in foundationally and think, what do I need to do to make sure I can support it? Um, I was just coaching another student and it's gonna be on the podcast and I was like, before we make it rain, we need the buckets to catch it, right? We need to be able to do it. It sounds like you know how to turn that on. It sounds like you even, I mean, looking behind you at how your stuff is like organized and stacked, I feel like you're probably pretty organized. One, you have a seven month old. So let's just start with the fact that you have a seven month old. Okay. And something I think a lot of us don't talk about and I'm not saying that you have this, but I started having postpartum at six months with my daughter. And I didn't know that because I thought it happens right away. And then I remember the doctor being like, postpartum can hit because around six months and if you're breastfeeding, you're not breastfeeding. Hormones change and so things just, they're not necessarily easier yet and you're just in it. So I think I want you to just give yourself the grace of holy moly. You're building this amazing company. You've hit a market that. I'm not saying that they're underserved, but it's a really good niche market and it's almost like a collector's market raving fan type people. And so you're doing a really good job. So I just want to first tell you, good job. Okay. So know that now the next part is as you are leveling up and doing this and that overwhelm it's going to come, but we want to like get to the point that we're like, oh, okay, I'M getting overwhelmed here. What do I need to do? How do I resource this? How do I. Do I need to hire somebody to help me? Do I need to stop doing certain things? And I think what your question is is sort of, you were running a business in a very kind of, like, reactive way. You got an order, you made it, and now you're. You're going in and you're manufacturing and you're sitting on product. Especially because you just told me you're ordering your blankets from overseas. So we have minimums we have to hit. We have to. We have to project the numbers. We have to think, okay, this is what that I need to order, I need to get it in and then I have to sell it.

Yeah.

And then.

And, and like, with the overseas stuff, pre orders are nice, but I feel like I can create more of an excitement by having it in hand.

Well, yes, but you're thinking in this way of transparency that you think they know what's happening. So I think you really just need to create, like, marketing plans. So your brain has to start going from either, like, instead of, like, I came up with this idea, I'm going to make it, I'm going to sell it tomorrow to. I'm going to think through my collections ahead of time, and then I'm going to actually create sales and marketing plans around it. And my audience is going to have no idea. But I've have. I've already. Either you've got a prototype and you're getting them really excited about it, or it's a drop and you're like, the new blanket is here, but you've got. What are your minimums for the blankets when you order them per style?

They're kind of low. So I think they're at 15. So they're not too bad. Yeah. And I'm ordering them in, like the 30s and 40s, because I know. And I don't have any blankets sitting around. They always sell. You know what I mean? Because if I have like one or two, I'll say, hey, these are the last two, you know, and create the hype, whatever's left. So I know that blankets do really well. But yeah, the minimums are very low. The pajama, the pajamas I was having made were very high. So to me, they're high just because they cost a lot to make, but I can sell them for double and still keep that 50%. They are 18 per style, which isn't a lot because I hear, I hear the people that you coach and you talk about, like, minimum Orders. And I'm like, oh, my God, that's a. Like, that's. That's a lot. You know, mine isn't a lot.

Um, but I know you're telling me 15. I'm like, like to ship that in, like, it's not 1500. It's not a hundred. It's like 15 is. Is very, very low. Would you mind? How much are how. Costing you to make the blankets?

So the blankets I buy, the designs, so the seamless files. And I mean, I haven't really gotten down to that math of dividing that by how many blankets I'm making, but to manufacture them, it cost about 11. Like, let's say $12. And I can sell them. Yeah.

And that's including import.

And so. And they're 50 by 80.

So they're pretty big.

And so my. The amount that I can. I'm not using the right words, but I guess my profit. There you go. My profit. Your market is high because I can sell them for like 38 to $40. And to me, that's pretty okay. Yeah.

And then you're not really well.

And I think they do well too, because they're. They're unique. You know, they're. You can't go to Ross and find them. They're like, by artists where I get permission and buy their files and things like that. So the uniqueness really keeps it, like, exciting for my customers.

And where are you selling the most from? So how. One. I guess it's two questions. One, how do customers typically find you, discover you, and then where are they shopping from you? So are they finding you on Instagram or TikTok, and then they're shopping from you on those shops? Are they finding you in another way, landing straight on your website? Like, how are. What's that flow look like?

So my Instagram is probably the biggest way that they. They go to the link in my bio and purchase. Or if I have, like, the product tags in the picture.

