My Small Business Journey in 2020
Susie HollittThis is my personal journey in 2020 as a small business owner when I started my Etsy shop then later on my very own website, making handmade greeting cards, activity boxes and crafts. This blog will go through my challenges and accomplishments this year and will include inspirational resources, self-help books and spiritual guidance. Although this is my personal journey, I hope you can gain some guidance where every you are in your small business journey.
My name is Susie, I am a wife and a mother of three beautiful children which I hope to bring up well-mannered and with good morals by leading by example and teaching them life skills. I hope to become a successful business owner by working on my business every day. I want to add value to the lives of others by helping people and bringing them joy. Each morning I enjoy the solitude of journalling, it gives me peace and clears my head so I am ready for whatever the day might have in store for me. This blog has been designed around my personal journals that I have kept throughout the years.
March
On the 25th of March I felt like the world had gone mad! China has contracted some sort of virus called Coronavirus (COVID-19) and it has began to spread around the World. In South Australia alone we have had 197 people affected and 8 deaths. Schools are still open but basically everything else is closed and we are being advised not to go out of our house unless necessary. Basically we are in lockdown without the Prime Minister of Australia saying we are. I have made the decision to take the children out of school and now I am a teacher as well as everything else. To make matters worse my husband is currently working away now. We are not allowed to have family gatherings, parties or even BBQs. The year 2020 will go down in history as being the worst year ever!
But on the upside my business is flourishing and doing well due to the Activity box collection that I realised earlier this year, as everyone is now stuck at home and need to keep the kids entertained inside.
April
I finally got to see my mum today and I could buy supplies from the stores today. I also sent of my orders today and received more inquiries about my holiday activity boxes.
August
Yesterday I received many orders and now have to make them. My husband came home today, and we got to spend the day together. I have decided that I need to focus on my SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) every night as this will help bring traffic to my Etsy shop. I have just recently changed my prices and I am not sure how this will affect my sales but I needed to start treating this like a business and making sure I make a profit on each sale. I also have packs of cards to work on and more photos to take … Lots of things on my to do list today.
September
I received two orders today and I finally finished my activity boxes today ready to be shipped off 😊 Around this time I came across a Podcast called “Miracle Morning” by Hal Elrod and decided to purchase the book.
The Miracle Morning is all about the Savers, six habits that will change your life! (S = Silence –M = Meditation, A = Affirmations, V = Visualisation, E = Exercise and S = Scribing) and is already transforming the lives of tens of thousands of people around the world by showing them how to wake up each day with more ENERGY, MOTIVATION, and FOCUS to take your life to the next level. So I thought YESSS I need this in my life!!
October
Today I have managed to complete all six savers as you need to 10 minutes of each one which makes up an hour total, which is where the Miracle Morning comes from. Last night I received one order with two activity boxes 😊
I also decided to work and and write out my long term goals.
October Business Goals (Long Term)
- Become financially independent
- Able to contribute to household expenses
- Building a name for myself
- Getting so many orders that I will need to employ someone to help me
- Having my very own studio at my house.
I managed to complete my miracle morning today and feel wonderful. I listened to a podcast today that my friend sent me. In doing so I found out so much about myself and I really need to tune into myself and make decisions with my heart and soul with the first reaction being my decision.
Not feeling great today as I am quite sore from exercising yesterday and now must clean the house due to a rental inspection. I would much rather be focusing my Energy on my new orders I received yesterday (1 x Christmas Eve Box, 1 x Christmas Advent Box and Christmas Cards) along with many other orders to complete over the next few days. Now all I need is more time to complete them 😊 Who ever thought that I would be complaining about not having enough time to complete orders!
What a perfect weekend we went down to see Louise from Pottering Around and she wants to take orders of my activity boxes and greeting cards to sell through her shop.
I am happy that I managed to find all the supplies I needed to create the products and that I organised my craft cupboard that will help save time and I don’t need to go rummaging around to find things.
It is now nearly November so I am going to go over my October business goals and reflect on how they have been going and if they need to be carried over to the next month or if I have managed to complete them.
Business Goals
My sister Anne and I are talking business again so I will ring her at least once a month to start with. She also sent me a course list so I will investigate maybe completing a course. I was thinking next year for that, but I can investigate it now. I have managed to earn more money this month but not enough to contribute to the household expenses but maybe I don’t really want to, maybe I just want to keep business money separately. I definitely had enough orders this month to employ someone, but instead my mum came down and helped which I am so thankful for.
