Hiatus

I'm back!  Whew!  Started a few too many things there, and this here blog got the backseat.  I have renewed goals for my days here at home, and among those, is write for 15 minutes a day.  I can do that, right?  Pardon me while a few posts in the next few days are not very polished, but published. 

I started a business selling childrens teepees, and it's been interesting!  I'm grateful for the first few orders I got right at the beginning; they spurred me on and made me excited, and got me through a dry spell of sales while I learned a few things.  The internet is an amazing thing, and I'm grateful for ETSY and the amazing marketplace it is.  I have a new goal to support other sellers on ETSY and hope to highlight some favorites on here. 

Being "in sales" has been eye opening.  A few things I've learned:

1) Don't get your hopes up on a sale until the money is in your hand!

2) You can't get bogged down with ideas; you have to execute!  Cut! Sew! Post pictures!  Ideas won't get you sales; product will. 

3) It helps to be around creative people once in a while to keep your motivation fresh.  My parents were here for 5 days and I have a million different ideas floating around that I'm excited to hopefully produce.  See number 3.  They were great, though- they ENJOY problem solving and tossing around ideas to make new ones.  Hunter is not a creative visionary, and although supportive, discussing "ideas" is about as exciting to him and talking out the merits of, say, the hemline of one shirt vs. another in a department store.  Not exciting.  Not motivating.

4) Figuring out shipping when working through something like ETSY is essential.  I had a bit of a learning curve that ate sharply into my profits with my first few sales.  Fun fact: UPS would have charged $100 to pack and ship a teepee. ..... !!!!!...........!!!!!!!!.....   My dad made me the most beautiful shipping boxes ever (forever grateful) -and yes shipping boxes can be beautiful- and hopefully I can now make them myself and not look back.

5) You never realize how much you need to invest to keep up with yourself.  I was impatient there for awhile, wanting to see my profits grow while spending everything I made to fulfil new orders.  Learning, learning, learning! 

I'm so thrilled at the idea of these teepees being across the country, hopefully bringing joy to lots of kids!  Here in Wyoming, Oregon, Louisiana,  Iowa, Michigan..... what an awesome thing.