And the reason I wanted to know this is because I want to know if your website is converting. Well, I want to know if someone lands on your site if. Because what. What I wanted to look at was if you've got a strong Instagram presence and they're really just buying the product, you show them on Instagram through the Instagram app and they're not going to your website. That means we don't know if your website is working or not, if it has a conversion. But it looks to me like mostly your website is converting pretty well because most of the stuff on your Instagram is not shoppable. Yeah. It's not tagged. And so they are using this to discover and then they're going to the link in bio probably and then they're shopping from your website. So that means that your website is the thing where they're converting.

Okay. Yeah. And like when I'm on there looking at like the insights on Shopify, that's why the direct is so high.

Then what sounds to me like you're doing is you're doing an excellent pre launch. Are you in standout society yet or just multi stream machines?

Just multi. Your machine.

Okay. So in CNN society we're building like a whole launch plan because we build out your marketing plan in there. So we talk about pre launch time. So when we're starting to seed it and get people excited about what's coming, then there's launch and launch is like it's available to buy now. And so what it looks to me like you're doing is you're doing a lot of the pre launch, you're launching and then you're kind of moving on. When I talk about social versus knowing where launch is coming, we launch and then we have a certain amount of time that we're actually like you said the seven days with Summerween that did really well. Well great. You were probably sending emails, you were probably posting. But let's make it that wherever they find you, they can buy from you. And it's like a follow through of it. So it might be like. Yeah, I mean you know this from multi stream machine. When you invested. I did. You probably came in from a challenge. I was probably like for a webinar or something and I was probably like here are all the things you need to learn. Right. Like well there's like pre launch and then there was like this. All the things you need and like now you can buy it. And then there were emails and content after until I stopped that to move on to whatever the next thing is that we were marketing. So you want to kind of treat it in the same way.

Yeah. And I think because so I think what happened was too is I was moving too fast and not like enjoying like you know, pushing that launch out because I was like, I've always, I thought it was the coolest thing to do a 90s ghoul launch. So I moved away from Summerween so quickly. Um, and so I, I knew it wasn't a good business move but like I wanted it so bad that I just did it. So I was definitely moving away Too fast. And I, I can tell that.

Okay. And it's also like the thing is, is we can keep promoting like every week can have something else we're pushing them to. It's just, well one, there is customer whiplash and a confused customer doesn't buy. But to me, when I look at your stuff, it all kind of looks the same. It's just that you're giving it different themes. Like, it's just that you're giving it a different like packaging, a different name. But I'm still kind of getting the product you're talking about. So in your head you might feel like they're very different. But it feels like just from a quick three seconds looking at your site, I'm still getting the same stuff. But like if you've got it haunted like that should, if you're going to focus on that T shirt then let's keep talking about it. Or you have the better in black PJs with like the matching blanket. So if those are coming, they might be coming. But then it's like they're available. And then you might show like you know, parent kid matching jammies. Then you might show parent kid in the blanket together and then you might be like blanket bundle or you know, like you want to keep marketing these products to move them through because people aren't going to make their decisions immediately with you. So it's just you want to follow, I want you to opt in and follow other people. They don't have to be in the same like category as you. But there might be three brands that you decide that you want to just kind of like opt into the fake Gmail address, like your stalker email address and then opt in and then pay attention. Okay, they emailed me this. Let me go see. Is it on their social media? Is it on their website? Where is it on their website? How are they marketing it? And then you can start to really see. And then Alo yoga does a really good job at this cuz Alo is constantly changing. And so every week or like yeah, I feel like it's every week, it could be every couple weeks I get an email like red is the color or like bronze is the color or like tennis court is back. And so they're just making marketing moments to loop me back in. And so it sounds like you're really good at marketing moments. They might still be selling their best selling leggings, but maybe now they're just like they're available in bronze now the new color. Or it might be the entire summer Collection drop. And then a week from now or two weeks from now, then they're just going to out of this whole summer collection, maybe they're going to pull and be like, t shirts are so cool or blankets are so cool. Right. So it's just the way you market and that you just do different. Imagine a spotlight and you're just spotlight. You have one collection, but you're spotlighting different things and you're giving customers time to buy from you.

Yeah. And I think that because I moved away from submarine so fast, because I wanted to focus on the 90s, I had some things that didn't sell and I still don't. And I was like, oh, I'll just put them on sale. But you don't always want to put.

Fail because yeah, you're moving faster than your customers can consume.

Yeah, okay, slow down, slow down.

Summer's not over. Talk about summer again. Whatever you want to sell, this is what I want you to do. Whatever you want to sell, talk about it, bring it back on your social, create content around it, send an email, put it up on your website. If you're like, it didn't sell that well, maybe they were so overwhelmed with all the things you released that they saw some of it, but they didn't have enough time to dig through. So just bring it back out. It doesn't have to be part of the Summerween launch or the 90s ghoul. It's just talk about it. Right. Because your stuff is also somewhat season less if you, if they're for people who wear Halloweeny inspired stuff all year.

