Online Seller Experience, Small Business Success Stories
… I love that I get to do what I love each day… that my office can be on the road, out in nature, searching for our next bee site, or in my honey cubby creating. I love the flexibility that owning our own business gives us, we can take a day off to spend with our grandkids or visit our kids. I love all the beautiful people we meet along the way, that we get to share our passion with
… What I enjoy most about being an entrepreneur is being my own boss, working at my own time, and when I want. I don’t need to answer to anyone and I can take holidays whenever I want. It also allows me to be here for my kids whenever they need me, I don’t miss out on their special occasions or events. The hardest is definitely working alone, not having anyone to answer to or bounce ideas from, and doing all the jobs myself.
… We send probably 80% of products to international countries, the most popular being the USA. I think having more people in the USA means we have more customers that appreciate the hand made a grungy side of our product. We offer free shipping to AUSTRALIA, USA, CANADA, NZ & UK
… I came up with the idea over 2 years ago and I just recently launched. It’s been a process: evolving from idea to identifying vendors (shirts, shipping bags, business cards, stickers), selecting shirt quality, selecting shirt quantity, establishing an LLC, opening a commercial bank account, buying products which will assist with your business…it’s definitely a process. As long as I stay focused, I have no doubt this will be a success.
… My toughest moment was when someone copied my original designs and outsold me. I had to find a way to make myself bigger and better. I had to come up with a new design for innovative boxing that they did not have and offer more variety than my competitor. I found more gaps in the market and filled those with new innovations.
… Surrounding myself with beautiful materials; natural pearls, Swarovski crystals, sparkly cubic zirconia, and gemstones, and my collection of vintage jewelry inspires me in creating my designs. Sitting in my somewhat cluttered, bright, cheerful little studio that is in my home is one of my favorite places to be!
… My best-selling product is by far my mountain wall art. I work with a printing and framing company to fulfill orders, and I have found that they are really the experts when it comes to printing, framing, and ensuring the quality of the products. I believe that by partnering with another company, I can focus on what I do best which is creating products and performing customer service tasks.
… My best selling products are my presets. I use Lightroom and photoshop to create the photo preset effects. I try my best to market for the need of others and my sales have been great in doing so. I love being able to work for myself and having no one to answer to. But the hardest part is keeping up with my followers, making sure engagement Is up, and constantly reaching out to other influencers and companies to form collaborations.
… I sell my products to everyone who desires to see their favorite scenery in the shape of art. I mostly use Etsy to promote my business and in addition to that social media is also where I present my arts. I think the result could be better considering how hard I work. I believe I do my job well enough as an artist which brings more feedback and people.
… I learn all the time and feel like there is always room for growth and improvement. One thing that has helped me is to be actively putting new items in my shop. A month-long trip to Europe made me try out the vacation mode on Etsy. I do not recommend it, it killed the traffic and I felt like I had to start from the beginning.