Sweet Birdie’s Nest had a *very* successful 2011, thanks to so many people! When Beverly and I decided to act on our idea of a stationery company, we had no idea where it would take us or how everything would work out. Our first six months were fun, with sporadic orders and lots of brainstorming on our part. 2011, however, definitely had less downtime; we received numerous custom requests and filled more orders through our Etsy shop that I think either of us imagined.

A quick comparison: Just looking at the months of December {2010 and 2011} alone, we had a 600% growth in orders placed through Etsy and a 1900% increase in total amount of sales. That doesn’t even consider local and non-Etsy sales {through email and the order form on the blog}.

While we certainly consider those numbers a success, we want to continue to grow our brand and our vision. We have learned a lot about each other, business and customer service over the past two years. I have some new ideas for tracking our growth and keeping up with past and current clients to keep our name out there.

Some of the things we hope to accomplish in 2012 include:

-focusing on introducing new products, including enclosure cards and notepads

-creating new collections {ideas include tea party, horses, Lego inspired and Star Wars inspired}

-blogging, sharing and adding our wedding collections to the shop. We have created a few wedding invitations and several save the dates that we would like to share! We could be missing an entire set of potential clients because these items aren’t available for our customers to see.

-continuing to find a work/family balance. We are both moms with other community obligations. Sticking to our policies will help us to maintain that balance a bit better. We need to stop feeling guilty about taking time for our families, especially on the weekends.

-learning new elements and techniques of design

That’s certainly not an all-inclusive list and I hope to add to it as we cross these items off.

As I said at the beginning of the post, we couldn’t make this dream a reality without the support of our friends who continue to use our invitations & stationery and tell their friends about us. Much of our business is from referrals, and I definitely think that’s a huge indication of the quality of our product and services we provide.

Our parents and sister are a tremendous source of support and inspiration, too. Our dad reminds us that we are worth our price and to stand our ground when we need to; our mom transfers items between our houses when she visits the grandkids and offers her opinion on new designs; and Whitney inspires us because she is a small business owner herself!

Our husbands are our biggest supporters and usually keep their mouths shut when we’re still at our computers well past bedtime. They are sounding boards when we have a difficult customer, they proofread proofs, and they stuff envelopes and make trips to the post office. Our children are a constant source of inspiration; they are the reason we do this in the first place and are a driving force to be successful.

Finally, we couldn’t do this without each other. I, for one, am grateful to work with my sister on a daily basis. She’s smart and talented and funny and helpful and I definitely consider myself lucky to learn from her. We are sisters, so of course there are buttons to be pushed, but because we are sisters, we can pick up right where we left off. I think our strengths truly complement each other and offer a good balance for our ‘roles’ within the company.

So, did you set any goals for 2012? Tell us about them by leaving a comment. We can all hold each other accountable!

Here’s to a fun and fulfilling 2012!