I just, like you said, I put it in like these little like, oh, these are the part of the 90s because it looks like this or whatever it is. Yeah, that makes sense to kind of slow down. And then I, you know how I always hear you and I heard you in my ear when I tried to bring in kids stuff. Stop trying out all the things.

Oh no, I was gonna go there.

And so yeah, it, it didn't do well. And I was like, you know what I should have learned and you know, and that I have to focus on the adult stuff because it does so well. I can't keep up in an ideal world. If I can have another company eventually and have someone else run it, that'd be fun because I feel like I, I would have the confidence to do it, but I'm like, okay, we're not there, so. So slow down.

Are you sitting on kids product right now? Do you have stuff that you need to sell?

Yeah.

Okay, so just put it on sale. Do like a blowout sale. Just try and make your money back on it. But I don't love for you and most people, kids. So pajamas are very complicated because there's flame retardant. Like there's all these laws about PJs that are rules. And then there's like, with kids products, there's lead testing where you may not have to do the lead testing, but you have to have proof that like the company you bought from did lead testing or batch numbers. And we don't have to get into any of that. But it's just if you're going to do kids, you're going to do kids and I want you to do it right. And otherwise the other thing with kids is like there's all these sizing things. You need so many sizes to do kids because we've got infant, toddler kid, you know, tween youth, all of it. So I like that you found that yourself. And I would say to your current market, do like a kid's blowout sale, try and make your money back and then just stick. You're only a one year old company. We can come back into this. It's not like Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker Realm, but they're so kind of like, they went like goth. Like when she started dating him, she went from like sexy to goth. And then I feel like they're addressing their kid a little goth. And not that you're goth because I feel like you're goth meets Disney. It's like fun and like Disney or hello Kitty in a way. But there's going to be people who want to dress their kids and they're still going to be there. And they might be young and they might buy it and then they want to like level up and dress their kids in it later. You can come back to it. But right now, let's make a million dollars doing adults.

Yeah. Oh, yeah. I 100% agree. And I, I was like, oh my God, why did I do this? But you know, it's like, okay, I can get my money back.

Okay, you learn. Yeah. Yeah. Blowout sale. Let's get rid of it and then let's focus because where your burnout is going to come and where your overall is going to come is again, it's not only whiplash for your customers, but for you. Managing two accounts, a kid's account and this account. Sizing, manufacturing, pitching. Like, we don't know if the people on your list are parents or they're not parents.

And yeah, yeah, that's why I was like, okay, this is not happening. I definitely love the idea of manufacturing though, like, like you said because it's, it is like I'm buying it and I'm selling it and yes, you have to like my mrqs that I am finding and I look around, you know what I mean, that I, I'll get like samples and I found like, okay, like once I have it, I, I think I'm good at selling these because I've been going also what I do too that I noticed was going live an hour before the launch and basically showing everything that's going to be in that launch. And they get so excited and I'm like, wow. Like I can tell that that helps boost the sales because I did that for the first time for the summer wean one. But yeah, like the manufacturer stuff, I definitely want to keep it because I know the blankets do well and like the pajamas and I was trying to think of like, you know, in the future, you know, different things, but I feel like that takes a lot off making the shirts. But they love the shirts. So that's like my top sellers are going to be the shirts and the clothing.

So what I think we need to do with you is the overalls coming from. Well, how long does it take from you creating an idea to it being manufactured and then sent to you for you to sell it?

So I didn't have anything manufactured for either of those. So I did the. I'm pretty fast at shirts because now the reason I switch to making as they come in is because boom, press, press, move. Like doing a hundred, you know, at once tagging them like having a set process. And I actually brought my mom in, she packs all my orders now and it's like a huge relief. So it's.

