My Home Is My Happy Place
I am learning that there is a lot of discipline to working from home. As my order list gets longer each month I run My Home Is My Happy Place, I am having a harder time staying disciplined to fill orders when I'd rather doing other things, namely working on projects on our house. I've painted 113 signs in the past two weeks, which should feel great, but because there are still more waiting, it doesn't.
Starting a small business is funny- I want the orders to come in so my business continues to grow, but sometimes when too many orders come in, I wish they would stop. It makes no sense, I realize this.
The nature of the shop has changed a bit over the past year. I used to post something I had for sale on my shop FB page and take the majority of my orders that way. Now most orders come through private message. I have repeat customers who have made me their go-to for gifts, which is a fun feeling. There are a couple of realtors who use me to supply a closing gift each time they close on a sale. I also occasionally post items on our community Swap & Sell page and get many orders that way. For Mother's Day, for example, I posted a couple of signs about mothers and ended up with 46 signs ordered in a two day window. Oh, the power of social media. :)
There are two stores in the area who carry my work and I usually take a batch to each towards the end of each month. This is the less exciting work that I do for some reason. When I fill The White Rabbit order each time (usually a batch of fifty), it hangs over me for a few days as I paint and paint and paint and paint in every minute of time I can find. When I take a couple of boxes in to the store, I have the feeling of having just finished a big project in college.
Working on orders has gotten better now that I have a home office dedicated to My Home Is My Happy Place. There is a room that used to be a porch off of our living room that we have turned into a home office. It was supposed to be for everyone, but Ben does not like to work in the thick of the family's noise and has moved upstairs for the summer. There is a large table in the office set up for the kids, so it is nice to have company while I work. There is usually at least one child in with me drawing or working on a Chrome Book. I love the location of the office because I can work and still hear/see most everything going on on the main floor or in the yards.
I have also figured out ways to simplify things a bit to help with the overwhelmed feeling. I no longer agree to rush orders (unless they are for friends/family). I no longer mail orders (again, except for family and friends) because packaging items and driving to the post office and back was a huge drain on my time and one that I was not compensated enough for. I have stopped filling the orders that take more time than I am paid for- large subway style signs, personalized clipboards with fabric rosettes, fabric buntings in custom colors, etc. All of these are things that I used to sell before realizing that I was not making enough money to justify the time spent on them. Live and learn.
I don't know where I want My Home Is My Happy Place to go. I think I am happy with it being exactly what it is right now. I think. I feel proud of what started twenty one months ago when a friend asked me if I wanted to participate in a craft show featuring local artists. I feel pride when I hear from friends that I have a tiny bit of a reputation in Webster Groves. (Funny story- I sold a stained glass window we had removed. When the lady showed up to buy it from us, she spotted one of my signs hanging in our entry. She then looked into the living room and spotted some other things I've made. She smiled and said, "Are YOU the girl? You are the girl, aren't you? You sell on the Swap and White Rabbit, don't you? I LOVE your stuff!" I'm not going to pretend it wasn't flattering.)
There have been some decisions I've made along the way about the direction of my business that I've second guessed. I have been approached by other stores to see if I have interest in selling my things there. I decided the answer was no. I don't make as much profit selling in stores as I do privately and the work is less enjoyable. I second guess the decision because selling in a store lends credibility to my work.
I have been approached (not often, but four times) by people who would like to hire me to come help them decorate their homes. This happened both after the Holiday Open House I held where my repeat customers were in my home and after our house was on the market and pictures of our home were posted online. I was flattered, but decided that was not a direction I wanted to take My Home Is My Happy Place. Mostly because I have no design experience and don't think I would be very good decorating someone's home besides my own.
I have declined invitations to be a vendor in craft fairs. Each time I am asked, I consider it, but craft fairs take a great deal of time to prep for and a day of precious family time on a weekend. I say no each time with a pang of regret. Craft fairs are not fun, but a great way to meet new customers.
I don't know where I want things to go. I don't know how busy I want to be. I do know that it feels great to have started something on my own that is growing and successful. It feels great to bring in money to the family. (My Home Is My Happy Place pays for all of the kids' activities, which is not a small thing in a family of four kids. I also love having extra money to spend on the many, many items needed as we make this new house our own. Updating out- of- date houses is damn expensive.) It feels good to be a role model for the kids, especially my girls. Not that being a stay-at-home mom isn't good and important work, but I want my kids to know that there is more to me than someone who keeps the house clean and prepares meals.
