Well, Oh Josephine made it to market. What a whirlwind October has been already and I find it hard to believe how much I was able to pack into just a couple of weeks. Making the decision to have a stall at The Impossible market feels like a lifetime ago and in some ways it was.
I had a great time this month, fitting in all my bursts of designing, making, packaging, communicating into the nooks and crannies left in between the needs of two small children. It wasn't easy but it was fun, enjoyable and energising.
It was also far from perfect. There are so many things I would do differently given the time and space, but had I had this mystical time and space available, I am almost certain Oh Josephine wouldn't even exist. It's often with no time to think that actions are taken. When under pressure, we make decisions and stick with them.
"Start before you are ready, stop before it's perfect." Ready and perfect are wonderful concepts that simply do not exist. They just stop us from doing anything.
Last night came fast but I was prepared, calm and collected. Chris was amazingly helpful, installing my hanging structure (made from the sides of our playpen) while the kids napped, and then, looking after Hugo and Eloise while I did my thing. It was a team effort, as all good things are.
I was a little nervous and it took me a bit of time to find my stride, figuring out where to sit or stand to be present without being intrusive, finding the right tone to be warm without scaring people off.
The most interesting and hardest thing was not to take 'rejection' personally. So many people walk past, have a look and keep walking. I've been to markets before and I've done this a million times. I've been to markets with the express intention of buying nothing so of course, my rational mind knows that only a small proportion of traffic will eventuate into a sale.
Rather than thinking about the rejection from people who didn't choose my products, I prefer to focus on those who did. When you think about it, apart from a very small percentage, we all have to be fairly careful with the way we allocate our resources. So for just one person to choose and decide to spend their precious resources on what you made is an incredible honour which deserves to be taken seriously.
Last night, one guy fell in love with something I had made. He had a long look and walked away. But later, towards the end of the night, he chose to come back and treat himself to it. He was elated and I was too. How special to imagine someone feeling pleasure daily from something you made.
It made me realise the importance of doing things well, with care, choosing nice materials, great quality, doing it ethically, creating something that can be loved for a long time, even when he forgets who sold it to him or when. The joy should outlast the memory of buying it.
Although I only sold a few items (4 to be precise) and covered only a third of what it cost me to be there, the night was a success. It was obvious that people liked what I had made. I received and overheard dozens of positive comments. People were interested, intrigued and coveting what was there. People picked up some cards and workshop pamphlets, asked questions and looked back. I have no doubt that it can work.
Since last night, my social media following has grown slightly and I have received a few emails about doing some wholesale. If I let it, Oh Josephine could well become a small success.
The fear of success is real though. This month was hard and next month will be harder. There are so many fronts to manage, from making to social media, online selling, designing, preparing for markets and so on. It's hard to imagine how I will manage at this stage but my idea is to try and build a strong fan base, and a few solid relations without spreading myself too thin.
Even if the future is uncertain, this week's steps are mapped out. I need to set up my etsy shop beautifully with everything I haven't sold, and apply for a couple of markets to do the Christmas ones. These are my aims for the next few days. Simple, broken down, manageable.
I had a great time this month, fitting in all my bursts of designing, making, packaging, communicating into the nooks and crannies left in between the needs of two small children. It wasn't easy but it was fun, enjoyable and energising.
It was also far from perfect. There are so many things I would do differently given the time and space, but had I had this mystical time and space available, I am almost certain Oh Josephine wouldn't even exist. It's often with no time to think that actions are taken. When under pressure, we make decisions and stick with them.
"Start before you are ready, stop before it's perfect." Ready and perfect are wonderful concepts that simply do not exist. They just stop us from doing anything.
Last night came fast but I was prepared, calm and collected. Chris was amazingly helpful, installing my hanging structure (made from the sides of our playpen) while the kids napped, and then, looking after Hugo and Eloise while I did my thing. It was a team effort, as all good things are.
I was a little nervous and it took me a bit of time to find my stride, figuring out where to sit or stand to be present without being intrusive, finding the right tone to be warm without scaring people off.
The most interesting and hardest thing was not to take 'rejection' personally. So many people walk past, have a look and keep walking. I've been to markets before and I've done this a million times. I've been to markets with the express intention of buying nothing so of course, my rational mind knows that only a small proportion of traffic will eventuate into a sale.
Rather than thinking about the rejection from people who didn't choose my products, I prefer to focus on those who did. When you think about it, apart from a very small percentage, we all have to be fairly careful with the way we allocate our resources. So for just one person to choose and decide to spend their precious resources on what you made is an incredible honour which deserves to be taken seriously.
Last night, one guy fell in love with something I had made. He had a long look and walked away. But later, towards the end of the night, he chose to come back and treat himself to it. He was elated and I was too. How special to imagine someone feeling pleasure daily from something you made.
It made me realise the importance of doing things well, with care, choosing nice materials, great quality, doing it ethically, creating something that can be loved for a long time, even when he forgets who sold it to him or when. The joy should outlast the memory of buying it.
Although I only sold a few items (4 to be precise) and covered only a third of what it cost me to be there, the night was a success. It was obvious that people liked what I had made. I received and overheard dozens of positive comments. People were interested, intrigued and coveting what was there. People picked up some cards and workshop pamphlets, asked questions and looked back. I have no doubt that it can work.
Since last night, my social media following has grown slightly and I have received a few emails about doing some wholesale. If I let it, Oh Josephine could well become a small success.
The fear of success is real though. This month was hard and next month will be harder. There are so many fronts to manage, from making to social media, online selling, designing, preparing for markets and so on. It's hard to imagine how I will manage at this stage but my idea is to try and build a strong fan base, and a few solid relations without spreading myself too thin.
Even if the future is uncertain, this week's steps are mapped out. I need to set up my etsy shop beautifully with everything I haven't sold, and apply for a couple of markets to do the Christmas ones. These are my aims for the next few days. Simple, broken down, manageable.
I imagine the greatest satisfaction derived from creating a company from scratch is the way it demystifies the process, transforming it from something one blindly assumes will be complicated, difficult and even unattainable to something in fact tangibly possible and highly enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteTo cover every aspect of the process rather than delegating to others is the best way to learn and master it but as you say, what a whirlwind!
Just as with uni where you transitioned from student to teacher, now you are seller rather than consumer. Stepping into a different pair of shoes is a learning experience for all contexts of life provided one remembers what it was like before the change.
Energy and enthusiasm are contagious so keep your positive outlook. When retiring, Gisele B. said, "I simply had to empty my glass in order to fill it with something new," but you have instead chosen a taller glass!