Yeah. But the overwhelm, the seven month old nap time seven year old. The overwhelm is because your ideas are moving faster than the speed of being able to sell it and market it and keep up. So what is. So knowing that the blankets takes longer. You have to find the artwork, you have to go through the process and then you order and then they place the shipment. Even though you can come up with an idea today and put it on the market tomorrow. I want to ask you and share with you that it would be better if you could start to create seasonal plans to work from and then manufacture against that. The same way that like if you, you are the seller and then you're also the manufacturer. So if you the seller can buy from you as a manufacturer. Do you see what's happening here? Karina is moving too fast for her customers to be able to consume her products, meaning she's not giving herself enough time to effectively market and sell her products to her customers. When it comes to seasonal drops or new product collections, you need to build out a marketing launch plan over the course of several weeks to truly allow your customers enough time to not only get excited about the products, but to see the products. Right. And to want to buy them, which is exactly what we do. Cover inside of standouts A. It's. I saw this happening for so many students. Karina is not alone. And it's like, we got to give people time. We have to have that time to market to them. So in Karina's case, she was so excited about her next collection that she moved away from promoting her summer items before summer was even close to being over. And this is actually a big part of her overwhelm. And so to overcome that, she needs to slow her entire process down and actually put a plan in place. So now let's figure out how the second piece of Karina's overwhelm can be solved. So I'll give you an example if you could think through. Obviously, your biggest time of year is happening. And by the way, at, like, Target and home goods and stuff. Like Halloween.

Yeah, my launch is August 5th.

Yeah, it's, like, horrifying. I'm like. You're like, wow, I haven't even gone to the beach yet.

I know. It's crazy. And it's crazy to see that it's happening everywhere.

Yeah, it's everywhere. And I mean, I'm. It's like July 16th, when we're recording this. So it's mid July, and I'm like, am I late on Halloween? Like, should I be buying stuff? There's pillows. Like, I'm still. I'm still decorating my outdoor furniture. Right. And that's all on sale. So your season is here. And what's cool about that, too is if we think Disney. Disney has, you know, Jack's skeleton and there's, like, parts that. Or, yeah, Disney's that still.

Yeah.

Right. Yeah. So, yeah, Tim Burton. So, like, that's almost like Halloween and Christmas together. So we are going into the next five months is going to be like, go for you. So what I want you to think about, if you haven't done it already, is I think I want you to think in collections and thinking, okay, so for August and September and October, do you Say that's your busiest time of year?

Yeah, yeah.

Or is August slower and then we get Busier?

September, October, August 5th. So I started making and prepping the Halloween stuff because these aren't even out yet. Yeah, I started prepping that about two weeks ago because I decided to go on vacation to California in July.

Nice.

I'm actually from California, so, yeah, my busiest time is right now. And I started planning my Halloween, like, right after the 90s. I was like, okay, I need to get these, you know, designs. What do I want? Get the designs printed. So I already have everything I need. Now I'm just busting them out.

Okay, so how many. Let's. Let's say how many styles are you going to offer over the next three months? And I love that you're breathing out, because I'm kind of afraid of the answer, but let's go.

So I think there's 25 design.

Okay, all right, 25. I'm just gonna write this down so I can see. So 25 designs. And are they T shirts and sweatshirts? Like, is it, like. Like the same print but, like, on different body styles?

Yeah, so I. What I. God, what I used to do was horrible. I used to be like, oh, you can get it in a shirt and a sweatshirt. And I'm like, no, we're not doing that anymore. But yes. So, yes, it's mixed. So a design. Only one design will come on a sweatshirt. Only this design will come on a shirt. And they're just really mixed to what I thought would do well or, you know, I basically just chose it.

And do you know your ratio of, like, out of the 25? I'm gonna do X amount sweatshirts. X amount T shirts.

Some that I brought in, I would say they range from about nine to, like. There's this one I know will do really well, and it has, like, 14.

14. What?

Sizes? Different sizes.

Okay. Not sizes, but I'm actually asking about sweatshirts to T shirt out of the 25.

So tease is about. I would say 15 maybe, and then 10 sweatshirts. Maybe. That's approximate.

Okay, great. Okay, great. Great, great, great. About 10. And then you have so many sizes, because. Why?

Oh, no. So I offer size small to 4x, and I usually do only, like, 1.4x or 1.3x. But the customer base is there.

They sell no extra small. No. So just small, small, medium, large, extra large, 2x3x and 4.

And they're super limited. So within those sizes, there's like one or two smalls, you know, two or three Mediums and so on like that.

Okay, this is something I don't teach in any of the programs that I teach my one on one clients, but you are gonna get it and so will everybody who's listening to this podcast. Because this is what I do in fashion. So this is great because sizing, you know, people who are like, I sell candles, it's like how many versions of like you don't need to do multiple sizes, but fashion, we have all the sizes. Okay, so you've got 1, 2, 3, 7 sizes. So 25 designs. We've got 15 tees, 10 sweatshirts about and the sizes. So what stores do when a store buys from you, which is why you, I want you to think of yourself as two things right now. You are a manufacturer of this product and you are a retail store because you're selling online. Okay. So even though it's the same company, your retail store will buy from you as the manufacturer. And if you were to ever sell wholesale, you need to kind of know these numbers because when you start to sell wholesale, you'll start to sell in multi shoe machine. I teach minimums. And when you sell like a size run. So anyone that's ever bought from other companies and they've bought apparel, they know they have to buy like it's like a size pack or six styles or sorry, like a six pieces per style. And then you cut it into what the sizes are. So what are your best selling sizes in here?

