At what point do you make the leap to quit your job and run your business full-time?
For Katherine DaSilva, that point came not too long ago. Since then, she’s been running her business – The Handmaker’s Bag – full-time.
In this episode we discuss how she made the decision to quit; the challenges of convincing family and friends that what she’s doing is a ‘real business’; some of the challenges that come along with having a boss telling you what to do – to being solely in charge of your time; the joys and freedom that comes from making the leap to be your own boss.
Katherine is a member of the Thriver Circle – my private community for makers. Huge thanks to all the members of the Circle – without them, this podcast wouldn’t exist!
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Quotes and highlights from this episode:
- After joining a local knitting group, Katherine started creating project bags for her knitting projects. Members of the group then started ordering their own bags from Katherine and orders continued by word of mouth.
- These orders inspired Katherine to set up a Shopify store to sell her project bags online. Her store offerings expanded when she included a line of hand-dyed yarns developed by Katherine and her daughter.
- Keeping focused and motivated when you work from home can be a challenge.
- “If you don’t make yourself get up and do it, it won’t get done” {Katherine}
- Katherine uses routines to focus her work hours including dedicated planning time each evening and set work hours in her studio.
- “One of the key things I worked out early on is having a routine – if you leave it open ended it is a recipe for disaster” {Jess}
- When Katherine was looking to leave her day job and take The Handmaker’s Bagfull time, she and her husband took time to scope out the different elements of this change including finances.
- “I’d been selling these bags on the side but trying to take this to a fulltime business was really scary” {Katherine}
- Katherine has found Instagram very helpful for growing her business. She uses it each day to engage with people to build relationships rather than simply to promote her business.
- “There is no one right way to do it (use Instagram) – it’s what works for you and your audience” {Jess}
- There will never be a perfect time to start on a new endeavour.
- “Just start it” {Katherine}
- Check out Katherine’s business – The Handmaker’s Bag
