I’ve been working my fingers to the bone. My dialing fingers that is – and it’s paying off! We’ve picked up great new accounts this week and I’ve made a ton of new connections.
We have finally honed our product line down to the four collections that consistently sell great for retailers. Our ponchos, our organic onesie sets, the Name in Brights blankets, and the cover-all bibs. Having existing retailers re-order all previous designs and add all new designs has really given me the assurance that our stuff flies off the shelves. To potential clients, I can say, in all honesty, “these are going to sell really well for you, no matter which style you choose”. I finally believe in (or remember) the reasons why I started this business – because I believed in our creative abilities. I believed we could / would be the best.
If you read between the lines there, you’ll see that I didn’t give much thought to our admin abilities, but I did 100% believe we had what it took to make it big time. I can honestly say I lost sight of that self-confidence somewhere between figuring out what a pattern maker does and showing at our first trade shows. It’s crazy-making.
My confidence is back, I’m feeling good. Business is picking up for our retailers, we’re updating parts of our house, I’ve started yoga, I’m making more time for friends, I’m feeling happy. And it all came down to me deciding that I really want this and yes, I’m really willing to work as hard as I need to so we can sky rocket up up up n’ away.
I was just telling my husband that I feel like I’ve been through a train wreck (last half of ’08) and somehow, miraculously, came out on the other side of it still smiling, still shinin’…
Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right – Henry Ford
March 20th, 2009
I feel like sharing a break through I’ve had recently. I don’t know why I feel like sharing it here, since for once, it’s one I haven’t really voiced out loud too much. And I think it will sound funny coming from someone who started their business over two years ago – because damn if it doesn’t take a lot of guts and perserverance to not only just go for it, but to keep going, and going, and going, and going…(right, you get it).
Let me back up just a teensy little bit here – this last six months has been a crazy journey. I’ve felt very lost and unsure about whether or not I was doing the right thing. I was looking for answers and motivation anywhere I could sop them up from – books, friends, business seminars, meditation, prayers – you name it. All the while plugging on – all the while feeling in my gut that we couldn’t have come THIS far for nothing. The company was getting featured and having great sales. So, really, business was good for a lot of that time of uncertainty. It wasn’t that.
Why so unsure girly? Because I felt like I was getting wholloped left and write – watching some of our retailers go out of business, the whole doom-and-gloom every single flippin’ day on the news (I’ve pretty much stopped watching – I get it!!), and most especially the CPSIA passing and how / what to do about that, could we even afford to stay in business? It kept me up at night. My jaw was tight from grinding my teeth at night (I’ve since implemented stress-management programs).
Then – la-dee-da, the breakthrough this week. It isn’t about whether I “should be” doing this crazy thing, or whether it’s what I’m “meant to do”. It is about whether or not I WANT to do this thing. Once I realized that, and everything from my heart to my head shouted “YES”, I felt a huge sense of relief. I felt unstoppable, I felt happy. I felt, well, like I knew what I was meant to do. But right now, I’m meant to run my kids over to the gym where my husband is coaching. Will blog again soon – I have to share the cute little skirt I’ve designed my daughter since deciding to play more and let the fabric “speak to me” too!
March 1st, 2009