I'm going to assume it's medium large and extra large.

That's exactly what I was going to say. Okay, medium large, extra large. And then if you were to go in and make the product and run it, how many units do you think you would move through?

Like per design or like what do.

You mean per design?

So this is what I usually use and depending on the design I'll like up a little bit. But this is what I try to stick to. So. So like 1 small, 2 mediums, 3 larges, 3 extra larges, 2 2x, 1 3x and 1 4x. Like that's like the most I would say that I use.

So you told me that medium is one of your best sizes, but you only have two in that one versus three.

Yeah, I mean I, I kind of adjust it depending on the design and even then I'll be like, okay, let me do four larges and four extra larges. So. So like those kind of fluctuate.

So it sounds to me like you're only making about 13 pieces per.

I would say approximately, yes.

And do you sell out?

Yeah, very quickly.

And do people ask you for it again?

Yes. And so that's why I, like, get stuck on. I should have made more. And what I did with Summerween, which kind of upped the sales a little bit and I regretted it, is I did a pre sale and I was like, oh, why did I do this? But I made a lot of money.

Well, it's because you're flying by the seat of your pants. You're just kind of like, I'm just gonna make it and then maybe I'll go back into it. And we need to stop this flying situation, and we need to actually, like, come up with a plan. So if I were to ask you on your most popular styles, the ones that you fully believe in, what if I were to say, okay, you're gonna launch in August, how many do you think you can sell of your most popular style? Not broken up by size, but, like units. What do you think for your audience, for the types of orders you get in? All the stuff to not sell out.

Or to sell out, but, like, I'd still get rid of them without going overboard.

Let's not go overboard, but let's have enough that you don't have to go back in and think, oh, God, I have to make these again next week.

Probably like 20. So, yeah, there's this one design that I'm actually doing a lot of because I don't want to do a.

Okay, so I know you say a lot. It's not a lot. This is not a lot. I've had to make 300 pieces minimum and then try and figure that out. Or a thousand pieces minimum per style. So we're in a very low amount where I don't want this to ever feel a lot. I want you to be like, cool, knock it out. It's a math problem. So that's where I was actually going to take you. Based on this being 13, I want to double it to get you to 24 pieces per design as your base.

And do you suggest that, like, in everything or like the ones that I know?

I don't think you should ever just have one of anything. I know you can make it again. Yeah, but why?

Who wants to? Yeah, like, yeah, I over pre orders those actually. And I feel like that's what overwhelms me. Like, I can sit here all day and press shirts. It's just investing that money and then. You know what I mean? But like, to do pre orders, like, I dread them.

Why do you dread them?

Because I Don't I? Because yes, I get the money up front. However, I don't want to make all these shirts all over again. Yeah, I just spent just they pre.

Order and then you sell through and they're limited quantities. I think you can go. Did you ever follow Lularoe when it was like really popular?

Yeah, I used to buy them.

Okay, so you. Because a lot of the stuff that you do kind of reminds me. And I actually worked with their top sellers. Like they were on the Lularoe documentary. I'm not gonna say who, but they were on there and I've been to their house and I watched them sell live and all. They were my clients because when they were leaving Lularoe, they wanted to basically create their own version of this. They had all these customers to sell to. So we were doing the Halloween leggings, like, because people love them and what it was, and if you remember, because you used to buy it was like this fight. There was scarcity built in and once it was gone, it was gone.

Yeah. Oh, yeah. And I think that's that I've watched the documentary and I was like, wow, that's smart. You know, and they were making a.

Million dollars a month on their downline. I was like, oh my God. If only like Macy's and Nordstrom's knew how much money people were spending through Facebook groups and watching live videos. So no, and that's.

I think that is what draws people in, like with the blanket. They're like, they know that I'm not going to restock them because manufacturing you can't, you can't do. You could do a pre order, pre sale or whatever, but it's harder to get them in a timely manner. So because there's that scarcity, they. I think that is going to be the way that I'm. I take this company.

Yeah.

You know, higher is going.

And it's the same way that like, and not saying you have to do fast fashion, but H and M, Zara, those kinds of things, like you don't go back. Like if you see something in H and M and you see like a jacket, once they sell out of that jacket, it's gone forever. Um, now that's fast fashion because they're moving through trends. You know, when we get you to the point of a bigger company, you know, you might go from the scarcity model to a different version, like bigger collections, things that are really thought out. And it doesn't have to be scarce, like, but. But it is a seasonal product. It is the print of the season. And then there will be another print. So what if. What would it look like if you had six medium, six larges, six extra larges or four? Like, what number would do you want here? Not four. Four is too close to three.

