[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message]Niche : Personalized Design
Shop link : https://www.etsy.com/shop/sandaraprintstore
Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/o_sandara_o
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/oSANDARAo[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Tell us something about yourself. What is your niche? How did you get your idea or concept for the business?
I’m Sandra and I’m a passionate Digital Designer with about 12 years of experience in that area.
I always wanted to share my vision and aesthetic and somehow use the skills I gained throughout that time.
I didn’t have a longterm good idea on how to do that. Recently, together with my move to awesomely beautiful Tirol in Austria I finally found motivation and a way to spread my love to Boho.
My home is surrounded by mountains, meadows, crystal clear lake, woods, and all-natural wonders which are an inspiration for my art.
What are your responsibilities as a business owner?
I’m taking care of everything in my store on my own.
Thanks to my computer science engineering degree combined with design abilities, I’m generating all of the brand guidelines, poster visualizations, getting along with printing services, and taking care of the perfect quality of my printed art.
What are your best selling products, what type of materials are used in your creations, how do you design your products, what makes your products stand out?
My clients are mostly in love with my son and rainbow motives. I think it’s due to bringing a little bit of sunshine and luck closer to their homes.
I illustrate all of my art digitally using various techniques and software.
It’s like with any art, the specific style of the artist makes them unique.
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What do you enjoy most about being an entrepreneur? What’s the hardest about it?
I worked for a very long for big companies and corporations and never were either fully satisfied or at the end of the day happy with the work I did. Nowadays, everything changed and the fact that my ideas and my art is loved by my clients give me this amazing fulfillment. Freedom is also a thing I value, finally designing illustrations the way I feel is priceless.
I think the hardest part was at the beginning, where I needed to discover the art I want to create and design the path I want to obtain. The possibilities are endless. And I think this was my biggest issue and the cause I didn’t start my shop earlier. I wanted to design too many things without a focus on one subject.
Who do you sell to (and how do you get customers)? What marketing tools or strategies you use to boost your sales? Are you satisfied with the results?
I’m selling my art worldwide!
It was a bit shocking that thanks to the Etsy platform and inside marketing tools I’m using people from distant places actually bought my art. Now it can be found in many houses across Europe and the US.
Do you believe there is a winning formula for becoming a successful entrepreneur? What is yours?
I think that a mixture of skills and personal interests combined together is creating stunning results.
What was the toughest moment you have experienced in your business practice? How did you succeed to get over it and move forward?
It was at the beginning when I was just starting with the idea and prepared a few of my illustrations.
I was very critical and doubting that my art would actually be liked by anyone!
I think every artist struggles with that. My close ones were the ones that pushed me to design more and more. With first sales and positive feedback from my clients, I did overcome any of my fears and now I’m just focusing on pushing forward.
What inspires you when you’re creating? How do you get ideas for new products? What are some methods or tools you use to get creative?
As I mentioned before, my home is placed in such a magical place that everything that surrounds me is my inspiration. I try to find beauty in stunning landscapes, breathtaking sunsets, starry nights, people, animals, and various moods and states of mind. I call the interpretation of the surrounding world through my art as Modern Bohemian.
Do you ship your product internationally? How do you handle postage pricing? What is the average time it takes from the order to the delivery? Do you use free shipping? If so, why? How do you package your products?
It’s a mixed method that I’m using. For printing big formats, I usually cooperate with a trusted printing company that’s sending them in my name to my clients. Smaller posters are printed and sent by me but only across Europe, the same printing company is supporting my prints across North America.
What would you say are the key elements for starting and running a successful online business?
I think motivation is the key element here. When you have a feeling that something you’re doing is awesome, you’ll find a way for others to see that too.
What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs who are starting out?
Don’t hesitate any minute longer. Just start now and try!
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How do you personally define business success? Is it money? Freedom? Influence? Creative expression and innovation? Something else?
For me personally, it’s definitely creative freedom.
Finally, the way I see the surrounding world and objects is visualized in a way I feel.
This comes with a big proud but also with a big responsibility. And that’s really a great and mature feeling.
Describe your day-to-day operation. How do you manage your time?
I’m working in my home office and I always have tons of things to do, from designing new illustrations to managing current orders or thinking about the next steps to take. This just never ends and throughout the day whenever a new idea comes up, I just use this inspiration time to create. I don’t have a strict time schedule.
How do you plan on growing your business? What is the biggest impact on your profitability?
I’m just on the verge of expanding my business. Some time ago my plan was to open up an independent store from Etsy, just to give me even more freedom, with home decoration items in bohemian style. I’m going to design most of them and I want everything to be handmade and from natural materials. And this is just happening now and the store is live: https:sandara.eu, the only thing is that it’s going to be currently available for clients from Europe and hopefully, in the future, I’ll expand.
What are some things you did to set your shop for success on Etsy? What is one lesson you learned the hard way?
Advertising is essential, I did cut my ads budget on the beginning but this led me to a small number of sales.
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