One of the speakers last week was so powerful! I referenced him in my last post, but his name is Jon Acuff. He gets me. He gets us. When I say us, it's because you're reading my blog therefore understand the addiction to social media!
Jon Acuff made me feel like I was not alone in many of things I've done in my life. His book Quitter is about not quitting your day job for your dream job. He also said that before you can have success with your dream job, you are going to fail. Yes. You will fail. I'm living my dream job right now. However, I've failed twice before at starting my own company. I will say I have a very entrepreneurial spirit. I sold handmade Christmas labels to my neighbors for a quarter when I was 10. I sold candy out of my purse when I was in junior high. I had numerous lemonade stands, popcorn stands, and just about anything else that would fit the "stand" criteria.
I started my first "for real" business back in 2007. It was called Juliejean Designs and we had an online store called Doodliedoo. Please don't go to those domains now, as last I've checked they're not worthy of your time. We sold scrapbook supplies and ribbon! This was a joint thing with my cousin, Julie, who had been my best friend for 30 years.
After about a year, it wasn't successful and I lost a very important part of my life. My loss had nothing to do with my business, but with the lost relationship of my cousin. We didn't speak for over 2 years. I learned that nothing was more important than family. I learned that clear communication is key when operating a business jointly. I learned that clear objectives are a must. I was so disappointed in myself because I always knew that I would succeed and couldn't believe I had failed.
So, taking all those lessons into account I started venture number two. In the fall of 2008, I started Polkadot Posies, a stamp company. I designed personalized rubber stamps.
I was certain this idea would take me to the top!! I got my website up really quickly and had completed all my designs while on bedrest with my son. I was put on bedrest at 26 weeks, so I had tons of idle time. I launched the business shortly after he was born. (September 2008) As I thought of ideas to grow my business, I stumbled onto something. As I was researching products/idea for the original Polkadot Posies, I found hair bows. I bought a ton for Abby and figured I'd sell the extras to friends at work and others at her school. I had to buy like 30 dozen and just wanted to get rid of the leftovers. I ended up selling everything very quickly at 4/$10. I ordered one more time and bought twice that and sold most of them very quickly out of the back of my van.
In May 2009, I decided to check out First Monday Trade Days in Canton, Texas, to market my stamp company and sell the leftover bows. I had books made up along with samples and we setup some great tables. The stamps were a major flop, but everyone loved the bows. My dad had made me this great little pegboard stand.
I guess they can say the rest is history. After a few months I closed the stamp store and brought it back up as a bow store in late January 2010. I even had a commercial office space for a year before we had the bow house built! (You can get a bow house tour here )
I guess all I'm trying to say, is that my failures led me to where I'm at today. I'm living my dream job. I stay home with my kids and do my "bow work" when I can. We are still in Canton selling bows like we were nearly 3 years ago. It was good to hear someone successful say they have failed, too. Just keep trying! Eventually, your idea will work, but if it doesn't, know it's OK to move on. Keep your spirit and you'll find the next great thing!
P.S. If you're curious about Canton, I did a video here.
P.S.S. If you want to know more about me, here is a video introduction.
