Acquisitions Budgets Here and There

So we had a guest speaker at the Library All Staff Meeting today. The Provost arrived with a power point presentation about the state of the university budget. It’s not a pretty picture. But the plan is to try to increase income by doing things to attract out of state students who pay more in tuition. Last year they offered merit scholarships to 250 students and 20 matriculated. This year they plan to offer scholarships to 1700 students in the hopes of attracting 200-300. And the plan is to add another 300 students each year. But as he explained, if these students stay for 4 years we hope to come out ahead even after the cost of the scholarships, additional housing, creating more classrooms, etc.

So although my little jewelry business has been running in the red for 3 years now, I continue to invest in it. I've tried the $30 tables at church bazaars. I've used draped sheets over an inexpensive folding table. I've tried selling online on Etsy and now 1000 Markets. But after being accepted into a couple of higher end shows, I learned that my customers are at the juried art shows.

I barely took in $1000 in my first year. But the following January I used that money to buy a tent, fabric for swag curtains, and large framed photos of my jewelry. I bought matching hanging mirrors and 4 height adjustable tables, and I sewed custom fitted table covers. And on the first warm day in March we set up the tent complete with jewelry displays on our back deck (the backyard was still too wet) and took pictures. You see, the high end juried shows not only want pictures of your designs, they want to see how you display them.Since that first year I've used only Jansjems' income to pay expenses. I hope someday to recoup my initial investment, but not paying anything out of pocket anymore is huge.

So what am I buying with my acquisitions budget this year? I'll be taking some classes to learn more advanced techniques with silver clay. And, of course, I'll have to buy a kiln.