Looking back on the year 2024
By: Tanya Poirier | February 14, 2025
And just like that it is the end of the year 2024. It’s now time for the customary reflection of the positives and negatives of the last 12 months and what improvements can be made in our lives for the upcoming year. How we measure the amount of time a year holds is quite remarkable when you think about it. An entire year of our lives can be thought of as 12 months, 52 weeks or 365 days (366 in a leap year) which ever you prefer. Now if only we could learn to use all of this time to create a beneficial work/life balance for ourselves. In January the year seems so long with plenty of time to get organized and prepare for the year’s upcoming activities. But then you develop a schedule for the year and the abundance of time suddenly evaporates into thin air. As you progress through the schedule you realize that an entire year has flown by in literally the blink of an eye.
Looking back on 2024, it was quite a positive time with a lot of success for which I am very grateful for. The cruise ship season was the best to date as there were no cancellations due to storms. With more people being able to visit the market and the local gift shops I was fortunate to have a significant increase in sales. Two of my older Christmas ornaments made their return to store shelves after a couple years hiatus. My website also started to get increased traffic during the year which led to welcomed sales. Also, in keeping with tradition, I participated in my local exhibition by entering various sections in the homecraft and flower divisions.
As for setting goals for the year I have decided upon a short list of manageable ones. The first goal of the year is to try to establish and maintain a more productive work/life balance. There were times last year where burn out was a big factor. Having a set number of days for “me time” that won’t be restructured to fit in a few hours of work as the year progresses will be a priority. The second goal for this year is to not procrastinate when my thread supplier has a sale. The company had a large discount sale and I stupidly waited until the last day to order. They had an incredible response to their sale as I have never seen so many “notify me ” icons all at once. Having to wait three months for white thread in order to make my Christmas ornaments was not particularly enjoyable. Quite a bit of revenue was lost because I kept putting off to tomorrow what I could have done today to quote the old and very wise saying. The last goal of the year is to expand the wholesale side of my business. Besides my booth at the Big Fiddle Market at the Port of Sydney my products are available at a number of stores around Cape Breton. I have had a good response so far and I would like to increase the number of stores that carry my lace work. With the addition of a store or two each year I would come closer to turning a hobby into a fulltime business. That would be quite an accomplishment for myself in my own small humble opinion.
So to finish, I hope everyone is re-energized from a good holiday season spent with friends and family. We can now embrace 2025 with a fresh outlook and optimism for what opportunities await us in the next 12 months.
Happy New Year!