"Spring Bloom"

The EtsyBloggers Street Team Blog Carnival theme this week is "Spring Bloom". I do quite well with my flower garden. Where I have struggled is with my business. I've learned a lot of valuable lessons along the way. The business name I was using just wasn't clicking, and I hadn't found my "niche" in the B & B market. There are so many soapmakers out there so I had to ask myself...what sets my product ahead of the rest? How can I improve upon what I'm doing and make my product/image stand out? It's not one of those things that just happened overnight for me.

I have been in this "re-do" business process for well over a year. I don't have a ton of money or an unlimited credit card to conduct business. I pay as I go and do what I can with what I have and the sometimes limited funds available. I used to let the money issue stand in the way of my goals. Goals are good to have, but I've learned to work on the realistic goals and keep the "fantasy goals" at bay as a higher goal to achieve down the road.

Three of the most noteworthy successes I've achieved over the past 3 months is that
1. I've turned my love of crochet into a marketable product that goes along with my love of soapmaking.
2. I utilize more of my closest friends that are not soapmakers for brainstorming and ideas. It's a win, win situation for both of us as I gain a better sense of what to focus on for my next project and they get the samples and freebies to test out for me.
3. I had to get very serious about making this business work and stop allowing "obstacles" stand in the way of success.

I feel as though I must be doing something right if I keep getting orders, and repeat customers already.