Yeah, I have a six medium, six larges, Six extra larges. What is that, 18 and then 19, 22 and like maybe four. Two X's and then you can always take like one off. Like take one medium off. Because large and extra large is. Is like up there. I would say medium is too. It just kind of depends on the design.

Okay. Medium large are like very popular styles, but it just depends on your customer base. Go to four if you want it. Or five.

Yeah, around there.

10, 16. 16 plus 12. Watch me do the math. 28 pieces.

And like you said, because I think that. And I'm the only one who does the shirts. Like I've taught my mom to package them, which takes a huge load off me because that was taking so long.

And then.

And people honestly don't complain about my turnaround time, which I love because I put it out there about eight times and I'm like, you either like understand this or like, you know what I mean? Because I always have it like two to four weeks, even when they're already pre made. And then they get them a lot sooner. And so they're not like reaching out, you know what I mean? So I like putting that out there. And people still shop. So it's not like making them be like, oh, I don't want to wait that long. You know, they're.

I know, but we're trying to get to the point. Well, one, we're going to hit your busy season. So they're going to want to get their stuff sooner than later. Right. And then I think, I think if you are going into productions and you're sitting on 28ish pieces, they do between 24, 28 to 30 pieces per style. And then you had time to focus on these products. You could, the product's sitting behind you, it's ready to go. You're doing marketing moments and then you're shipping. And I would say like, if you can start to up your shipping because the product is there and now you're just shipping and fulfilling, then it's like, you know, they can expect it in five to seven days or depending on how they choose, or like within two weeks. Yeah, you're just caught in the making part of it all. So then it like, you're like, what? What do I do? So, so what I have you for right now, what I have a size run is 2, 2, 5, 6, 6, 4, 3, 2, 2, 5, 6', 6, 4 for 2x, 3 for 3x, 2 for 4x. And even on the styles that you think won't sell, I would almost like if you had a cadence. So let's say like you brought them all down to fours like twos and four, like two smalls, four medium, four large, four XL, four 2x2 and 2 or something like that. But I think you're leaving a lot of money on the table. Are you sensing a theme here? It always comes back to math. Well, most of the time. So Karina is offering way too many sizes of each product product right now, which is the second piece that's contributing to her overwhelm. She's flying by the seat of her pants each time she has a collection drop, but she's making the product and then going back each time that she's selling it and making more instead of figuring out how many she needs in each unit and each size and making that from the start. Now remember, it's okay to make product drops and have limited quantities as long as you know your numbers and are creating your product drop based on that. Plus it builds the hype and plays a role in your marketing because once it's gone, it's gone. So if you're going to play the scarcity model, it's cool. People love a good sale. People love. There's only a few of these left. People love time scarcity. It gets them to take action. So knowing your numbers, even though you know math is math for me, but knowing your numbers is the key to making decisions that will help reduce your overwhelm and allow you to systemize going forward. Happy holidays. Okay, don't think. Jacqueline, what are you talking about? It's still warm outside. I know. But guess what? We want to get you uber prepared for this holiday season. Because what we want is that you can get consistent sales, right? Have steady growth and keep growing your business beyond always having to offer a discount during the holiday season to drive sales. So if you want to get prepared while it's it's still warm outside, you can jump in and grab 101 content ideas beyond the Holiday discount. And it is a bundle of content prompts, tools, hashtags and templates. And it includes a three month calendar with things to say every single day from October to December. It is so helpful. So go out, enjoy the sunshine and feel uber prepared for the holiday season when you grab yours. Now just Head to holiday content ideas.com. you have 3,000 sessions. So. And I even went to your website and if I go to shop all the second page, half of it's sold out with custom. So you gotta clean up your website. Cause then I don't know if I'm supposed to go to like the next page or if it's like, that's it, I've hit the end of the list. So what I would tell you to do is one, I need you to clean up your website and make it a lot cleaner, a lot easier to shop from. Okay? So I really think, because I think your biggest priority going into this busy season is that you clean up your website and your listings and you are prepped with product. And then once, and you tell them once it's sold out, it's sold out. And then you think through what am I gonna feature? So really what it is is it's about your focus and so you don't have to share everything at once. And then you can bring them back in. So whatever your style is, it might be like, I don't know, let's say it's like the better and everything's better in black or whatever. Like you might title a subject line like that or do it and then you talk about better in black for a little bit and then the next day you focus on something else. But don't feel like you have to launch all 25 pieces at the same time. Highlight them, spotlight them, let each one stand in the spotlight for a little bit and then you can bring them back on. Imagine it's a performance. It's stage performance. You entered, introduce each, maybe the. All the characters come out and then they go away and then one comes out or like two come out and then they go away again and then you bring another out and you want to just kind of like cycle through because a confused customer doesn't buy. And right now you have too much that you're confused and they're confused. And so out of the 25 pieces, think, I want you to think through, you're going to have production pre made and then you're going to think through your drops. August 5th, it might be like new spooky collection. But do you show all of it? Maybe you hold some back. If you want to launch 12 of them, great. And then maybe two weeks later you're like, new drop. Or three weeks later it's like, new drop. Give yourself time to sell through stuff and then you can introduce something else. And then let's say by September 15th, there's the new or September, first week of September, it's like Halloween drop. So I want you to cycle through it because it's the analogy I use. If you go to Ross, imagine you've got your seven month old on your hip, a coffee in your hand. Your 7 year old is hiding in the clothes. Okay. You can tell I've been through this. And then you're just trying to find a pair of jeans in a rack that is so packed full and you're trying to piece through it. And even though it says that's your size, there's all these other sizes mixed in. Baby's crying, coffee's spilling, kid is like, mom, mom, mom, mom. And you're trying to find what you want. You're going to be like, I'm out of here. Okay, I'll come back later. And maybe you don't ever come back. So the more you can make this less of a Ross experience and more of a I'm walking into Nordstrom's. Or like think of like a nice experience of shopping where you're like, oh, here are the shoes that they want. The shoes aren't piled on top of each other, but it's like I get to walk up to these shelves and it's like here are high heels and there's six different colors and I just have to pick what color I want. And then I can sit on the couch and my kid can play and here's a lollipop and everything feels cool, calmer. That's the experience I want you to give to your customers when you're thinking about making an offer and then giving them that time to shop and not packing it and packing it and packing it in, they don't have the time to go through everything.

