The Business of Antiques

In this episode of the Business of Antiques Podcast, your host Toma Clark Haines, CEO of The Antiques Diva & Co, talks about how to Become the CEO of Your Life, not just your Antiques Business. She shares with you tools she personally uses to manage her time, her business, her clients, her energy levels, and how she keeps her eye focused on her goals. 

There are 3 questions she is repeatedly asked:

• How do you get it all done?
• Do you sleep? and
• Do you have clones?  

“Yes, I have clones,” she says. “My employees help me achieve what I do. And yes, I sleep. Without good self-care you can't simply maintain a long-term successful business. Being tired will catch up with you.”  

She shares the tools in how she audits her business as well as life.

10 Tasks to do Every Month for Your Antiques Business

1. Do a financial overview of all accounts reviewing expenses & bills, chase up on late payers, pay your team & taxes.
2. Review account statements from all suppliers and cross reference what you have been charged on your credit card, cancel services you don't use.
3. Look at your year-over-year antique sales. Where are you in comparison to this same time last year?
4. Keep an eye on your inventory and your visual merchandising – how does your store look – do you need to buy more inventory? Move it around? Consider your storage needs – and make sure you are properly insured.
5. Remember you want to be TOMA – Top of Mind Awareness – with your client. Reach out to clients NOT just for sales but to build relationships.
6. Social Media…this isn't just every month but every week and every day!
7. Use Google Analytics to review your website – determine what areas traffic is down and why.
8. Keep up to date on relevant industry news and services as well as new players.
9. Keep your data safe and relevant.
10. Talk to advisor. Book your one on one business consulting session with Toma. [email protected]  Having a business coach can make your antiques business more profitable than you ever imagined possible.

Toma divides her life into 8 categories using the Pillar Life. She knows if she is in balance living as her most authentic version of herself – that she is always making money. She gets paid to be herself!

1. Wellness/Health/Nutrition
2. Spirituality/Happiness/Purpose
3. Romance/Sex (who knew a podcast about antiques would talk about sex!?)
4. Friends/Family/Community
5. Creativity/Innovation
6. Adventure/Discovery/Growth
7. Sanctuary/Beauty/Rest
8. Money/Abundance/Work

She furthermore breaks down the system by where she checks in with herself and business by asking this series of questions:

• How am I today?
• What’s not working?
• What is working?
• What do I need?
• What am I proud of?
• What can I let go of?

She confesses it's not always possible to be in balance in all categories and how it's more important over the course of the year that she is in balance than on a weekly or monthly basis. 

She share how she divides her business year: 

Winter - Vision & Planning

Spring - Marketing & PR

Summer - Creative

Fall - Action

Her weekly to do list further breaks down into the following categories

• Administrative
• Creative
• Marketing/PR
• Follow Up
• Someday
• Travel
• Finances
• Personal

These systems organize her life.