When I decided to launch Daisy’s Needlepoint Kits, I saw setting up the website as the biggest obstacle. And settling on a good logo. Oh, and getting enough inventory in so I can start taking orders. Oh, and another thing, where to put all the inventory (my apartment looks like a Home Depot now). And oh, about 250 other obstacles, big and small.
It’s hard to gauge ahead of time how much goes into a start-up, even a small mom-and-pop shop like ours. Then there is the marketing. I’m not old but I didn’t grow up with social media and an online world. Even knowing what it takes to launch and advertise a new business, I wasn’t prepared for the emotional drain it can to have to always be thinking – Post! Post! Post! especially when you are wearing all the hats.
I joined the Crafts Industry Alliance and I attend any roundtable I can. One time I met a small newly launched business owner, Carol from Great Bridge Fabrics. She very kindly agreed to speak to me for a one-on-one session. I hadn’t launched yet and thought it would be a good idea to pick someone’s brains at that early stage. It was. She gave me some great tips but basically it was a therapy session. She made me feel a lot better, that I wasn’t being lazy (I am the least lazy person I know!), that most people in my position run into the same obstacles, and that there is a solution to every problem.
She also reminded me that sometimes, good enough is good enough. I have 100% clarity about what I want for Daisy’s Needlepoint Kits and its customers. I want my customers to be happy stitchers.
A shout out to my main canvas printer and kit maker Craft Wool and Thread Co. Ltd. They’re amazing.