by Jess | Interviews, Podcasts, Retail, Shop Design, Wholesale
What is it really like to own a brick & mortar retail boutique in the current economic climate?
My guest today – Meg Sutton of Belle & Union – has an interesting business trajectory.
She was working full-time, doing wedding invitations on the side… and then decided she wanted to launch her own business.
Instead of just opening an online shop, she worked for a full year behind the scenes, then launched her business at a major trade show in the USA.
It was a big success, and her business grew from there – to moving from strictly wholesale to also selling online – to now, where she has been running her own brick & mortar shop in San Antonio, Texas.
In this episode, we discuss her journey, and the realities of owning a b&m business – the ups and the downs.
If you’ve ever dreamt of opening your own shop (and let’s be honest – who hasn’t?!) don’t miss this episode.
by Jess | Marketing, Podcasts, Time Management
One of the most common laments I hear from my students is that ‘I’m not where I thought I’d be by now’.
There are oodles of reasons this may be. Life happens.
But one of the most common reasons is a lack of commitment and focus.
If you don’t commit to carving out the time to do your work – and then actually doing it – you simply won’t move forward.
Obligation, procrastination, lack of confidence – all of these things can get in the way of us actually doing the work. Goodness knows I’ve been there myself too many times to count.
But the people who succeed… they’re the ones that show up, consistently – for years – and just do the work.
Over, and over, and over again.
by Jess | Podcasts
What the heck do I do next? How often do you ask yourself this question? How often do you feel stuck and overwhelmed, and like you can’t move forward? Often, we get stuck because we’re in analysis paralysis – there are no good options, or too many...
by Jess | Etsy, Podcasts
To celebrate the 4th anniversary of the start of The Create & Thrive Podcast, I’m answering YOUR handmade business questions in this episode.
I got a ton of great, meaty questions – and I answered a number of them in this episode. If I didn’t answer yours, never fear! I do plan on doing a follow-up episode answering more questions in a future episode.
I answer questions like:
“Should I have a business, or just a self-sustaining hobby?”;
“What do I do when I feel I’m at the crossroads of continuing my business of getting a ‘real’ job”;
“How can I get my motivation back?”
“How do I overcome the fear of not being good enough?”
“I’ve only got a small number of products – should I open my shop now or wait until I have more?”
Huge thanks to everyone who sent in a question – I loved this opportunity to help you out directly.
by Jess | Podcasts
Do you want to teach your craft? Do you dream of running in-person, live workshops to pass on your knowledge? Or – maybe you already teach handmade workshops, but want to make them even better?
My guest in this episode – Dr. Rie Natalenko – is a teacher, writer and textile artist. She’s an expert in the art and science of teaching creative workshops to adults.
She has penned a book titled Share Your Skills – An Ultimate Guide to Running an Art or Craft Workshop.
If you need the confidence to start teaching creative workshops or you would like to enhance your existing skills, then this episode is for you!
This is one from the archives – I first published it a few years ago – but given that I plan on publishing an episode in the near future about how to teach craft workshops online, I thought this would be a great primer for that – because the ‘teaching’ part is the same.
by Jess | Etsy, Organisation, Other, Podcasts
A lot of potential issues with your handmade business customers can be side-stepped through the judicious use of policies.
A well-planned policy preempts a lot of issues, and makes sure everything is spelled out clearly to your customer prior to purchase.
It also keeps everything fair and transparent, and makes sure you can’t be accused of making up one set of rules for one customer, and another for others.
It’s as much about your protection and peace of mind as it is about informing and protecting your customers.
In this episode, I discuss the ins and outs of policies – what you NEED to have in there (no matter what platform you use), and give you some Etsy-specific guidance, as well.
