What I Learned in My First Year as a Small Business Owner

Hi friends,

Wow, what a crazy year it’s been. If you had told me on April 29th, 2019 that pressing “publish” on 11 Etsy listings would completely change my life I’d probably laugh in your face. Honestly, when I put my art out in the world I didn’t think much would come from it. Maybe I’d make a few sales here and there and get some extra “fun money”.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would make almost 1,200 sales, gain hundreds of followers/supporters, have over 150 active listings, and completely replace my full-time job. But I did! And here’s what I learned in the process.

Do Your Research

Again, I never really thought much would come from my little shop so I didn’t do much research starting out. Thanks to this blog I knew a decent amount about online marketing and SEO but running a blog is WAY different than running a business and I should’ve done more specialized research. There were scenarios this past year that I probably could’ve avoided or handled differently if I had done a bit more business research.

And this is going to change for everyone. What requirements does your state have? What info will you need for tax season? If you’re going to sell physical products, do specific research on that. What are they going to open? How is it going to be packaged? How are your customers going to find it online? If you’re going to sell digital products, do specific research on that. How will they download it? What format(s) will it need to be in?

While you’re never going to be able to research EVERYTHING that you’ll need, do as much as you can before you go public.

Know Your Niche

Before I hit publish on those first 11 listings, I knew that I wanted to create designs that were targeted towards art teachers. That was my ideal audience because, at the time, I was an art teacher as well. Basically, I was creating designs that I loved and I hoped other art teachers would love them too.

Spoiler alert: they did! And because of this, my audience grew. Now I was reaching art teachers, english teachers, science teachers, music teachers, and grade level teachers. So my designs needed to be targeted towards them as well. But throughout the year my audience has expanded even further than I could’ve imagined. So while a lot of my designs are still geared towards teachers, I now offer designs suitable for anyone!

Bottomline: while I recommend knowing your niche, I also recommend not pigeonholing yourself. You never know where it might take you!

Find Your Squad

FIND. YOUR. PEOPLE. Not your audience or niche, but fellow small business owners who can support you and lift you up when you’re down. Join Facebook groups, enroll in classes, or search hashtags. Connect with them. You have no idea how much help they’ll be.

Prepare for the Unexpected

Boy, is this true for the current economic situation. But I’ll come back to that. About a month after my shop went live I had made about 10 sales and I was ecstatic with that. And then a large teacher-based IG account featured my best selling heART Supply Shirt and my sales blew up. I couldn’t have expected that exact scenario but I tried to be as best prepared as I could. I had set my fulfillment time to 3 weeks so I had more than enough time to fill all of the orders I was receiving. I had plenty of shipping materials on hand so orders could be packaged quickly. Eventually I got an order fulfillment schedule figured out and I could get them shipped out quicker than what was quoted. This has helped when sales exceeded my expectations, especially around holidays.

But with the good, comes the bad. I don’t think anyone could’ve predicted what’s going on in the world right now. When schools were shut down and everyone started social distancing, my shop took a HUGE hit. I had prepared by setting aside more savings than I thought I needed, but even that didn’t last forever. So eventually I had to…

Learn to Pivot

When this pandemic hit I was frantically trying to figure out what to do. With a lot of people losing their jobs, buying a cute t-shirt wasn’t high on their list of priorities. So I had to think of new ways to engage my customers. Because my largest audience is made up of teachers, I knew I had to create some “distance learning” designs for the current situation. Not only were they really well received, I also decided to sell the designs as cut files for crafters so they can create while they stayed home. And that decision changed my shop completely. I made more sales in a week than I had the previous month just because I learned to “PIVOT!”

Try Something New

Because I learned to pivot my shop flourished and it got me thinking “How else can I sell my art?” I’ve been exploring new products to put my designs on and (while they’re not released yet) I’m very excited about them!

Learn from Your Mistakes

Yes, you’re going to make them. You’re going to make LOTS of them. But use them as an experience to grow. If a mistake on my end is made with a customer I ALWAYS make it right, even if it eats into my profits. And the mistakes that I’ve made have only made my business stronger because I improve from them.

Stick to Your Policies

Just like any other business, you need to have policies. Will your customers be able to return the product? Will your customers be able to cancel their order? How long do they have to make those decisions? Because everything in my shop is made to order, I don’t accept returns and I only allow cancellations within a certain time frame. Very few customers have been upset by this but there’s always one in the bunch. You’re never going to please everyone so set your policies and just stick with them.

Use Your Platform for Good

You’ve done the work and gained supporters, now give something back. Personally, I love running giveaways every once and awhile as a “thank you” to my followers. But other than that, think of something you can do to help others. Create something and give the profits to someone in need. Shout out a fellow small business owner on your social media. Think of something right for your business and don’t just be a bystander.

Be Your Biggest Cheerleader & Just Go for It

I’m going to tell you a secret. Fox Den Design Shop was not my first business idea. Years ago I had planned to open an Etsy shop (with wayyy different products than what I sell now) but I never went through with it. Why? Because I shared the idea with a few friends and they basically said it would be a waste of my time. No support. No encouragement. So no Etsy shop.

I was an IDIOT for listening to them! If you have an idea that you believe in, that’s all the encouragement you need. YOU are going to be the one creating the products. YOU are going to be the one running the business. So YOU need to be your own cheerleader! And don’t worry. As you saw in tip #3, your cheer squad will find you.

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While these are things I learned in my first year as a small business owner, I know there are going to be loads more in the years to come. I’m excited to take you along on the journey!

Also, I’m running a 1 year anniversary giveaway over on my Instagram until May 8th so go enter! It’s my biggest yet and you’re not going to want to miss it. ;)