Napo Houston's Evevate Your Skills All-Day Workshop and Vendor Fair

For anyone unfamiliar with Napo, it is the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals (say that 10 times fast). Basically, its the professional organization for organizers. We are lucky enough to have a chapter here in Houston. They host monthly meetings plus two special events each year to provide in depth education for the members. There is a Back to Business event every October and a Vendor Fair event every May.

The vendor fair this year included 3 educational speakers and a round table in addition to the vendor fair. The event was well attended with about 45 people and quite a few vendors.

I attended with two of our team members. Here are the biggest take aways.

Pamela O’Brien on Embracing simplicity

Pamela is an award-winning interior designer, writer, and speaker. She spoke on minimalism, showed us so many beautiful examples of her work, and provided some great business tips. My key takeaways are:

• Invest more in professional photography for our work

• Stage your photos with plants, lighting, rugs, a bowl of lemons, etc.

• Bold colors can still be minimalist

Stephanie king on Complexities of chronic disorganization

Stephanie is a professional organizer and owner of Status Organized. She was engaging, fun, and insightful. My key takeaways were:

• Thank clients for reaching out to you. That’s the first step.

• Empathy - enough said.

• Read the book Hiring the Heavens

Al Naquin on Luxury Organization

Al is structural engineer turned closet designer, and he is incredible at what he does at SpaceManager Closets. My key takeaways:

• Luxury doesn’t always mean expensive. Sometimes its rare or exclusivity.

• Consider having a minimum project amount to qualify leads.

• Luxury is personalized to your client’s specific needs.

Vendor Fair Vendors

• Garage Living

• SpaceManager

• Junk Luggers

• State Farm

• The Container Store

• Shelf Genie

• Closets By Design

• California Closets

• Superb Maids Houston

Do I Recommend This event?

Definitely! The price is a steal for an all day event, plus I was able to connect with other organizers which is always valuable.

Hi, I’m Naomi!

Founder of Charming Spaces, professional organizer, wife, mom of three and passionate advocate for women.

I hope this blog is everything you’re looking for, but feel free to shoot us a message and follow us on Instagram!

Book Review: The Pumpkin Plan by Mike Michalowicz

Why I Chose This Book

Mike Michalowicz is the author of Profit First, which I haven’t read yet, but appears to be the profit bible of small business. People follow and preach Profit First principles in just about every business space I have entered. When I heard about the term “pumpkin plan your business” in the same sentance as “reaching your ideal client and maintaining your client relationships”, from the same author as Profit First, I immediately put it on my wishlist.

I did listen to the audio version, narrated by Mike himself, which I throroughly enjoyed.

Quick Summary of The Pumpkin Plan

In the Pumpkin Plan, Mike draws an analogy between growing a giant, prize winning pumpkin and growing a successful business. Farmers who grow colossal pumpkins focus on the strongest seed, nurture it, and ruthlessly cut off the weaker vines = business owners should focus on their best clients and most profitable offerings and let go of the rest.

Mike argues that the key to sustainable growth lies in narrowing your focus to what works exceptionally well. Don’t try to be everything to everyone, but everything to the right one. There is a mix of story telling and practical actionable advice given throughout the book.

“There is always a direct correlation between diluted focus and a diluted bank account.”

— Mike Michalowicz

Top Takeaways for Business Owners

• Plant the Right Seed
  What are your strengths? What do you like to do? Where do they overlap? What issues aren’t being addressed by your industry? Focus on the thing you do best that has the best potential to stand out.

• Focus on Your Top Clients
  List your clients in order of revenue, highest to lowest. Strike out any that make you cringe. Evaluate who pays on time, repeat revenue, revenue potential, referral potential, history, or anything else that’s important to your unique business. Then keep your top clients, and cut the rest —EEK!

  • Survey your top clients
    How can you serve the better? What are their biggest gripes about your industry as a whole? Develop a strategy to meet their needs, then call them back and ask for their feedback on this strategy.

  • Go line by line through your expenses and cut everything that isn’t serving your top clients.

  • Create a favorite client policy and share with your team.
    When these clients call, we drop everything. Under promise, over deliver - most of the time.

• Systematize Every Aspect of Your Business
  We’ve all heard this before. In every business book you’ve ever read…it’s the least exciting part, but probably the most crutial for your foundation.

• Be Irresistibly Magnetic
  You need to stand out in your industry. Create a venn diagram (or picture one). Top clients, unique offering, systemization. Where these areas overlap, that is your sweet spot and your area for growth.

How I’m Applying It to My Business

I’ve started to identify who our top clients are, the ones who truly value our work, and treating them like gold. This shift in my focus has helped me elevate our customer service and deepen those relationships. At the same time, I’m quicker and more confident in saying no to projects or requests that fall outside of our focus.

Our VIPs are not necessarily the biggest revenue projects. There are many aspects that go into determining who they are. Mike provides an assessment chart and many other great tools to “Pumpkin Plan Your Business”.

Do I Recommend This Book?

ABSOLUTELY! It’s been one of my favorites to date, and one I can see myself reading year after year.

Hi, I’m Naomi!

Founder of Charming Spaces, professional organizer, wife, mom of three and passionate advocate for women.

I hope this blog is everything you’re looking for, but feel free to shoot us a message and follow us on Instagram!