What have I gained from 2008?

Having your own business is hard work. I have slept less and worked more than I did when I was a student teacher and I didn't think that was possible. It consumes your every waking and a lot of your sleeping thought. I found the key to balancing it, believe it or not towards the end of the year when I was at my busiest. I, of course, completely ignored how to put it in action and remained a walking zombie.

Coming up with an idea, making it and then selling it is possibly one of the coolest things I have ever done. I gives you such a buzz it's unreal. At dinner with friends, the topic of my business was being discussed and someone said they had a fixed salary and therefore have no financial survival instincts, which I thought was quite interesting as I have fixed salary but have extremely strong & focused financial survival instincts and that has helped a lot over the last 8 months. Thanks Mum & Dad.

Everyone wants to talk about your business, even people you hardly know. What fascinates them the most is their quest for knowledge and their surprise when they discover that you do actually sell things, that those things usually go half way around the world to find their new homes and that you make money at it. The sudden openness about money is quite strange, everyone wants to enquire about your profit margins? Do you pay yourself a wage? Is it worthwhile? In the end I explain it like this. If my options are sit in front of the TV becoming a vegetable OR whizz around on the sewing machine for a bit and make a buck or 2, I know which one I will do. However I do tell them it's not for everyone, I suppose it depends how materialistic you are.

A lot of new skills. I can now use the digital camera without every shot being blurry, just the odd one. I can edit a picture without wanting to smash the computer or having to whine at my husband about how photo-editing software was only created to make me cry (although that does still happen from time to time). My sewing has improved beyond all manner and I can now do simple things quickly and correctly first time - my poor stitch ripper had a terrible time to begin with.

A more focused outlook. I started this whole thing to give me something to do so that my job as a teacher didn't get on top of me and it worked. I may now have more things to do and others may perceive I have a more stressful like but if I'm truthful I am calmer and more effective. I look forward to working on projects both in my day job and at home. It's hard work but it is rewarding looking at finished piece and even more so when it sells.

Well that's what I have gained, what about 2009?

I don't like to set my self up, so I tend to work on mini targets, but the big thing for 2009 is to get my own website off the planning board and out there. I would like to increase my sales on and off web. Possibly look at getting a few select b&m retailers selling my bags. I have had a few interested enquires but we will see how it goes on that front, I like selling online and personally at present.

That's enough of my babble for the mo, I have1 and a very tiny bit of a day left before I'm back to work. So I think I might open a little mini bottle of fizz and chill for the rest of the night.

5 Things I learnt about selling face to face

1. It's very hard. You really put yourself out there for people to criticise and be rude. You need to have a thick skin and be confident enough in your product to know they are actually just rude.


How do you do this? Well start small, don't throw yourself at the mercy of a craft fair 1st time out. Take you stuff in to you work colleagues, church group, toddler group, where ever you have people who are your side. You still will get people who are a bit of hand but most people will find something positive to say. Take these comments and use them.


2. Know your market. I sell a wide range of bag sizes and I have discovered different bags for different people. Before the craft fair I thought how much do I usually spend as my max in a single purchase at a fair and with this in mind I made more of my 6inch bags. This was by far the most popular size and outsold the others hands down.


3. Find a natural born seller and befriend them. If you are quite shy about selling yourself, get someone else to do it for you, until you can see that people are interested. It is much easier for someone else to say how fab your stuff is. My person is Max, she is a true drama queen in every sense of the word, but only has my best interests at heart (btw I didn't befriend her just to sell my product). However be warned don't hard sell you customers, they will just walk away. I do.


4. Have lots of product. We all like to look and we will stop to look at someones work if there are plenty of things to look at. Have a good variety of price range, everybody has a price range and your need to cater to all.


5. Make your customer feel special. Go that extra sticker, it will pay off in the long run. No-one wants to get a lovely handmade item, or anything for that matter, shoved in a plain white plastic bag. Wrap it, stick it with some printed stickers, bag it in paper or wrap it.