Yeah.

So taking everything that you're learning here, what I think the thing to help you with burnout and to hit your $15,000 months that you're looking for is just more of a plan. So really thinking through your marketing and sales goal. Really thinking through instead of like being reactive with your production that we've worked out a bigger number. Because if you're like, I have 28 of these to sell or 30 of these to sell, I want you to get creative on, then how do I liquidate it? How do I sell it? What does it need? What does this one shirt need me to do with it to get people to buy it? Because if you post five shirts, the people that are looking are gonna get confused. But if you're like, okay, here's Everything. Go out, go and buy.

And.

But then now I'm going to do a whole focus on, I don't know, this shirt and this sweatshirt. You give them two options, this shirt and this sweatshirt. Then you're like, okay, I'm going to drive sales to those. And then it makes it really clear. And then a few days later, you're going to be like, all right, I'm going to drive sales to this stuff. And that's the thing. It's like giving it enough time to sell and then having a plan for it. And that's how you will have less of that. And then think of this. If you're like, I'm going to drop. I'm just going to throw it out there. I'm going to drop eight styles in August, then just go into production on those eight stuff styles with the units, you think. And knowing August might be a slower. Slower than September, maybe. So, you know, maybe it's not all the sweatshirts, because sweatshirts are going to be better when the weather changes. Maybe you're like, august. Maybe you drop some styles in August that are not going to be like, the best of the best. The best. Or there's just a couple. And you're like, all right, I'm going to do 24 of these and see if I can sell through the 24. And then, okay, I'm going to practice. And then September, when it's my busier time, that's when I'm going to do 28 or 30 of them and I'm going to really pack up. Like, you want some best sellers in each. Each, but don't pour it all into a month that, like, they're still in transition.

Yeah. And I felt like. Exactly. And then. So what I did do also, which kind of takes some off is I decided to split up the blanket launch. And that was only me personally, because I was like, I want some. A little more extra money when I go on vacation. So I was like, let me launch these blankets on Friday. But I get. So this week I've been promoting blankets and showing them sneak peeks, right?

And so you'll do blankets and then, you know, and so it's like, blankets, blankets, blankets. Then you might do, like, new collection, or let's just put it this way, next week you can do a flash sale on some old styles, Right. Move through some inventory, throw in a sale out, or just talk about a product or be like, bestsellers. Free shipping on bestsellers is what we're doing our Bestseller Secrets challenge right now. So then you could do that, move some more product. And then August 5th, new product launch. And then let's say a couple weeks in, you might refocus on blankets again. It doesn't mean that anything is done being talked about. You just do what I showed you with like, go stock some of these brands and just follow what they're doing.