I am slowly making a name for myself, and my long-term business goal is still having my very own studio with a team working with me and I will continue to visualise this.
I received a new order today for my Christmas Advent Box for four children. I also started an Excel spreadsheet to record my sales down each month 😊
I received another order yesterday for me and two orders came through for DSS Handmade. Tomorrow I will write down my new goals for the month ahead.
November
Business Goals (Short Term Goals)
Short Term Goals
Short Term Goals
- Keep receiving orders
- Earn enough money to support my business
- Put up some box things separately
- Rebranding my business
- Have my very own work studio
- Help those less fortunate
For my business I will be focusing on two main goals this month by breaking them down into actions:
Goal 1 – Receiving more Customer Orders
Action to Achieve this:
- Keep posting on Social Media advertising and using Pinterest
- Update my Etsy Shop SEO and change the pictures
- Research on how to get more orders
- Complete an Etsy Course
Goal 2 – Rebranding my business to “Cards and Crafts by Susie”
Action to Achieve this:
- Research the best way to do this
- Talk to my sister Anne
We are nearly halfway through the month of November so I wanted to reflect on how I am achieving my business goals. I am receiving steady orders and working on getting more money to support my business. I am also considering rebranding my business to incorporate all my new products that are not Card related. The new business name will be “Cards and Crafts by Susie”. I am excited because this means that I am branching out and getting bigger. 🥳 I am in the process of putting some of my activity box items up separately and I am planning to help the less fortunate by putting smiles on kids faces with handing out Christmas Eve Boxes as gifts.
This is what I learnt in my reading today!
and this is why I am doing this because I want to be a level 10 success in all areas of my life and I am going to get it. I received another order yesterday 😊
and this is why I am doing this because I want to be a level 10 success in all areas of my life and I am going to get it. I received another order yesterday 😊
My life purposes:
- To become the person I need to be to create the success, freedom and quality of life that I truly want to and to become the best version of myself.
- To selflessly add value to the lives of others by helping people and bringing them joy.
- To become a successful business owner by working on my business every day.
- To bring up our children well mannered and with good morals by leading by example and teaching them life skills.
- To stay married by being a loving and supportive wife, by making time for us, communicating and always listening.
I managed to complete my Miracle Morning in peace today. I look forward to my self-improvement and I am excited at what’s to come. I will not live a mediocre life and I will live an extraordinary life in level 10s across my life.
I received another Christmas Advent Box order today and four yesterday on DSS Handmade 😊
My new night routine went well and when my alarm went off today I sprang out of bed ready to complete my Miracle Morning. Yesterday I completed and posted two Christmas Advent boxes off. I will need to put together a to do list today so I can catch up on everything I need to do for my business.
It is now one month till Christmas, and I am so not ready. I still need to complete my shopping, but I will get it all done in time and our family will have a magical Christmas. I managed to complete two Christmas Advent boxes and DSS Handmade orders along with a 70th Birthday card I made for my mum.
I am just waiting on some money so I can post them. I am so happy that the Gym has finally opened again and I can now focus on strength training. I will now focus on creating the Christmas Eve Boxes for the charity foundation “The Smith Family”.
I woke up late today so did not manage to complete my Miracle Morning. My mum came over yesterday and she thinks it might be time for the DSS Handmade business to stop and although it might have been the right decision it was still weighing me down as my mum was so sad and down. I asked mum if I could have the Shopify website and she agreed that that would be a good idea. So, this is good news. I can finally own my very own website. I do love having my mum over! 🥰 I worked on the Christmas Advent Boxes today and sent the rest of the orders off.
December
Merry Christmas readers. It is now nearly the end of 2020. Christmas was a good one this year, the kids all enjoyed their presents. Lunch and dinner was delicious and I loved spending time with the whole family. I even received an Easter order on Christmas Day for six packs of Easter Tags, which I aim to send that off today.
Happy New Years Eve, I am currently sitting by the river camping with my family while writing today. The kids are on the river with their new Christmas present (Kayaks). I have put my shop on holiday mode and there is no to do list. It feels great to be able to do whatever I want!!
See you next year ☺️