Review of the year 2022 at Django & Coco

In this month of December, it is important for entrepreneurs to take stock of the past year in order to see what we have accomplished: the things that worked, what did not work, what can be improved, etc.

We also take the opportunity to set goals for the coming new year.

2022 review

The year 2022 started very badly with Django 🐶 very sick who had been coughing all night for almost a year and who left us, falling asleep definitively in my arms, on February 14th.

There followed a long period where I could not draw, impossible to concentrate, to have new ideas.

I decided to accept the time of mourning and to dedicate myself to my family.

I redesigned my business and my way of communicating by deciding to work on a blog and on more personal newsletters that bring you inspiration and, why not, the desire to learn watercolor.

Your orders for posters and especially personalized portraits have been crowded throughout the year 🙏

This review of 2022 allowed me to realize that this year I took full advantage of my family here in France but I was also able to return to my mother in Italy more often.

The links with Italy are very important to me because I want my daughter to be able to take full advantage of her Italian origins and to feel at home when we go to visit my family even if it is not so easy with 7 hours. of road. 🚗

This year I tested

In 2022 I wanted to try giving drawing lessons and so I led different workshops throughout the year. Workshops for parents and others for children.

I loved these moments and, even if I learned that I have a lot of work to do on communication, these first workshops gave me the desire to lead others.

I also realized that what I want to offer are workshops that focus on experimentation and the creative process rather than just learning to draw.

I participated in a drawing contest for the Città del Sole calendar ... which I didn't win 😌 I'll do better next time!

Here is one of the drawings ⬇️ Django was in the spotlight of this calendar ⬇️

I met Aude de Babisere for whom I designed thank you cards that accompany orders placed on her site.

I participated in several Christmas Markets with the Fabrique Iséroise and the Impertinence and it was very nice meeting moments during which you shared your opinions (very positive, thank you!!) on my drawings.

Highs and lows!

Entrepreneurship is not easy and my (slight) tendency to change my mind every five minutes does not make it easy for me. ♎️ More scales around here?! Do you recognize yourself?

This year I completely modified my site to put it in French whereas it was in English in English originally. It took me a long time because I also modified the translation application... a lot of maintenance on the site, therefore with a drop in visits.

via GIPHY

Procrastination and the lack of effective organization were at the rendezvous in 2022. I have a lot of ideas and I have realized very few.

I wanted to do more workshops, finalize the books I've written and offer them to publishers, offer online courses, make more YouTube videos, create a sharing space on Patreon (patronage platform for creators), write more blog posts, share my drawings made based on the flow (I will write an article about this way of painting soon)...

In short! Lots of projects, little time.

What I learned from 2022 and plans for 2023

Making this assessment allowed me to see that with a little organization I manage to successfully complete my projects (workshops).

I know that I have a real job to do on marketing and that I must invest in publicity for my online store.

I saw that you asked me a lot for custom orders and that you give me lots of ideas for new designs.

Thanks to the workshops, I discovered that I like to share drawing and this motivated me to contact the MJC in my neighborhood to propose activities related to creativity and drawing.

I'm also thinking of giving myself a schedule to finalize my stories and look for a publisher.

I will do exhibitions.

I will draw, treat myself and share with you, because otherwise nothing makes sense!

And for fun, here are some of the drawings you ordered from me this year:

I order my personalized drawing