And be like, I like the. I guess I wasn't thinking of it because once I had a launch, I was like, this is it, this is it. Let's push it, push it, push it. But to have the other stuff so it doesn't get lost. Like, like with the. I can still sell the summer stuffs too.

And also right now at the time of recording, it's Prime Day. So if you wanted, you could do a flash sale tomorrow for prime Prime Day deals. Or. Or Christmas in July. Like, you could do a flash sale if you want to move any product. Because people are like shopping right now. That's why everyone's doing this sort of situation. It's like that Christmas in July.

Yeah. Like my sale album, I did have a 4th of July sale and it did okay. But I have a wholesale album with stuff that does that.

You feel supported as you grow your business. And then when I do have flashy on the next. That's what I focus.

Amazon is that sale album.

Yeah. But bring it to the front, right? Like sale. Like put an image that's like sale, sale, sale. So that's why Prime Day and I did a whole podcast, I think it dropped this week. Was they do this because they want to. The J. Months are slower months, like you said, January. So they have to.

Yeah, I think I just.

Yeah, so they have to kick up the sales. And so when we have these bigger companies doing all this marketing and they're basically like in the world making people want to shop in a time they're not shopping. They're going to be on their phones, they're going to be on their iPads, they're going to be on their computers. They're going to be kind of in the mood to buy because think about it, like, Amazon is really pushing it. So then you can tag onto that. And a lot of small businesses have done that. That's why Christmas in July was brought forward. It's. People aren't buying in July, they start to buy again in August. But how do we move stuff after 4th of July? This is how we move stuff.

Okay.

Okay.

Yeah, I like that. I guess I was. I'm always nervous to change things, but like, oh, now I Got message them or I feel bad but I'm like no, like this is what's going to keep me going for the next three months on all the product that I'm selling.

Yeah. Just test and try.

Yeah, yeah. So I'll message them, I'll get, I have actually everything written down and like who got what and I'll split them up and then I'll kind of talk to them about it and do you want me to mention which or I kind of did already about the blitz and the other one I did was I focused on my email marketing for multi stream machine.

Like what you used.

Yeah, so I, I mostly use that one and I kind of dived into the wholesale but then my business started taking off and I was like I can't jump into wholesale right now. So yeah. So I held back on that. So I'm excited to go back into, you know, that's what I like having it all the time. I can, you know, when I, I find my rhythm because right now I feel like it broke a little bit because of my sales went up and so now I can go back, you know, my slow season which I'm trying to find, which is my slow season season.

Listen, if you don't have a slow season, that's great. Let's just keep growing from here and then what you'll really do is then you're gonna, the next point that you're gonna get to is getting more help. That will be your next point so that we can get you out of making and step you into marketing and sales and then you've got your mom helping. So we want like shipping, fulfillment and like production handled so that you can keep leveling up your role in the company.

Yeah. And I have a sister too who's probably down to learn how to do some stuff too.

So we start with family first. Totally. And so let's just get you to the point that you, you do these $15,000 months. Let's cross that goal then let's get you to $30,000 months and let's get you to six figure months. Like imagine making a hundred thousand dollars a month. Okay. That puts you at a 1.2 million dollar business doing what you do where long term when you're at that point, you're not going to be heat pressing. You're either going to have people that are doing it for you, you're going to be manufacturing because you're going to have at scale but you got to baby step your way through this and you're going to do it. And I think you're on your way. So if people want to, because we're getting into the season that your shirts make sense for all of us. If we want to shop from you, buy from you, support you, how can we do that?

Website is better in black co. And then my Instagram is better in black underscore co. Amazing.

Thank you so much for working with me today and for allowing us to share this with everyone because there's. This is like a really deep. This is like what I do my one on ones like deep, deep. So it's really good and I hope it's helpful to everyone listening too. Yeah.

Thank you so much.

I'm just. I'm so proud of Karina. She's absolutely crushing it with her spooky year around apparel. But she's also lacking that plan, which is what's causing her to feel overwhelmed and burnt out. So the main theme here is that to reduce those feelings of burnout and overwhelm, you need to first know your marketing and sales goals so that you can create a plan. And then once that plan is created, you can implement it and repeat it over and over again. Right. Enough with flying by the seat of our pants. Let's set goals, let's set a plan, and let's stick with it. Right? And that's exactly what Karina is going to do to reach her $15,000 months in her business. And you can too. I believe in you. You've got this. We've got you. Make sure to. To keep following the show because we drop two episodes every week. And I want to make sure that you feel supported as you grow your business. Thanks for being here and I'll see you on the next episode.