What do you do with your business when you are going to be away from home for an extended period of time? I’m leaving on a little 4 month cross-continental jaunt in a few days. Here’s how I’ve been preparing:
Made a plan for my products:
My choice was to either haul all of my inventory with me or deal with it some other way. I thought about having a big clearance sale, but in the end, I placed a lot of it in consignment stores, as I discussed in my last article. The items that remained I am leaving with my sister. Most are just back up stock should the stores sell out; a few types of items will still be online, and she will ship them out for me if they sell. Isn’t she a peach? :]
Prepared my materials:
I want to haul as little as possible without sacrificing thrift. I have a lot of materials on hand that I want to use up before I buy more. Happily for me, a lot of them are already cut up and some partially assembled. I put each project or the pieces for each type of product in gallon Ziploc bags to keep them organized in my work suitcase. This way, I’m just bringing out what I really need, not the scraps in between that I won’t be using. Of course, I could just get more materials there, but since we are driving, I don’t have to and I don’t want to.
Packed my tools:
That cool green box that looks like an ammo can is a vintage Elna Grasshopper, my travel sewing machine. I also have a pint size cutting mat, and since many of my things are already cut out, it should suffice. Of course, I’ll be putting all the smaller items in as well: scissors, rotary cutter, and, sigh, the ever useful seam ripper…
Prepared to learn:
I plan to sew on our trip, but probably not as much as I have been at home. I plan to spend a good amount of time working in my creative business workbooks that I have been putting off. There’s a big value in a lot of portability.
All in all, I think I can temporarily move my business pretty adequately in one small suitcase plus the sewing machine and cutting mat. Tonight, I close up the big machine for four months.
Have you ever had to take your business on the road or carry on business during a move? How did you manage it?
