Once sales from my Etsy shop started taking off, I moved from doing math on paper to starting a spreadsheet with formulas to keep track of orders and costs as well as timelines. This has seriously been a blessing for me, as I've well surpassed the 100 stamps mark. I don't know how I could have kept track of it without the spreadsheet. I've also got it set up to keep track of margin percentage as well as running totals, which are great motivators for me to keep investing time in to my stamps. I may have gotten somewhat carried away with the color coding too.
Perhaps little known fact, I'm a co-coordinator for the SPARK Mentorship program through the Upstate NY Chapter of AIGA. I wrangled the applications coming in, and yes, there was a big 'ol spreadsheet for that too, very very color coded. Being a visual person, I've found having some sort of obvious clue to the grouping of information (such as color) can make much easier to make sense of mountains of data.
Even further, I'm using spreadsheets to keep track of my resolutions/goals for 2013 as a whole, and then a few more specifically too (such as miles walked).
Strange, but even as recently as a year ago, I've have never thought I'd be spending significant time punching numbers in to a spreadsheet--that's what other people do. Other people in boring, soul-sucking jobs. What skills that you learned in high school do you find have come in handy more than you'd ever have imagined?
The summer after sixth grade, my friend April would spend every day at my house so neither of us were home alone. One day we were so bored, we decided to call the "Questions/Comments?" phone number on the back of a container of NesQuik and ask them if they could send us a free sample. Much to our excitement, they said yes, and a couple weeks later I received a coupon for free NesQuik in the mail.
ReplyDeleteArmed with the knowledge that my house was a veritable goldmine, we decided to call the number on the back of every household product we could find, from shampoo to rice to window cleaner. Not only did we score a bunch of random swag from all these companies, but I learned how to be comfortable while cold-calling. It's since proven invaluable in my work and personal life. :)
Glad you're finally enjoying Excel! :D