I'm kind of excited to see where things will be with the shop in another 21 months.
Starting a small business is funny- I want the orders to come in so my business continues to grow, but sometimes when too many orders come in, I wish they would stop. It makes no sense, I realize this.
The nature of the shop has changed a bit over the past year. I used to post something I had for sale on my shop FB page and take the majority of my orders that way. Now most orders come through private message. I have repeat customers who have made me their go-to for gifts, which is a fun feeling. There are a couple of realtors who use me to supply a closing gift each time they close on a sale. I also occasionally post items on our community Swap & Sell page and get many orders that way. For Mother's Day, for example, I posted a couple of signs about mothers and ended up with 46 signs ordered in a two day window. Oh, the power of social media. :)
There are two stores in the area who carry my work and I usually take a batch to each towards the end of each month. This is the less exciting work that I do for some reason. When I fill The White Rabbit order each time (usually a batch of fifty), it hangs over me for a few days as I paint and paint and paint and paint in every minute of time I can find. When I take a couple of boxes in to the store, I have the feeling of having just finished a big project in college.
Working on orders has gotten better now that I have a home office dedicated to My Home Is My Happy Place. There is a room that used to be a porch off of our living room that we have turned into a home office. It was supposed to be for everyone, but Ben does not like to work in the thick of the family's noise and has moved upstairs for the summer. There is a large table in the office set up for the kids, so it is nice to have company while I work. There is usually at least one child in with me drawing or working on a Chrome Book. I love the location of the office because I can work and still hear/see most everything going on on the main floor or in the yards.
I have also figured out ways to simplify things a bit to help with the overwhelmed feeling. I no longer agree to rush orders (unless they are for friends/family). I no longer mail orders (again, except for family and friends) because packaging items and driving to the post office and back was a huge drain on my time and one that I was not compensated enough for. I have stopped filling the orders that take more time than I am paid for- large subway style signs, personalized clipboards with fabric rosettes, fabric buntings in custom colors, etc. All of these are things that I used to sell before realizing that I was not making enough money to justify the time spent on them. Live and learn.
I don't know where I want My Home Is My Happy Place to go. I think I am happy with it being exactly what it is right now. I think. I feel proud of what started twenty one months ago when a friend asked me if I wanted to participate in a craft show featuring local artists. I feel pride when I hear from friends that I have a tiny bit of a reputation in Webster Groves. (Funny story- I sold a stained glass window we had removed. When the lady showed up to buy it from us, she spotted one of my signs hanging in our entry. She then looked into the living room and spotted some other things I've made. She smiled and said, "Are YOU the girl? You are the girl, aren't you? You sell on the Swap and White Rabbit, don't you? I LOVE your stuff!" I'm not going to pretend it wasn't flattering.)
There have been some decisions I've made along the way about the direction of my business that I've second guessed. I have been approached by other stores to see if I have interest in selling my things there. I decided the answer was no. I don't make as much profit selling in stores as I do privately and the work is less enjoyable. I second guess the decision because selling in a store lends credibility to my work.
I have been approached (not often, but four times) by people who would like to hire me to come help them decorate their homes. This happened both after the Holiday Open House I held where my repeat customers were in my home and after our house was on the market and pictures of our home were posted online. I was flattered, but decided that was not a direction I wanted to take My Home Is My Happy Place. Mostly because I have no design experience and don't think I would be very good decorating someone's home besides my own.
I have declined invitations to be a vendor in craft fairs. Each time I am asked, I consider it, but craft fairs take a great deal of time to prep for and a day of precious family time on a weekend. I say no each time with a pang of regret. Craft fairs are not fun, but a great way to meet new customers.
I don't know where I want things to go. I don't know how busy I want to be. I do know that it feels great to have started something on my own that is growing and successful. It feels great to bring in money to the family. (My Home Is My Happy Place pays for all of the kids' activities, which is not a small thing in a family of four kids. I also love having extra money to spend on the many, many items needed as we make this new house our own. Updating out- of- date houses is damn expensive.) It feels good to be a role model for the kids, especially my girls. Not that being a stay-at-home mom isn't good and important work, but I want my kids to know that there is more to me than someone who keeps the house clean and prepares meals.
I'm kind of excited to see where things will be with the shop in another 21 months.
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