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A P P A R E L D E C O R A T I N G 7 0 G R A P H I C S P R O A P R I L 2 0 2 1 G R A P H I C S - P R O. C O M S T I T C H S O L U T I O N S | J E N N I F E R C O X GETTING FROM POINT A TO POINT B ASKING YOURSELF THE TOUGH QUESTIONS IN ORDER TO BE SUCCESSFUL I n working with thousands of embroi- dery business owners over the past 25 years, one of the most common topics they want help with is how to be success- ful. In order to get from where you are to where you want to be, in all things, you must know two things. First, you must know where you are right now. Second, you need to know where you want to end up. People that manage to get from Point A to Point B know where Point A and Point B are. ey are able to develop a path from one to the other in the shortest amount of time, with the least expensive and fewest detours, mistakes, and side trips. ey go on a straighter path than the peo- ple that have no idea of their Point A or Point B, or only a vague idea of them. DEFINE, DESCRIBE e very rst thing to do is to dene your Point A. Next, describe your ideal Point B. Very few people have thought about being successful in this way be- fore. I can practically hear or see the lightbulb click on when they see that when they don't know where they are, and don't know where they're going, it is pretty darn sure they'll never get there. Your version of success is unique to you and your business. Everybody's destina- tion, their version of success, is dierent. Once your Point A and Point B are clearly dened, then you can decide if that benchmark of your success is the same over time, or if it needs to be tweaked. In today's pandemic world everybody keeps saying, "I wish we could go back to the way it was …" We can't. is is not the new normal—this is normal. Every business is going through some- thing, all the time. We are all collectively experiencing this pandemic. e im- pacts of it are all over the board. Some peoples' lives have changed very little. For others, their companies have closed. Some people have retooled or pivoted. Only you can decide what your ver- sion of success is. Only you can decide what your version of normal is. Only you can decide how you want your business to evolve to get where you want to go. And until you dene what that success is for you and your business, how will you know if you've achieved it? Now is the time to get real and take a good candid look at where you and your business are at this moment. is is not meant to be a criticism or negative in any way. It is just a true assessment of your Point A, where you stand today, right at this moment. WHERE ARE YOU RIGHT NOW? is is your Point A. Examine/ask the following: • Equipment – what do you own? • Location – where is your operation located? • Sta – you plus who else? • Sales and Marketing – website, phone number, email, social media, groups you belong to, print ads? • Annual sales? • Other Assets and Metrics – digi- tizing, accounting, bookkeeping, legal? is is when you review any feedback that you've gotten from your custom- ers, your employees, or someone else that you trust that may be relevant to look at as something to factor into your Point A description. is Point A has to be robust. It has to be a full-color picture, with warts and