There are 3 questions that I’m going to answer in my Annual Review:

1. What went well this year?
2. What didn’t go so well this year?
3. What am I working toward?

What went well 

Big Transitions. I know it sounds like a weird place to start, but when I think back about how the year went, especially with Covid-19 being a factor, this year went exceedingly well when it came to big transitions. We sold our primary home and moved at the end of March. Our new home is on a lake and we were able to convert the unfinished basement/crawlspace into a fantastic area for a Wells Woodwerx workshop. My office is in the finished section of the basement – the view of the lake from my office is GORgeous!

We lost Lucy, our beloved chow/golden retriever back in May. I’m grateful to have had 10 years with that girl! I began fostering dogs over the summer and ended up adopted the second dog I fostered, Macy. I just love dogs too much to give them back apparently. 😀

We moved our oldest son in August and sold our townhouse that he was living in. I have no interest in being a landlord, so was glad to get that weight off our backs as well.

I have one more move next week (helping my youngest son who lives in Washington, DC) and then this girl needs a break! I’ll be happy to never have to see another moving box.

Personal Growth. My favorite programs and events this year:

• Adele Michal’s Abundance with Adele monthly networking event in Durham, NC (currently virtual) and her Tarot Party!
• RelationshipU with Stacey and Paul Martino. This is a year-long coaching program that I started in July. Since starting, I feel more at ease with ALL my relationships, I’m working on my triggers (name them, own them, solve them), and have more clarity for business decisions. Stacey is a former client and I had absolutely no worries if the program would “work” for me or not, but it surpassed everything I remember and it’s AMAZEBALLS!!

Business. Last year was all about streamlining. I consolidated my two digital shops into one new store, BusinessBuilderShop.com, merged and/or removed Facebook groups and pages, and moved all of the online training programs from an OptimizePress/WordPress/Wishlist setup over to AccessAlly. This gave me the chance to review all of my products, programs, social media accounts, domain names, etc. and reorganize and remove things that were no longer serving me and I learned that my evergreen training programs do NOT do well without some type of launch. So, after 18 months with no promotion, I successfully re-launched “Profitable Packages” in October.

Wells Woodwerx closed down for a few months due to Covid-19, which was totally the right call. We opened in September 2019 and started off with rustic wooden flags and now sell wine caddies, beer caddies, outdoor wine/beer tables, floating wine holders… lots of fun stuff. Our landlord paused rent payments so it wasn’t really bad. Overall this year was hit and miss; some months we didn’t make enough to cover our $150 booth rent, but other months we hit it out of the park – one month even hitting $2,000! This is a hobby and whatever profit we make, we add to our Boat Fund 🙂

What didn’t go so well

Given the current health crisis in our country, I have no room to complain. My family is healthy and my husband and I are both able to work, period.

What I am working towards for 2021

Last year my plan for my business was to not introduce any new thing but continue to offer more value in my current programs: VA Business Essentials, Profitable Packages, and Business Freedom Guide and I remained focused on that all year. I updated content, tested payment plans, offered a coaching component, and one big change to Business Freedom Guide: broke down the systems into separate “Growth and Profit Plans.” I sell these one-off systems in my shop and are perfectly bite-sized for those just starting out in their online business and need the ‘what’ and the ‘how’. I will continue to provide even more value this year plus add a few short-term masterclass-style trainings as well.

Even though I had decided to stop actively looking for new clients and just do maintenance for a while, I did work with one long-term client on a fun project this year: helping her systemize her business in time for her book launch. Although I miss working with clients (a little), this past year of not working steadily with clients has reinforced my decision to stop marketing my consulting services altogether, because whatever I give my attention to thrives. I will still do Infusionsoft Kickstarts for those who want to purchase the software and will also be promoting a new product called Honeybook. I’m still in the process of learning it, but so far I’m super impressed with it.

I did 32 Systems Sunday videos and I had a WONDERFUL time creating template packs for my shop (still my favorite thing to do!)

Here’s my revenue breakdown:

• Client revenue – 36%
• Affiliate marketing – 25%
• Online store sales – 12%
• Online training programs – 27%

The numbers are a little skewed because I did have one big client, but compared to last year, the ratio is about the same. My goal for 2021 is to continue to work on transitioning to 85% passive income via affiliate marketing, online store sales, and my training programs.

Big Picture is to continue with Systems Sunday weekly videos, add more quality products to Business Builder Shop, learn and promote Honeybook, re-launch Profitable Packages Live at least two times.

My words for 2021 are ENJOY THE MOMENT. If there’s one thing that 2020 taught me was that I cannot take anything for granted. Jobs, money, pets – it can all be taken away at any time and there are no guarantees.  All I can do is live in the moment and enjoy it.

From my family to yours – I hope 2021 is everything you want it to be.

Lisa