Oh how we love to hear the sound of the Cha-Ching! on the Etsy app when we make a sale!
I know life isn’t always about money, but when you are growing a business that you want to become sustainable, that sound represents growth.
Last night, when the app alerted us to another sale, we celebrated with high fives all around when we realized that we just had our first double sale (they purchased 2 items with 1 purchase). It wasn’t for a whole lot of money, but it was our first milestone. We’ve already had a repeat customer, and now, we had our first customer to purchase 2 items at the same time. We were ecstatic.
My son commented that once we started having more sales and needed help, he would learn the business and become our first employee. Of course, he said that he would learn to sew. I think I could continue to sew and pass on the computer to him. I realized this morning that my favorite thing to do is sew. Posting items? Not so much. He also stated that this would not be possible without his money. It seems he purchased the fabric for the item that sold last night. I just laughed.
The truth is that none of this would be possible had I not had a serious reaction to steroids that caused me to be hospitalized in October. I sat in that hospital room and watched videos on YouTube (which is my favorite past time), and I dreamed of something more. I already had an Etsy and a website where I sold items, and it was pretty much stagnant. I had been watching videos to learn how to increase my traffic and improve my sales when a sudden idea struck me: What if we started a children’s clothing store?
As soon as I got out of the hospital, I asked my daughter-in-law if she would be interested in joining together for a business. We sat down, created a business plan, and I started to teach her how to use the Silhouette Portrait to cut Heat Transfer Vinyl. From there, we expanded.
Our main goal: A sustainable family business that will provide income. We eventually want to expand into wholesale and retail markets beyond what we do here in our tiny space. Will it be possible? Yes, as long as we keep hearing those lovely Cha-Chings!