Reflecting on achievement and plans for the future..

I'm catching up with Become a Mumpreneur now and here follows a review of progress as per lesson 23

I did manage to achieve the £20 challenge way back at Easter tho to be honest it has been hit and miss with some months since then. 

Reaching the £100 challenge is more complicated to answer as I did make over £100 on a couple of occasions however this was tempered by the fact that the income was way short of the costs.

I am not close to meeting my income goal yet and am also aware that I am not keeping a good record of income and expenditure. This seems ridiculously hard even though I have little activity. But then I am not given to filling in spreadsheets if I ever have the  choice as its the area I am least confident in.

I think that has to be an urgent task on my to do list! 

I have achieved a lot Since March in terms of changing mindset, trying real things out such as events and exhibitions thinking in a more confident and professional way. Selling work and gathering 3 major events to add to my CV. I have started professional networking with other artists and thinking about seeking opportunities to propose workshops to schools. 

 

Coastal Currents Open Studio (detail) show on from 27 Aug through to September at Kerry's Wine bar, 55 Marina. Bexhill.Trying to do it all and keep up with the admin/theory/family  was impossible over the summer holidays - my plans for child care cover mostly fell apart and the cover I did have was too late and too dense ie what I needed was 1 day a week spread over 6 weeks but what I got was 5 mornings of 2 hrs in one week. Technical difficulties with new technology wasted too much head space. 

 

My plans for the near future are to pin down some of the following options which I have to choose from, this feels like the hard bit - knowing what to do...

Select events for 2012 to further my credibility as a professional artist.

find something that feeds me creatively:

do a course on screen printing -prob too tricky with child care as courses are across school pickup.

do the De La War course on Andy Warhol -8 wks very local

workshops for schools in area

develop my blog 

take on a new initiative/opportunity which has come up to take on a  studio for a peppercorn rent on a temporary basis up till christmas. this might lead to a permanent location to work from and full rent on a seasonal basis should i wish to stay. 

this is a big one as i have no regular income - so I am looking at ways of being able to pay the peppercorn rent to start with and then perhaps building that up to cope with costs. 

I still have a 3 yr old to look after 3 days a week so how is this viable? should I get in there as its a limited risk both in terms of cost and time? 

I reckon I need some thinking time and some sound advice here!