Why

Being a small business owner is not easy – especially when you are a “one-man band”. There was already a lot of competition, and then a ton more popped up during covid, which came along just a few months after I started selling online.

It’s not just making products, popping them online, then sitting back, and waiting for the orders to come in. You have to find those customers, and draw them in; something I’m not very good at doing. Social media is so important these days, you have Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, to name a few.
An awareness of SEO – Search Engine Optimisation, is also important, so when someone goes onto a site like Etsy, your products can be found in a sea of 1,000’s

And of course, you have to make products that people want to actually buyo, why does one do it?

For me, it’s mainly so I have control over my time. If I haven’t had a good night’s sleep, then it doesn’t matter if I don’t start my day until 10am, or even later. Often I will break up my day, work from 10-2, have a break, and back to it at 5/6pm. I have been known to work whilst everyone else is sleeping, because for me, on that day, it was the best time.

Then there is job satisfaction, the feeling at the end of the day that you’ve achieved something because no one else can ruin the plans that you had; so many times in the past, I’d get into the office at 7:20, and by 7:45 it would all change, other priorities would be thrust at me, and work I’d planned to do would pile up.

I also enjoy learning something new and continuing to learn.
In the days before the digital camera I hardly ever took any photos. Why, because I’d chop someone’s head off, or leave the lens cap on. And of course, I wouldn’t be aware of this until the film came back from being developed. So I gave up. Now, I have to take photos of my products and try to make them the best that I can. Are they perfect, No! But when I compare the photos I take now, to those from a couple of years ago, I can see improvements, which I will continue to work on.

And now I’m taking that further, starting with simple slideshows, to add to my product listings, and going forward, I want to start making some videos.

When I resigned from my job in the NHS, someone said to me many times “You’ll be bored within a few weeks”, and I can honestly say, I’ve not been bored once. Tired, yes. Bored, no.
Do I have any regrets? Just the one, that I didn’t do it sooner.