VISIT OUR SPONSOR:

The British Shop transports fine art, furniture and antiques by air, land and sea around the world. David Hockney once said “Art has to move you” and The British Shop offers a service which moves ART AND ANTIQUES with attentive care delivering delicate items around the world. Whether you’re shipping an entire container or you need to ship via consolidation – The British Shop is your solution for shipping antiques from Europe to the USA (or wherever else you happen to be located when listening to this podcast). Schedule a CALL with Malcom Disson of The British Shop by visiting their website https://thebritishshop.com/. Tell them you heard about them on the Business of Antiques Podcast to receive a special offer on your Insurance for your delivery!

Toma Clark Haines – CEO of The Antiques Diva & Co and founder of The Republic of Toma – talks about END OF YEAR PLANNING for your life and business. Doing a year end review is a way to hold yourself accountable, to better understand your life goals and values, and to manage your work and life tasks consistently.

Toma encourages you to write your vision statement – an aspirational statement for your business that articulates what you would like to achieve. It guides the direction of where you put your effort in the next year. In order to achieve your long term goals, you have to set short-term actionable goals

A dream written down with a date becomes a goal.

A goal broken into steps becomes a plan.

A plan backed by action makes your dreams come true.

Your calendar is the key to your success. Once you learn to manage your calendar – you’ll learn to achieve your goals. But Toma tells the truth. SOMETIMES a goal isn't really a goal. She asks “Are there goals you have that you don't necessarily care about?”

She points out the difference between short term vs long term planning for your business. When you have a long term vision of your company, you have the things that you are doing today that everyone sees – and things that no one sees because they are a work in progress.

Toma explains how in her own business she’s employed the Pareto Principle, also known as the 80-20 rule. She encourages you to prioritize the 20% of factors that will produce the best results. Core Values should drive those 20% of actions. Your core values are your set of guiding beliefs upon which your business is based.

As your antiques business grows, your values need to evolve to reflect how you have changed personally and professionally. Maybe some of the values you defined early on in your business don’t define your business today.

Lastly, running an antiques store takes a village. So many antique dealers make the mistake of trying to run a business alone. Putting the right team in place can help you achieve your goals faster. The Antiques Diva & Co offers website development, marketing, and social media services as well as business coaching for antiques dealers in addition to their popular antique buying tours and virtual sourcing services.

Toma closes this episode by talking about the money.  After all, if you’re not making a profit, your antique shop is just a hobby. Think about if you’re focusing on maximized profitability or maximizing growth? Book a Free Consultation with Toma Clark Haines, CEO of The Antiques Diva & Co by emailing [email protected]

ASK YOURSELF THESE QUESTIONS:

• How did I do this year? What were my goals for this year and did I achieve them? If not, why not?
• How does your business support your life goals?
• What are your long term goals for your antiques business?
• What type of antiques store do you want to have?
• Does your current store fit your dream store?
• Where does your long term vision and immediate situation connect?
• And how do you want that store to support your life?
• What type of money do you want to make?
• Is this supplementary income or do you need to pay the mortgage?
• More importantly, what will make you happy?
• Do you have a vision statement for your company?
• What did you do consistently this year?
• What SMALL STEPS did you take to get further along with your goals?
• More importantly, what small steps did you plan to do – but NOT do – because you didn’t enjoy it?
• This year where did you spend the majority of your time?
• Was that leading you in the direction of your dreams? (Personal or Professional) If not – why not?  
• What are your Core Values?
• What are the VALUES you want to bring into 2022?
• Make a list of everything you do in your company. Every function. Every role.
• How do you do it all? Rhetorical question: The truth is you don't.
• Ask yourself these questions – Does this task or goal still make sense for my business? For the way I want to live my life?
• If it makes sense – can you schedule it on your calendar going forward?
• What would you have to drop in order to make this priority a goal?
• For the things I'm adding into my calendar I have to ask: Have I set realistic timelines for each task?
• For each task ask yourself: Am I the right person to work on this project/activity?
• Am I at a point in the company where I need to maximize my growth or maximize my profits?

Also, on this episode’s special segment of #AsktheShipper, Toma talks with Malcom Disson of The British Shop about container sizing and what actually fits, a question we all want to know. Most containers are either 20 or 40 feet or, in other words, roughly 1,000 or 2,000 cubic feet – Mandarin to most of us. Malcolm breaks this down in a way we can understand: about 30-35 average-sized chest of drawers for the smaller container and 70-80 for the larger. He then describes shipping needs for those who don’t want or need to fill a whole container and what those options can be. Stay tuned to listen for a special deal for those who mention The Business of Antiques podcast!